by Rajeev Narayan

01 March 2010

New Delhi, India: In 2008, an innovative UN joint programme in the Asia-Pacific region was launched, called 'Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-Based Violence'. Given the strong potential volunteerism has to support and champion violence prevention, especially at the community level, UNV saw a unique opportunity to contribute.

UNV joins with UNDP, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in this initiative. 'Partners for Prevention' (P4P) incorporates volunteerism both through the placement of UNV volunteers at P4P’s regional secretariat, and with national partners working on violence prevention to document, share, and support country-level initiatives.

Each volunteer supports the programme in different ways. For my part, I am a national UNV volunteer Network and Outreach Coordinator based at the Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ) in India.

There is a growing movement which calls for dynamism from youth and adult men to reduce the rapid rate of violence against women. My host organization, CHSJ, is at the centre of this movement in India. CHSJ is a policy resource centre working on issues of health, gender equality and social justice and currently holds the network secretariat for the Forum to Engage Men (FEM), a national network working with boys and men for eliminating Gender-Based Violence.

I have been working with issues of masculinity, including what it means to be a man in my culture, and on Gender-Based Violence prevention for the last couple of years. My role as a UNV volunteer has allowed me to gain vital experience at the community level in India, and document best practices and learning. I then in turn have the exciting opportunity to connect with partners across the region through Partners for Prevention to share this learning.

A central focus of my work is MASVAW (Men’s Action for Stopping Violence Against Women) which has initiated campaigns urging boys and men to raise various issues of safety and violence against women in their communities. MASVAW is unique in that it is a volunteer-driven movement and works with a chain of volunteers taking responsibility at the individual level and at each of the respective districts throughout the state. We count on these men and prepare them for future leadership roles.

I have been actively participating in MASVAW activities, mobilizing volunteers, assisting the secretariat in documenting case studies, challenges, and learning to be shared within the Forum to Engage Men network. Through Partners for Prevention, I also work with other organizations in the region that are interested in building similar volunteer movements in their countries.

My knowledge of the local dialect has helped me a lot in connecting with the people in the local communities of Uttar Pradesh where Bhojpuri is the common language.
      
I am also involved in the development of Partners for Prevention’s social media campaign pilot in India. The campaign aims to raise awareness and build sensitivity among youth on issues of violence and prevention.

The campaign will reach out to youth through online social media applications (like Facebook) and also link them with real world events and volunteer activities promoting violence prevention to get them actively involved and engaged in a meaningful way. And I have been working together with P4P staff and partners in India to build partnerships with local universities and youth volunteer groups for the campaign.

Overall my work as a volunteer with Partners for Prevention has helped me to understand the importance of community-based approaches to create knowledge and raise public awareness on sensitive issues such as gender discrimination, marginalization, the gender division of labour and Gender-Based Violence.

Through my experiences with Men’s Action for Stopping Violence Against Women I have been able to regain strength, courage and confidence in a clear-cut message: 'Not all men are violent'. I have also had the opportunity to participate in international and regional workshops and events providing me with a range of inspiring and educational experiences as well as the opportunity to share the work being done in India.

Given these rewarding experiences, I can say that I feel proud to serve as a UNV volunteer with Partners for Prevention and CHSJ. Day by day I believe that my commitment can really lead to concrete results in my area of work, wherein a society free of violence exists.