In Côte d’Ivoire, especially at the northern border with Burkina Faso, in a region called Bouna, rising cross-border crime and violent extremist groups have worsened security, amplifying gender-related issues, Women and girls face significant challenges, with 36.7% of women aged 15 to 49 experiencing female genital mutilation and 58% of girls under 15 married in some areas. These inequalities, including a literacy rate of only 36.3% for women compared to 53.3% for men, restrict women’s autonomy and economic opportunities. To address these issues, the Resilience for Peace (R4P) program, funded by USAID and implemented by Equal Access International (EAI), is incorporating a gender-sensitive approach to engage community leaders to promote positive masculinity and reduce gender-based violence. By empowering women and fostering gender equality, the program aims to strengthen community resilience and contribute to lasting peace in these vulnerable regions.
In this context, MAGENTA deployed SBC capacity-building efforts among R4P's implementers aimed at promoting Positive Masculinity throughout the northern cross-border region of Bouna. Over 5 months, MAGENTA trained and provided continued coaching to ten program officers, among which three were selected to provide the training to communities by themselves, echoeing MAGENTA's intervention at the local level.
To learn more about this project and its impact, read through the "MAGENTA Promoting Positive Masculinity in Rural Ivory Coast among Populations targetted by Violent Extremism" document linked below.
Ms. Josephine Klein