10-01-2024 | di COOPI

Chad. Teachers in defense of violated women and minors

A training workshop on responding to gender-based violence and child abuse was held from 16 to 21 October 2023 for teachers from 17 schools in the Mamdi department, Chad. The seminar was part of the project “Inclusive and quality response to the educational needs of the most vulnerable children and young people affected by the Lake Chad crisis”, funded by the European Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and implemented by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale from August 2022 to July 2024.

The objective of the training was to build the capacity of teachers to effectively deal with children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, due to the dramatic events experienced in the family and non-family context during the Lake Chad crisis.

A total of 66 teachers took part in the 5 - day training course with the aim of learning how to identify the signs of psychological distress in children who have experienced a shock. These are often situations that hinder children's educational learning and urgently require psychosocial support.

Teachers were asked to guide those who find themselves in a situation of violence toward specialized services, so that they can provide the victims with adequate assistance. The workshop also enabled teachers to learn about the dynamics of gender-based violence that often occurs in family contexts, in order to prevent it through community awareness activities. Kaltouma Brahim Mbodou, animator of the Centre d'Education de Base Non Formelle (CEBNF) in Kaya Site, said:

First of all, I would like to thank the NGO COOPI and the European Union for organizing this course on psychosocial support and gender-based violence. This training has enabled me to understand the causes, factors, types and consequences of gender-based violence, as well as the guidelines for the assistance of survivors. I am now able to identify children in difficulty in my class and provide them with support."

COOPI’s action to aid minors in the Lake Chad area is part of the varied activities carried out in the area. Indeed, our historical presence in the Lake Chad region allows us to know deeply the problems and to find the best solutions to support the communities.