Micro gardening and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse as central themes to the first activity
As part of its efforts that fall within its 16 days of activism campaign against gender-based violence, the protection sector in URDA is carrying out a number of distinct activities and events that enhance the skills of survivors of gender-based violence in various Lebanese regions.
The first activity was launched on Thursday, 26 November 2021, in Aarsal, where 15 Syrian and Lebanese women and adolescent girls participated in a training course on micro-gardening, aimed at supporting the gardening skills and food security of female participants, transforming them from consumers to producers and empowering them to develop economic independence within their communities.
URDA’s Livelihood Project Coordinator, Agricultural Engineer Ranya Bou Rjaili, took over the training task, stressing that micro-gardening projects help female participants to gain full knowledge about crop production by growing seeds without fertilizers, pesticides, as well as harvesting, and cooking healthy meals, thereby ensuring production, food security and sustainability.
The course concluded with an awareness-raising session on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, the aim of which is to reduce sexual exploitation and abuse to which the beneficiary may be exposed by the service provider.
The session included several topics, most notably understanding gender power dynamics and their relationship to sexual exploitation and abuse, the risks of sexual exploitation and abuse, gender-based violence and gender-based sexual violence, the principles of protection, and dealing with the disclosure and reporting of sexual exploitation and abuse.
It is worth noting that activities for this campaign will continue until the 10th of December, and will be reaching beneficiaries in Bekaa, Akkar, Saidon and Beirut.