2 December 2009
A document released by ActionAid International and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa outlines a model national policy on “the prevention, management and elimination of violence against girls in schools” (Siyanda) in the Southern African Development Community. Created by a team of teachers’ unions representatives, women’s rights activists, education policy experts, and civil society activists, the model policy aims to support girls in schools by outlining the responsibilities of involved parties in preventing and combating gender based violence in educational settings.
The model policy emphasizes the need to “heighten teachers' commitment to protecting girls from violence in schools, both in the general education system and in their classrooms in particular.” (Siyanda) It also states that governments should institute training facilities for teachers to better integrate violence-awareness in their curriculums. The policy also recommends the creation of a monitoring body to track the progress of the elimination of violence against girls in schools.
Compiled from: Siyanda: Mainstreaming Gender Equality, “Making the Grade. A Model National Policy for the Prevention, Management and Elimination of Violence Against Girls in School;” Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and ActionAid International, “Making the Grade. A Model National Policy for the Prevention, Management and Elimination of Violence Against Girls in School,” (PDF, 8 pages) (January 2007).