FEDE (Femmes et développement) In 2006, the UN Secretary General's report on violence against children noted that many forms of violence occur in schools, including corporal punishment, psychological violence, bullying and sexual violence. According to the latest UN report, gender-based violence in schools is increasing exponentially in Mali, with a 47% increase in 2020 compared to 2019, despite the national and international legal arsenal that the country has developed.
The school environment is supposed to be a favorable environment for the protection and education of children, but unfortunately, like other sectors, the education sector is a victim of bad governance. The school institutions are increasingly indexed and qualified as spaces of intolerance, discrimination and violenceof which girls are disproportionately the victims. The situation of SGBV in Mali is far from brilliant, even if it is a relatively taboo subject in which society is not very interested at the moment. Nevertheless, very isolated actions have been carried out since 2016 by the State at the initiative of the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Family and Children, and some partners, such as MINUSMA.
This is why FEDE proposes to contribute to the change towards the reduction of gender-based violence in schools (GBV), through its present proposal which will focus on psychological and physical violence, verbal violence, and economic violence. This general objective will be broken downinto two specific objectives.
Highlight VGMS through information, awareness, communication and training tools.Put an end to impunity for perpetrators of GBV. The project targets six public high schools in Bamako. This choice is justified by the very large number of students in the district's public high schools and will therefore help amplify the project's voice and thus promote the achievement of results, includingThe liberation of the word of many victims through the project's activities.The reduction of impunity for perpetrators of GBV. To this end, 30 high school girls willbe identified per school and will be the direct beneficiaries of the project. Their selection will be done on a voluntary basis. Thus, the 180 girls will benefit from capacity building on GBV in general and on GBV inparticular, and from FEDE's support through their full participation in the different activities of the project in a spiritof inclusion in order to promote their empowerment. In order to make this project sustainable, alert cells composed only of students (girls and boys) and assisted by resource persons (member of the parents' association / the dean of teachers) will be set up. The members of these alert cells will have a one-year mandate, renewable once. The first members of the cells will be trained and accompanied by FEDE throughout theduration of the project. Thus, the different alert cells will have the mission of transferring the knowledge acquired on the existing texts and procedures to their successors.  This ingenious mechanism will allow, forsure, to perpetuatethis project, especially since we will also enact simple, clear and consensual rules for the choice of the future members of the cells in order to prevent any conflict around this subject.Also, the inclusion in the internal regulations of the formal prohibition of all formsof gender-based violence and the reinforcement of administrative sanctions against the perpetrators will ensure the sustainability of this action.If the plea to the Minister of National Education and Literacy to include a module on gender-based violenceinteacher training were to succeed, this would also strengthen the sustainability of the project. The sustainability of this project depends not only on the alert cells, but also on the measures taken to prevent GBV in the school rules and regulations,whichwould allow the project to be replicated in other schools.  At the beginning of the project, FEDE will put forward its various policies toreassure rights holders and school authorities. These include its policy on confidentiality, data security, child protection, the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse, and its code of ethics. In addition, the focus will be on communication, information, and awareness-raising to get rights holders to join the project.Our project team will conduct several facilitation sessions in each ofthe target schools in order to make all the issues clear to the various stakeholders, especially the students. This first phase will be particularly important to us, as the success ofthe entire project depends on it.
Ownership ofthe project by rights holders willbe facilitated by their effective involvement in its implementation. The alert cells, the complaints management committees, of which they are members, as well as their involvement in the production of the documentary film, will contribute to strengthening the inclusive participation of all stakeholders.
Given the history of interventions in schools, FEDE will anticipate the authorization of interventions in the six publichigh schools. Thus, we will reassure the schoolauthorities about the nature of the messages, which will not contain any political, religious, or discriminatory content, and share with them our various policies for the protection of the physical and/or moralintegrity of school children.
One of thecardinal principles of FEDE is DO NO HARM, therefore all its projectsand programs incorporate a systematic analysis of conflict sensitivity.
Accountability to users is a traditional practice at FEDE. As part ofthe implementation of this project, we will set up a complaints management committee per facility. This committee will be responsible for receiving and listening to anyone who has something to say about the progress of the project. The objective is to ensure that the project meets the needs and aspirations of the rights holders and all stakeholders in the school environment at all times and to make the necessary changes if it does not.
This committee will consist of:
- One management representative;
-A representative of the faculty;
- A representative of the FEDE administration;
- One student representative from each school.
A suggestion box will also be set up in each school to collect more objective suggestions about the project, but also togivea voice to students who want to give their opinionabout the project while keeping their anonymity.
We will also make a quarterly assessment of the activitiesduring the general assemblies that we will organize in each school.
This activity will be an opportunity to regularly take stock oftheactionwith all the actors. It will also allow us to make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the project runs smoothly.
Theactivities selected are the following:
Collecting testimonies from victims of gender-based violence;

To produce a two to five minutefilm based on the information collected from victims and the sketches made by the students: Indeed, the rights holders will be involved in the production of the documentary film, by preparing and making sketches on GBV. These sketches will constitutematerial forthe documentary film dedicated to information and awareness, with the aim of an important mobilization against the VGMS;

Screeningand broadcasting the documentary film in the targeted schools, followed by debates;

Train 180 younggirlson GBV: The objective is to make them strong young women and leaders in the prevention and fight against GBV as well as pioneers in the liberation of victims'voices in order to break the omerta onthis issue. They will be trained on gender-based violenceand thelaws against this practice, and they will be able to pass on the knowledge they have acquired thanks to the project to other girls so that as many of them as possible can be equipped to deal with any cases of GBV they may be victims of.

Set upa warningcell in the targeted schools whose members will be volunteers trained on the existing texts and procedures in order to bring the perpetrators to justice: A warning cell will be set up ineach of the schools concerned by the project. The support of principals and student representatives will be invaluablein selecting the members of the cells.
The first step will be to inform all students, with their help, of the project to set up warning cells. The information will be passed on to allclasses ineach school. The choice of members will be made on a voluntary basis. Any student who wishes to be a member can register with his or her class leader, who will keep a list for this purpose.
We will separate male and female candidates in orderto have equal numbers.
The second step will be to organize a general assembly, in agreement with the directors and the students' representatives, in each school, either to introduce the members of the cells if the number of candidates corresponds exactly to the number of members that we have decided for each cell, or to invite the students to decide between them if there are too many by a show of hands, taking into account the parity between the sexes.
The girls and boys who will compose the cells willwork in close collaboration with FEDE through the project's focal points. They will be trained by us on how to receive victims, how to collect testimonies, and how to respect the confidentiality of information and the dignity of all those who come to them. Theywillalso havetorespect the presumption of innocence of the alleged perpetrators.
Our project team will work closely with each of the cells to ensure that they are all functioning properly.
A monthly meeting will be held with all members of the different cells to reviewprogress.
A detailed monthly activity report will be prepared by the project team on each of the cells every month end.

Advocacy with the Ministry of Education and Literacy for the inclusion of a module on gender-based violence inteacher training.
Thepreviously trained rights holders will take the lead in the project's advocacy activities. This involvement of rights holders will help build their self-confidence and improvetheir ability to speak in public in order to engage themin thepreventionandfightagainst GBV.

Advocate with the heads of the targeted schools to clearly include in their internal regulations the formal prohibition of all forms of gender-based violence andstrengthen administrative sanctions against perpetrators.
PRIORITYGROUP OF RIGHTS HOLDERS

Vulnerable youth and seniors


Thematic area

Better access to social services, health and education in particular

How will you know that the activities you are carrying out are successful and contribute to achieving the desired change?

The strategic objective of this project follows a logic of complementarity in which each of the activities planned under one of the specific objectives reinforces theachievement of the other.

If access to school-based VGMS data is improved;
If evidence of VGMS is established;
If sanctions commensurate with the severity of the violence committed are incorporated into school administration rules and regulations, andschool volunteers enforce them;
If the Ministryintegrates a module on SGBV inthe initial training of teachers in the medium and long term;

If the Ministry includes a module on VGMS in the initial training of teachers in the medium and long term, then VGMS can besignificantly reduced in the targeted schools with a snowballeffect in the school environment in general.

Indicator 1: The percentage of target schools that adhere to the project and support the VGMS alert cells
Target value:100%.
Indicator 2: The percentage of target schoolsthat have included in their internal regulations sanctions that are commensurate with the seriousness of SGBV
Target value: At least 80
Target value: At least 80%Indicator 3: The number of reports ofVGMS in target schools
Target value: At least 12
Indicator 4: the percentage of VGMS sanctioned in the establishments
Target value: 80%.
Indicator 5: The number of sanctions taken against perpetrators of VGMS
Target value: At least 6

How do you plan to document, share and communicate your learning journey?
We planto document, share,andcommunicate our learning journey through different types of channels to make sure we reach the widest possible audience.
We will use the following means to achieve our goals in this area:
Writing;
Video vignettes;
Distributionof printed materials;
Use of community radio stations;
Digital channels: email, social media, websites, online communities, blogs...
Knowledge sharing fairs, exchange visits with other actorsaiming at the same goals as us...
We will share ourexperience, ofcourse,with allorganizations that ask us.