How in-country validation helped support GBV response
Last year, some of our team members visited South Sudan for a key step in the development of one of our projects: validating our adaptation of an existing gender-based violence (GBV) Pocket Guide into a low- to no-literacy, visual version for non-GBV trained humanitarian practitioners in the country. (You can learn more about that process and see photos from the validation workshop in South Sudan here.)
Over the course of a three-day validation workshop with local community members, non-traditional humanitarian actors, and the CARE South Sudan team, we tested the GBV Visual Pocket Guide and gathered feedback that allowed us to determine not just the overall effectiveness of the manual, but also the cultural accuracy of the illustrations in the visual pocket guide.
Images of the visual pocket guide adapted for use in South Sudan.
The validation workshop helped us understand what was working and where changes needed to be made to ensure that users understood the information in the visual pocket guide. During that process, we developed a methodology that can be used as a roadmap for other projects that require translation of complex, text-based information into content that is suitable for low- to no-literacy users in different cultural settings.
Applying our methodology to other cultural settings
We had the opportunity to test this methodology when CARE asked us to adapt the GBV Visual Pocket Guide for use in Honduras and Mali. We adjusted the images of the visual pocket guide to make them culturally relevant for each country; we translated the written elements of the guide into Spanish for Honduras and French for Mali; and we were able to partner with excellent facilitators who conducted the validation process in both countries, in their respective languages.
The in-person validation workshop in Honduras was hosted and organized by CARE Honduras with support from CARE USA, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the community partner organization, Jóvenes Contra la Violencia.
Caitlin, one of our facilitators, facilitating the validation of the visual pocket guide.
Caitlin and Yair, our facilitators for the Honduras validation, with workshop participants.
Workshop participants completing one of the activities from the facilitator training.
A group photo of some of the community partners and participants involved with the validation workshop in Honduras.
In Mali, the in-person workshop was hosted and organized by CARE Mali with support from CARE USA, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the community partner organization YA-G-TU.
The in-person validation workshop in Mali underway.
Our facilitator, Veronique, posing with community partners and workshop participants.
As we continue to see the positive impact of this work, we look forward to observing how the methodology we developed–and the lessons learned along the way–can support other humanitarian programs and organizations in responding to GBV disclosures.
