The Horn of Africa: Oxfam PACE Program
Between March 2007 and Dec 2008, Gender at Work worked in support of Oxfam Canada's PACE Capacity Building Program in the Horn.
Partner organizations knew they faced strong cultural barriers to their change work. For instance, most of the communities did not see the value of educating girls. So the organizations worked within culture instead of fighting it. They invited community leaders, traditional and religious heads and government representatives to the discussion table, thus getting support to strengthen community development programs, open up dialogue and improve interaction both internally and in the community and to transform cultural norms through developing their own context and culture-specific approaches. Significantly, most of these organizations improved girls' access to education and leadership development for women through training programs.
"Young girls among GAVO's constituency have increased their knowledge and leadership skills and show greater willingness to become leaders. They have improved their decision-making, conflict-resolution and peace-building skills. There is evidence of these young girls contributing to resolving conflicts in the home rather than being part of it, or bearing the brunt of it." (G@W/PACE Report)
Shifts in consciousness around the root causes of gender inequalities in the Horn program strengthened the organizations' programs and changed dynamics in other sites of transformation as well: e.g. staff have been disciplined and fired for violence offences, men are contributing more to domestic labour, membership bases have grown (some with women members increasing significantly), organizational reach and influence has increased as have volunteer numbers, there are closer collaborations with women’s rights groups and local government bodies have gained new women staff and students, while discussions among staff previously stymied are now taking place.
For more information on the Oxfam Pace Program, please click here
To see a list of participating partners, click here
