Advocacy
GNB’s advocacy is a convention of interventions that emphasis on firming the system (both formal and informal elements) at the community level, consequently empowering communities and local partners to strengthen the child protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of violence and aware woman about their rights through issue-based meetings, campaign and day observation. Advocacy braces both the protective environment for women and children, as well as improve their well-being and fulfill their rights to endure. It speaks out for children and empowering them to speak out for themselves.
Advocacy is an integral and essential part of GNB’s programming which makes a strong contribution to strengthening the vulnerable community by changing the policies, systems, practices, awareness building program, communitiesmeet and arranging seminars in the community.GNB’s advocacy program is driven by the community, including the child, Youth, and women that empowers the community and bring sustainable well-being among the vulnerable. On the way to make advocacy more effective, GNB coalition a bridge between community and higher levels of government toprovide effective services to the vulnerable groups through reducing the stigma and discrimination of children and women, improving the access of quality services, including protective, education and health,elimination of harmful practices, such as child marriage, female genital damage, sexual harassment, provide legal support, educate and empower families and children to understand local laws, child rights, policies and practices, and legal services. Moreover, GNB helps to bring the long-lasting positive changes for the children and women.
Good Neighbors Bangladesh, advocacy is a long-term process which improves one’s lives, by building their skills and confidence, create opportunities for civil society groups to take part indecision-making, and addressing society’s norms and attitudes.
Major activities of Advocacy -
- Child rights (child rights protection group, campaign, awareness and education sessions on child rights, day observation and networking)
- Women rights (Social issue based meeting, campaign and day observation)
Child Protection Committee (CPC): GNB is not only creating awareness about the child rights especially on the prevention of child marriage and child labor, but also works directly to prevent this issue with the help of community people and local government authorities. To make this initiative more effective GNB formed a committee named Child Protection Committee (CPC) in every individual CDP/FDP, where GNB managed to involve people from the community of all lebels.
This is a 7-members committee and the members are as below-
• Ward Commissioner/member/community leader - 1
• Social Leader -1 • Community people / parents - 2
• Teacher - 1
• Youth Volunteer - 1
• GNB staff - 1
The main role of this committee is to take necessary action where the child rights issues are being violated. With the strict initiative of this committee, in 2016 GNB managed to prevent 40 child marriages in 9 project areas.
Child Rights Campaign: GNB also arrange campaigns with the participation of the children, their parents and the community people. The main objective of arranging these campaigns are to aware people about the child rights activity. In 2016, a total number of 122 campaigns were arranged with the participation of 44,248 participants.
The main topic of these campaigns were -
• Aware the people about the child rights activities
• Respect the view of child,
• Prevent child marriage.
• Human chain for peace
• Protection from child abuse
• Good Daddy campaign
Awareness program on social issues: In our society, there are still many social problems, by which we are being affected every day. May be for the shame or defamation victims’ families do not like to become the target focus with social problem issues. For this reason these problems become serious issues of our society. But If we aware of these problems then we can overcome these problems easily. It just needed a small initiative to make aware community peoples about these issues. GNB is doing awareness program on 18 social issues (Child marriage, Child labor, Child trafficking, Dowry, Divorce, Torture so on) for 4 years. Every year GNB’s all CDPs formed 2-3 groups in an area and discussed these 18 issues gradually. At the end of the year, all group members' were critically informed about these 18 issues. It’s a continuing process of GNB.
