FAO/Bayan Ksiebi

Long-standing negative social norms can perpetuate Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) as certain harmful practices can result in the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV). Early marriage and economic violence are two forms of GBV that are very common in rural farming communities in Syria. In response, FAO is implementing two pilot projects to promote the prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls in Homs and Rural Damascus governorates.

The prevention of VAWG pilots are implemented by FAO under the Building Local Resilience in Syria (BLRS) project, funded by UK Aid, and in collaboration with UNFPA. The pilots target a total of 3 000 individuals in 31 villages across both governorates and are a push towards achieving long-term social and economic empowerment, greater gender equality in rights and responsibilities, and greater agency and autonomy for women and girls.

The pilots consist of two interventions which are being pioneered by FAO for the first time in the Near East – North Africa (NENA) region. These interventions are designed to complement each other through a gender-transformative approach that addresses VAWG on both the community level through the implementation of Dimitra Clubs, and on the household level with the Discussion Group Series (DGS).

“Economic violence happens in many forms,” says Suzan Al-Ostaz, FAO’s national gender specialist. “Many women in rural communities work for little to no wage and end up having no control over their income or get excluded from discussions on household economics. They are also often unable to access the resources that are needed to empower themselves economically due to discrimination.” she adds.

Suzan also says that early marriage is prevalent in rural communities due to the widespread economic hardships and is sometimes seen as a form of protection for girls: “Girls are too young to have agency over such a life-altering decision which can cause harsh ramifications on their physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing as well as their education,” she explains.

“Tackling these issues is key to FAO’s work to ensure long-term resilience building in rural communities in Syria” says Jameson Zvizvai, building local resilience in Syria project manager. “The VAWG pilots are integrated within BLRS activities to support women’s sustainable empowerment using two approaches that are tailored to the specific needs of the Syrian context: the Dimitra Clubs and EA$E Discussion Group Series” he adds.

The Dimitra Clubs are FAO’s global approach to encourage the engagement of local communities, male and female individuals, couples, local influencers and opinion leaders, as well as male household members in facilitated discussions, and promote collaboration to find community-led solutions for their common issues, among which are the issues of economic violence and early marriage.

The clubs are complemented at the household level with the Discussion Group Series (DGS), a series of facilitated sessions between couples or with other family members to promote joint decision-making and the value of women’s participation in household economics. To achieve real positive and sustainable change, the DGS aims to empower households economically through business skills training using the adapted Farmer Business Schools (FBS) and Competency-based Economics, Formation of Enterprise (CEFE) methodologies.