BURUNDIANS RESPONDING AGAINST VIOLENCE AND INEQUALITY (BRAVI)

The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Associate Award LWA#GPO-A-00-08-00007-00. In the second quarter of the first project year, covering the period 1 January 2015 to 31 March 2015, BRAVI continued to focus on activities crucial to project start-up. USAID approved the Year 1 work plan and budget, and Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). BRAVI hired three new local employees and officially submitted EngenderHealth's in-country registration request to the Ministry of Interior. The project secured support for future collaboration from the Ministry of Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender (MSNDHPG), Ministry of Health (MOH), SERUKA and HUMURA Centers, UNWOMEN, Measure Evaluation, FHI360 –IHPB, and Centers of Family and Community Development (CDFCs) of Kayanza and Muyinga. BRAVI's program activities and accomplishments during this quarter focused on strengthening the health sector response for SGBV survivors. A key deliverable in Year 1 of the project is to develop a draft training package to complement the National SGBV Service Provision guidelines, with the expertise of an international consultant. The BRAVI team prepared terms of reference for the consultancy and posted the position on the EngenderHealth careers website on 31 March 2015. The selected consultant is expected to start during the month of April 2015. The BRAVI team also reviewed existing data from endline facility audits and other provider capacity data available from the RESPOND project to inform provisional SGBV training package development. The draft analysis report demonstrated that SGBV is often tackled as a cross-cutting medical issue by other programs, as opposed to a full package of SGBV service provision, which encompasses attitudinal and behavioral factors. The lack of accurate SGBV prevalence data in Burundi is still a major challenge for programming and decision-making. In preparation for the national SGBV services consultation, the BRAVI team held meetings with leaders of the MSNDHPG and MOH involving the lead of SGBV services at the National Reproductive Health Program (PNSR), the Technical Director of the MOH, and the General Director at MSNDHPG. The objective of these visits was to introduce the BRAVI project and to discuss the organization of a national SGBV consultation and the development of an SGBV training package. The above-cited leaders promised further collaboration with BRAVI. BRAVI also met with the Director of the National Service of Health Information System to discuss the representation of SGBV in the Health Management Information System (HMIS). The Ministry of Health is planning to conduct a nationwide Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in September 2015, and the BRAVI project will analyze the questionnaire, suggest improvements related to SGBV, and negotiate BRAVI integration into the DHS planning committee. In addition, the BRAVI team visited the SERUKA and HUMURA centers on March 26 and 28, respectively, to obtain a clear understanding of SGBV service provision and identify potential avenues for collaboration between BRAVI and the two centers. The team used a questionnaire guide to assess the standards of services available at each center, and their strategies, successes, and challenges. Reports will be finalized during Q3. The BRAVI project also continued to advocate for policies to prevent SGBV and to support survivors. In collaboration with the MSNDHPG and UN Women, the BRAVI team organized a three-day workshop in Kayanza from 30 March to 2 April 2015. The participants were members of the Technical Working Group (TWG), including representatives from the Ministry of Gender, CDFCs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, UN Women, UNFPA, SERUKA, APSI Nturengaho, CHAUVIFE, Mukenyezi Menya, CARE International, IRC, and SBVS. The objectives of the workshop were to orient TWG members to the BRAVI project, revise TWG terms of reference, identify support needs for TWG meeting coordination, elaborate the 2015 work plan, the monitoring and evaluation plan, and the standing agenda. The workshop identified a range of logistical needs to ensure MSNDHPG coordination of TWGs, and an assessment will be conducted in Q3 to identify specific training needs for the staff responsible for coordination.