Youth Changing The River's Flow - RIGHT the Gender Story! Gender Transformation Training: A Facilitator’s Guide

“’Gender transformative’ refers to action that seeks to promote equitable relationships; transform traditionally accepted norms associated with being a man or a woman; and transform unequal gender relations.”
This facilitators' guide forms part of a 2-year gender programme - Changing the River’s Flow - A Gender Transformative Program for Young People - that seeks to transform gender roles and promote more gender-equitable relationships between young men and young women in order to reduce HIV, gender-based violence (GBV), and promote positive sexual and reproductive health. It is being implemented by SAfAIDS in partnership with Sonke Gender Justice.
The work of SAfAIDS and Sonke Gender Justice is guided by SAfAIDS’s Community Dialogue Model which is based on evidence that shows that to bring about change, transformation needs to happen at many levels, including in individuals, as well as in the systems and groups – peers, families, communities, media and policies – that influence and socialise young people (a socio-ecological model). Workshops and community discussions on HIV infection, unintended pregnancy, early and child marriage, as well as GBV form part of the activities of the project in order facilitate community mobilisation and transformation.
To support this work, the facilitator’s guide is intended to be both a learning and facilitation resource for master trainers, district trainers, as well as community and youth facilitators, who will run workshops and community dialogues to share information and promote onward learning and understanding. The master trainers, trained directly by SAfAIDS and Sonke Gender Justice, will use the manual to train community leaders, parents and community members, youth peer facilitators, teachers and other school staff at district level.
As stated in the guide, “The activities found in this guide are intended to encourage community members to reflect on their own experiences, attitudes and values regarding gender, HIV, and SRH&R, so that they can take action to assist young people in their communities to access the support and care they need, reduce the spread of HIV and the number of teenage pregnancies, and promote gender equality to help individuals, homes and communities to grow. The activities are generally simple to use and do not require a lot of prior facilitation experience.”
The content of this facilitator’s guide is derived from existing programmes and campaigns, among them SAfAIDS's Changing the River’s Flow (CTRF) programme, implemented across nine southern African countries, and Sonke Gender Justice’s One Man Can campaign.