The UN Trust Fund project seeks to engage men to strengthen the implementation of GBV laws and policies and promote gender equality in Kenya, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. This project will be running over a period of 3 years from September 2011 until August 2014.

The project will be implemented in Kenya (national and Nairobi, Nyanza and Western provinces), Rwanda (national and Kamonyi and Gakenke districts) and Sierra Leone (national and Koinadigu and Moyamba districts), and at a regional level. It is estimated that this project will reach 2,250,256 people (750,050 primary beneficiaries and 1,500,206 secondary beneficiaries). These estimates may be conservative as previous projects implemented by Sonke which contain in particular a social norms campaign have reached millions of people over a short period of time. The project will run for 3 years (September 2011 to August 2014).

The vision of this project seeks to create societies within Sub-Saharan Africa in which men and boys challenge the culture of silence regarding violence against women and take an active role in working to end this violence, and where violence against women is no longer seen as a women’s issue exclusively; where it is seen rather, and rightly, as a gross human rights violation that concerns and affects everyone of us.

The overall goal of the project is to advocate for GBV laws and policies in Kenya, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and in regional governance mechanisms, to include language intended to engage men and boys in GBV prevention, and to improve implementation of these existing GBV laws and policies. The project objectives include:

• strengthening the evidence-base on GBV laws and policies;
• building the capacity of civil society and government to advocate for the improved implementation of GBV laws and policies;
• advocacy at a national and regional level to improve the policy and legal agenda on addressing GBV, particularly strengthening the role of engaging men and boys in GBV prevention; and
• challenging social norms and the culture of silence regarding violence against women, particularly among men and boys.

Some of the strategies include:

• Law and Policy scan in Kenyan, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and at the regional level
• Policy Advocacy, including legal interventions
• Capacity building at National and Local levels
• Undertaking a social norms campaign and community mobilization
• Using evidence to inform activities, and developing the evidence-base for gender equality work Building on the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur to End Violence Against Women and other related UN processes
• Partnerships, particularly with women’s rights organisations (this is elaborated upon in Section 8. Partnerships)

It is important to note that, although the key focus of these strategies will be on GBV, the project will also address HIV, given the intersection between these two epidemics.