Good morning and happy new month from VIAC,

September was a busy and productive month for us as we continued our efforts to educate and empower individuals and communities on important issues related to gender-based violence, sexual health, and reproductive rights. We are proud to share some of our accomplishments with you. Have a good read.

Thank you so much!

Educating Young Boys and Men on Toxic Masculinity

In September, as downstream partner of the “Men Engaged: Transforming Mindsets Against Toxic Masculinities and Building Community-based Champions for Women’s SRHRs in Cameroon” project, we conducted informative sessions in the North West region of the country, where in total  44 young boys and men were educated on the concept of toxic masculinity. The aim of these sessions was to provide them with the right information and knowledge on what toxic masculinity is and how to practice positive masculinity in their respective communities. Through these sessions, we hope to create a generation of young men who respect and value people irrespective of gender, and promote gender equality.

Community Leaders Gain Knowledge on Gender-Based Violence

In an effort to reduce the occurrence of gender-based violence (GBV) in local communities the North West region, as downstream partner of the “Men Engaged: Transforming Mindsets Against Toxic Masculinities and Building Community-based Champions for Women’s SRHRs in Cameroon” project, we conducted community dialogue sessions with community leaders last month. As a result, 19 community leaders gained knowledge on basic concepts of GBV and developed local resolutions to reduce its occurrence. By empowering community leaders with the knowledge and tools to combat GBV, we hope to create safer communities for everyone in our communities irrespective of gender.

Providing STI Prevention and Testing to Adolescents

VIAC provided knowledge on STI prevention and STI testing to over 75 adolescents in September. Out of that number, we carried out a test on over 50 adolescents through this HIV prevention campaign. By educating adolescents on STI prevention and testing, we hope to promote healthy sexual practices and reduce the spread of STIs among adolescents.

Safe Abortion Online Campaign

To commemorate the International Safe Abortion Day on the 28th of September, we partnered with the Mama Network to launch a safe abortion online campaign via our social media platforms. Through this campaign, we successfully reached and educated thousands of people on safe abortion. By promoting safe abortion knowledge and practices, we hope to reduce the number of unsafe abortions and ensure that people seeking abortion have access to safe and legal abortion services.

ABOUT VIAC

Vision in Action Cameroon (VIAC) is a youth-led not-for-profit organization that supports and enables adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) and communities in programs and influences change in the areas of Research (Evidence Generation), Advocacy (community mobilization), information & communication. VIAC is committed to feminist principles, using gender transformative and rights-based approaches.

At VIAC we believe that reproductive Health is a fundamental human right of every woman and man throughout her/his life cycle.