BUJUMBURA December 1st (ABP) – The consultation of collectives of women’s associations in the Great Lakes region (COCAFEM-GL), in collaboration with the strategic advocacy alliance, organized on Monday, November 28, 2022, in Bujumbura, a workshop media on the community psychosocial approach, which is part of the celebration of sixteen days of activism against gender-based violence (GBV), 2022 edition, a check on site by ABP has revealed.
The executive secretary of COCAFEM-GL, Mr. Alexis Nkurunziza indicated that this approach pleads in favor of any action that can change the situation of women.
The head of the regional psychosocial program Swiss Cooperation Burundi, Mrs. Christa Josiane Karirengera, indicated that this program aims to intervene at the level of three countries, namely; Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC: South Kivu).
That program makes it possible to observe a space for change in the fight against gender-based violence, added Mrs. Karirengera. She indicated that this problem is not individual, but it is a community problem.
According to Mrs. Karirengera, the community psychosocial approach is a way of supporting communities to help them transform themselves, to leave this state of victim to an active state in the community. She also indicated that the community psychosocial approach is an approach that consists of reintegration, mediation, conflict reduction and support for victims.
According to her, the man is considered the head of the household who must feed his family. If a man is unemployed and is not able to take on his responsibility well, he does not feel well; he thinks that the woman and the community are denigrating him. Most of the time, the man ends up being violent because he does not meet social norms, Mrs. Karirengera added.
As for COCAFEM-GL’s Advocacy Officer, Mrs. Anne Spès Nishimwe, that approach is based on community healing as well as community dialogue. People share their experiences and express their wounds. That approach is different from others because, she explained, it is an approach that helps the community heal together.
Mrs. Nishimwe stressed that COCAFEM-GL wanted to share this approach with media professionals so that they could accompany it towards its realization even if it were institutionalized in Burundi as in the sub-region.