26 Jun CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP
WAVEHI Capacity building workshop is very educative and informative. with topics on gender and sexual based violence or sexual reproductive rights, and sexual health education and sexual abuse. the capacity building workshops is focused on research into the sexual health problems of the poor, vulnerable and marginalised women and girls. Research is important in improving the status of sexual health in any community. Quality research is a key tool for identifying sexual health problems and their causes and demonstrating their importance to the promotion of sexual health and well-being. it also assist in formulating solutions and evaluating progress of sexual health interventions.
Sexual health research demands for interdisciplinary and integrated research. In West Africa responding to this requirement poses great challenges to current research efforts.
WAVEHI capacity building workshops highlights some gaps in existing sexual health research. It focuses on strengthening the capacity of sexual health research on socio-sexual cultural issues in West Africa. In the region and elsewhere in Africa, the force of social change resulting from formal education, increasing urbanization, and the increasing cost of living, among others, has blended to produce changes in socio-sexual culture in West Africa.
Capacity Building needs for reproductive health research in West Africa rests on the following
1 Research output on violence against women and girls has been very general. Community and health facility based research as well as behavioral research on violence including longitudinal studies on the consequences of sexual violence, and the vulnerability of adolescents to sexual abuse are sorely needed.
2 The sexual rights of adolescents in West Africa is a poorly researched area. Further research is required to gather information on sexual and reproductive rights, and explore the barriers that young persons face making choices given the prevalence of transactional sex, sexual coercion and exploitation of young women and girls.
3 Detailed information on gender roles and life skills (in contrast to knowledge) to negotiate good sexual health outcomes among teenagers including married adolescents is lacking.
4 STI seeking behavior and treatment of young persons is an area with limited research evidence.
5 Today there are internationally accepted definitions of some indicators in sexual health, but there is an urgent need for further research on the identification of some indicators given their importance to the West African sub-region. These include indicators measuring violence against women and girls and transactional sex.
6 Lastly, research conducted locally by local people is more likely to be more timely and cost-effective in addressing local problems than is research conducted by researchers unfamiliar with the region and its context.
And of course lack of funds is also a most obvious constraint for capacity building and training in the region.
Donations to support WAVEHI Capacity building initiatives can be sent to the following account details;
Donations in US dollars can be sent to;
1 Account name: Women Against Violence and Expediency Handling Initiative
Account Number: 0157403405
Bank: Union Bank of Nigeria
Donations in Nigerian naira can be sent to:
2 Account name: Women Against Violence and Expediency Handling Initiative
Account number: 0157401786
Bank: Union Bank of Nigeria
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