Botswana: Kagisano Society Women’s Shelter

Ensures sustainability of interventions and community involvement and participation

The Kagisano Women’s shelter strives to be a leading organization in ending GBV in Botswana and believes that to ensure sustainability of interventions community involvement and participation is key. To this end, the organization developed committees at community level known as Community Gender Committees (CGCs). The community gender committees are meant to enhance community capacity to prevent and respond to gender based violence as well to coordinate and support the different activities and provide leadership for their respective communities. Some of the activities of the activities undertaken by the committees include house-to-house visits, focus group discussions, kgotla meetings, workshops, referrals. The Kagisano Women’s Shelter received a sum of $2,520.00 from partner organizations as contribution for implementing the project.

The shelter monitors progress through weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports. It uses event logs/ activity registers, referral forms, project cycle evaluation and beneficiaries & partner interviews as evaluation tools.

The main challenge with the project has been lack of funds for community gender committee allowances, which KSWS has devised to resolve by requesting funds from donors to support community activism on GBV and HIV prevention. The Project partnership is key in the execution of activities by the CGC’s and can lead to effective results.

KSWS has realized that participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation with the affected communities will further instill project ownership, and heighten chances of results attainment and sustainability. The shelter has also learnt that project partnership is key in the execution of activities by the CGC’s and can lead to effective results.

The project is sustainable because it succeeded in mobilizing communities to group, and take action themselves for the betterment of their localities. It will remain sustainable because of its participatory approach, since communities are in essence directing activities at community level through Community Gender Committees. To replicate it the same strategy can be used, that is mobilizing the community to solve their problems. Going forward the shelter will promote community training targeting community leaders on gender-based violence, laws and handling gender based violence cases. The shelter will also focus on mobilizing and supporting local leaders who thoroughly understand the existing norms, attitudes as well as social dynamics as agents of change as the former are the possible entry-points to community process of unlearning.

They scooped Position one under Best practice GBV category 2018 SADC Gender Protocol@Work Summit.