The Know Your Rights campaign funded by CVC, through a Shared Incident Database (SID) grant and spearheaded by Guyanese NGO Comforting Hearts, is a community-based project aimed at educating, raising awareness and empowering vulnerable women, girls and key population members about their basic rights and freedom. The programme seeks to provide residents in rural communities with information about rights and laws related to gender based violence (GBV), stigma and discrimination and HIV.
Comforting Hearts’ Executive Director Garfield Grant says the campaign targeted individuals in Regions 5 and 6. “The objectives of the Programme are aimed at fostering awareness in 60 communities in Regions 5 and 6 about the prevalence, causes, and costs of GBV, and promote alternative forms of dispute resolution for the targeted communities. The campaign is also aiming to have rural women and girls receive redress for documented cases of rights abuses,” he said.
As part of the campaign, Comforting Hearts has implemented several activities. These include the distribution of information, education, and communication (IEC) materials, community sensitization sessions, social media advocacy, stakeholder consultation and strategizing sessions, television advertisement, and peer outreach.
The campaign has only been running for a few months but the Comforting Hearts’ Executive Director says its impact in the communities is already visible. “Although we have only concluded 2 months of implementation, given the increase in traffic at the organization’s office, we can definitively conclude that the programme is effective in prodding and prompting vulnerable groups, especially women and girls, to seek help,” he said.
Meanwhile Mr. Grant points out that the SID grant enabled Comforting Hearts to expand its reach to provide much needed services in rural communities across Regions number 5 and 6. “To put it frankly, without the SID, we simply would not be able to provide the quantity and quality of services we currently provide. Without knowledge, people—all people—suffer indefinitely. By educating and empowering vulnerable groups about their basic rights and freedoms, we can unambiguously say that we are improving the situation and circumstances of these groups. Without the SID grant and similar types of funding from CVC, Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations like Comforting Hearts, that depend on such funding, would not be capable of providing the quantity and quality of service our clients require,” he said.
The Know Your Rights campaign is funded through a grant from CVC’s Shared Incident Database (SID). The Shared Incident Database (SID), is an advanced, user-friendly, web-based technology that has strengthened evidence-based advocacy in the Caribbean’s HIV response. The database tracks incidents affecting key population groups which include People Living with HIV, Sex Workers, Men who Have Sex with Men and Transgender People, who often encounter barriers to accessing health services and human rights protection. SID also provides an integrated platform to record, analyse and exchange information to impact policy and programmes which will empower individuals and civil society organisations to pursue redress including legal remedies where these are available.