| SALESIANS focus their development work
on economically deprived areas plagued by
poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. We aim to
provide poor communities with the means to
improve their lives, achieve economic self-sufficiency,
and participate in the benefits of growth
through education programs for youth. Salesians,
however, also understand that girls – who
make
up 50% or higher of the populations and often
carry more than two thirds of the economic
and psychosocial burden of poverty and
HIV/AIDS – have systematically been deprived of
education and put at an increased risk of HIV/AIDS
infections and other diseases through economic
dependency. Cognizant of such factors and
through the cultural lenses of the communities in
which Salesians work, Salesians have given an
increased attention to girls’ education through
their technical and vocational training facilities.
Furthermore, given the deeply ingrained biases
and stereotypes which exist regarding appropriate
roles for women in education and employment,
Salesian Missions (SM) considers gender
and life skills training a critical necessity. Since
attitudes and practices are not changed
overnight, gender sensitization should be ongoing,
tailored, and reinforced.
Consequently, Salesians have also engaged in
gender-specific interventions in the community
at large throughout numerous programs in Africa,
Asia, and Latin America. Examples of Salesian
programs focusing on girls range from United
States Agency for International Development
(USAID) female sex worker education and
rehabilitation programs in Sri Lanka to girls’ technical education and micro-credit programs in
a refugee camp in Kenya to structured girls’ job
placement programs in Colombia. Gender-based
violence programming and gender sensitization
communications messages are also being integrated
into HIV/AIDS prevention programs coordinated
by Salesians.
The most recent girls-focused education
program called “Girls in the Vanguard,” carried
out in Bolivia, Honduras, South Africa, Sri Lanka,
and Zambia, was designed to build support to train
females and place them in non-traditional, male
dominated jobs with advancement potential. The
goal of this five-year matching grant funded by
USAID was to train 1,000 girls for placement in
private sector jobs with advancement potential.
The tenants behind Salesian Missions gender
equity considerations and training is that
enhanced training programs promote enabling
environments for female students, while life skills
training (including gender sensitization) builds
the confidence of participants entering a society
and job market where the female is not only treated
equally but also recognized for her increasing
economic burden brought on through HIV/AIDS.
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