Employees and care and protection providers in the community development centers of the Ministry of Social Development participated in a training session on gender issues’ SOPs organized by the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD).
Held between September 8 and 9, the training, titled “Unifying gender issues’ SOPs”, highlighted principles like humaneness, impartiality, confidentiality, and gender-sensitive response, which are both basic and crucial to humanitarian work; 24 employees and care service providers in the community development centers of the Ministry of Social Development throughout the Kingdom participated in the training.
The participatory training, provided by ARDD team, focused on enhancing the skills and expertise of the care and protection providers and employees of the Ministry of Social Development with a view to helping them prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
Topics covered by the training included: Code of conduct, dealing with survivors of violence (including women and children), the legal frameworks that criminalize violence, domestic violence, protection from violence, reporting and referral mechanisms that are in line with the national procedures taken to prevent and respond to cases of violence and case management.
The training also emphasized the issue of gender sensitivity among the ministry employees who suggested a framework for integrating a gender perspective in their work, which would entail reviewing the ministry’s strategic plan. The idea of preparing a guide to take gender issues into consideration in service and evaluation models and the way through which to implement the most important of these concepts through the services the ministry provides, including protection and social and psychological services provided to juveniles and persons with disabilities, was also discussed.
The trainees said the training enriched their information and provided them with practical experience and best practices. They also stressed the importance of applying the teachings in their work in the areas of care and protection, and the need to integrate gender-sensitive principles in their daily work.
This training is part of the “Empowering Each Other” project, which is implemented by ARDD in partnership with UN Women and is funded by the Australian government within the framework of ARDD’s gender justice programs and activities, emphasizing the complementarity of civil society institutions and official institutions work, which needs their concerted effort. The project seeks to strengthen the capacity of both women and men to deal with gender justice issues and bolster the capacity of institutions that work to prevent gender-based violence.
