Kids from different nursery and primary schools in the Yaounde II Subdivision have displayed knowledge on how to identify and avoid physical and physiological violence that exists in their school milieu. This was during a workshop on the self-assessment of the achievements, capitalization of good practices and lessons learned from the school related gender-based violence (SRGBV) project, carried out by Plan International and its partners.

At the workshop, last Friday October 19, 2018 in Yaounde, the kids during a sketch revealed messages such as “do not shout or beat up a classmate” and “this game is violent and someone can be hurt”. Besides indicating that they know their rights and duties, the children also talked about forced marriage which is one of the violence carried out on girls’ right to be educated.

According to Plan International Regional Coordinator of the project, Antoine-Marie Bieteke, they are out to sensitise and mobilise the community around gender violence in the school milieu.

He noted that their expectations at the end of the project have been met as all stakeholders that is the children and education community are now aware the things that promote gender-based violence in schools. Antoine-Marie Bieteke said with the project, Plan International sensitised and trained different parties on gender violence and how they can address it.

Through the project, children can now defend their rights; know the different types of violence that takes place in school premises and how not to be involved in violent activities with their peers in school and other members of the community. “Our problem now is to spread what has been achieved”, Bieteke noted. Initially Plan International worked with four schools in the Yaounde II Subdivision and according to Antoine-Marie Bieteke, Plan International is aware of the need to spread knowledge on gender violence to other schools in the country for that is their major challenge now