Gender-Based Violence

Bridging the Gap for Venezuelan Migrants (BG4VM)

Venezuelans continue to flee Venezuela due to the ongoing political unrest, humanitarian crisis, and socio-economic volatility. Guyana has experienced an influx in Venezuelan migrants as well as Guyanese returning. The NCC addresses the challenges and priorities faced by Venezuelans leveraging its position as an umbrella network for other NGOs, and its trusted status amongst migrants, national and international service providers in Guyana. Through these partnerships the NCC is implementing an evidence-based, comprehensive, and tailored response to the unique needs of Venezuelan migrants and their families impacted by Gender Based Violence (GBV).
With local partner Catholic Charities Organization Guyana (CCOG), and international partner, Ladysmith Collective the NCC is implementing interventions to consolidate and strengthen the referral pathways for GBV prevention and response and thus ensure that Venezuelan migrant women, returnee women, and others at risk of GBV are able to access the services and resources they need.

Combatting Gender Based Violence in Migrant and Host Communities in Guyana.

The project seeks to address the problem of Gender Based Violence (GBV) affecting Venezuelan migrants and vulnerable women in host communities in Guyana and will be executed by the NGO National Coordinating Coalition. The objective of the project is to build a sustainable and inclusive system of support services for victims of GBV in migrant and host communities in Guyana, by strengthening the co-ordination, monitoring and reach of services, and by creating greater awareness of the incidence and impact of GBV and xenophobia. The model proposed is focused on inclusion of GBV victims in accessing and navigating relevant services, placing an emphasis on victims from low-income migrant and host communities in and near the capital city
Georgetown, as well as in the bordering West Demerara, areas that are characterized by dense populations and a high prevalence of migrant and host communities. In this regard the solution includes

4 key interlocking components as follows:

(i) communication and sensitization to increase awareness of the drivers, incidence, and impact of GBV and xenophobia

(ii) strengthening and expanding access, co-ordination, and quality of GBV support service delivery

(iii) advocacy for policy change in the areas of GBV and migration

(iv) scaling and sustainability of GBV service delivery over the medium to long term. The solution as designed, organizes, advocates, and educates, to effect positive change in attitudes and beliefs that contribute to GBV, to coordinate delivery of critical and relevant services for GBV victims, and to promote the voice and human dignity of GBV victims in migrant and host communities in Guyana.

Components
Component 1: Sensitization and Communication on GBV and Xenophobia

The objective of this component is to effect changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding GBV and xenophobia, and to improve access to services through outreach. The idea is to humanize the experiences of both GBV and xenophobia in a way that promotes a change in commonly held beliefs. To encourage victims to access services, bilingual communication content for public messaging will be developed by the NGO NCC Inc. to improve awareness of GBV services and how these can be accessed. These public campaigns seek to promote access to information including available GBV services, patterns of GBV and the impact of GBV on lives and livelihoods. Connecting with women and girls particularly in migrant and host communities, will be at the core of this campaign, and all messaging and information will be appropriate, understandable, and relayed through effective mediums including formal and informal communication channels such as public service announcements (PSAs) on radio and television, posters and pamphlets strategically mounted at public spaces, the use of social media channels popular amongst local women and migrant groups, and other mass media. Additionally, to improve the quality of services delivered through law enforcement and health service providers, GBV sensitization training modules will be developed and utilized to promote protocols for safe and respectful handling of all GBV cases and to improve service delivery. In law enforcement, training will also focus on the information officers need to capture to assist GBV victims in accessing legal redress. Currently the NGO NCC Inc. estimates that only 30-50% of reports taken on GBV incidents capture the required information to support legal action and remedies. This issue is a fundamental problem in service delivery as it discourages and, in some
cases, can endanger victims reporting an incident of GBV that law enforcement and the legal systems cannot action.
The key outputs of this component include  (i) Documentation of stories of GBV survivors, (ii) a media campaign to sensitize the public on the impact of GBV and xenophobia, and to promote  available services and (iii) GBV sensitivity training of a total of 120 officers in law enforcement and public health.

Component 2: Strengthening and Expanding GBV Support Services

The objective of this component is to pilot a coordinated, inclusive, and accessible system of support services to victims of GBV. Currently the NGO NCC Inc. acts as a coordinator to monitor delivery of GBV services in non-government organizations (NGOs) and public organizations, and has in this role, developed strong relationships and trust with service providers.
To strengthen coordination and improve the experience and outcomes for targeted GBV victims, the NGO NCC Inc. will work with representatives of service providers in its network to define functionalities of a digital platform and underlying processes that can assist case workers and service providers in navigating access, coordinating, and following up on services needed by GBV clients. The functional requirements for coordination of service delivery, monitoring and client tracking that will be used to develop/adapt a digital solution and all associated technical design work, will be conducted in compliance with the Principles of Digital Design endorsed by the Inter-American Development Bank Group, particularly in the areas of data privacy and ethics, ensuring
that data on GBV victims remains protected and private. This system will be rolled out to public agencies and NGOs engaged in delivery of GBV support services, whose officers will receive training and support in system use. The NGO NCC Inc. will monitor use of the system and will define and direct upgrades or changes that may be required during implementation. Additionally, resources will be allocated to scale up the frequency and professional support provided to GBV victims in one stop shop clinics that provide access to legal and psychosocial services in one location. Recognizing the urgent need to address language barriers for migrants, the NGO NCC Inc.  will also invest resources in recruitment of Spanish translators and translation tools to assist GBV victims from migrant communities in accessing and navigating relevant support services. Finally, resources will be allocated to expanding safe spaces available for temporary emergency accommodation of GBV victims, particularly migrants that lack family and community support.

The targeted outputs for this component include (i) increasing the frequency of one stop shop GBV clinics from 64 per year to 208 per year; (ii) increasing numbers of GBV victims served by the s network of service providers from 75 per year to 300 per year, and a total of 600 over the course of project implementation; (iii) increasing migrant GBV clients served to 50% of total clients, with 75% of these migrant clients accessing translation services, and (iv)
establishment of a digital platform to support monitoring and coordination of delivery of GBV support services.

Component 3 : Advocacy for policy change in GBV and Migration

The objective of this component is to advance advocacy related to GBV responses and prevention, as well as greater inclusion of migrants in Guyana. The project will support such efforts by demonstrating an effective model for achieving more inclusive and accessible services and will also capture data and generate information that can inform an advocacy platform to address not just support for victims, but also mitigation of underlying drivers. To assist the NGO NCC Inc. in leading a cadre of key stakeholders to develop an advocacy agenda and campaign around GBV and the status of migrants that makes them particularly vulnerable to GBV, project resources will be used to establish continuous research and monitoring of project data, results, and impact. This information, along with ongoing consultations with service providers within and external to the network, will inform the production of an annual  publication/production on GBV, including its impact on migrants in Guyana, as well video productions and semiannual webcasts delivered by partners and survivors on the multidimensional impact of GBV.

Additionally, the NGO NCC Inc. will assist with the establishment and promotion of a migrant support advocacy group that can represent issues and solutions that are important to facilitate greater integration of migrants in Guyana, and which can reduce their vulnerability to abuse and exploitation, including but not limited to GBV. The targeted outputs for this component include: (i) 6 web cast forums; (ii) an advocacy agenda on GBV and migration; (iii) 3 publications/productions on GBV and its impact; and (iv) launch of a migrant advocacy support group.

Component 4: Scaling and Sustainability

The objective of this component is to develop and implement a strategy and specific activities to support the sustainability and scaling of a coordinated response to GBV in Guyana; (i) to promote the work of the NGO NCC Inc. and its partners locally, regionally, and internationally, (ii) to build partnerships for future financing and (iii) to develop a strategy and plan to proactively secure additional funding, implement resource sharing/shared services and revenue generating activities.

Additionally, the NGO NCC Inc. will advance scaling of the model via: (a) extension of the network of services to other areas in Guyana; and (b) knowledge exchange and transfer to support replication of its model with two regional partner organizations. The outputs of this component include: (i) a plan to support financial and operational expansion and sustainability of inclusive and relevant GBV support services and (ii) 2 learning exchanges to scale the project solution.

Execution Mechanism

The NGO NCC Inc. will establish an executing unit and the necessary structure to execute project activities and manage project resources effectively and efficiently. The NGO NCC Inc. will utilize project resources to contract a core technical and support team to manage day to day implementation and monitoring of project activities, results, and financial resources. This team includes a technical director, project coordinator, a GBV specialist and a monitoring and evaluation consultant, as well as support for fiduciary and administrative activities. On a monthly basis, the NGO NCC Inc. will engage in a project review session to assess progress, risks and budget and will define priorities and corrective actions that may be required to ensure targeted
results and objectives are achieved. The NGO NCC Inc. will also be responsible for providing progress reports on project implementation.