* Safe School Program: Jamaica Assessment Report

Executive SummaryFrom April 11 – 22, 2005, a four-person team from the Washington, D.C.-based Safe SchoolsProgram (SSP) traveled to Malawi to conduct a school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV)assessment. The Safe Schools Team was comprised of four DevTech Systems, Inc. employees:SSP Team Leader Maryce Ramsey, Youth and Reproductive Health Specialist Cate Lane,Education Specialist Nina Etyemezian, and Qualitative Researcher Ji Sun Lee. Also participatingin the assessment was Julie Hanson Swanson, the SSP’s Cognizant Technical Officer from theU.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Economic Growth, Agriculture, andTrade/Office of Women in Development (EGAT/WID).ObjectivesThe overall objectives of this first exploratory trip were to:• Assess existing programs for their capacity to address SRGBV;• Understand the nature of SRGBV in Jamaica; and• Identify individuals and organizations from the key informant interviews to serve as localpartners.MethodologyOver the course of the visit, the Team collected data, reports, and materials, conducted openendedinterviews, and semi-structured focus groups with key stakeholders recommended bythe USAID/Jamaica and/or other informants. The Team examined programs and structures atmultiple levels: national, institutional, community, and individual. The Team interviewedrepresentatives from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture (MoEYC), the Ministry ofHealth (MoH), the Ministry of National Security (MoNS), USAID partners, other internationaldonors and organizations, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community levelorganizations (e.g., Parent Teacher Associations [PTAs]) to identify:(a) Types of gender-based violence;(b) Issues and gaps;(c) Promising programs and organizations; and(d) Recommendations.The SSP’s Strategic ApproachThe purpose of the SSP is to create gender safe environments for all girls and boys thatpromote gender-equitable relationships and reduce SRGBV, resulting in improved educationaloutcomes and reduced negative health outcomes.Five key principles guide the SSP’s programming:1. A social mobilization approach working at multiple levels: national, institutional,community and individual;2. Addressing three areas of SRGBV: prevention, reporting and response;3. Taking a gendered approach working with men and boys not only as perpetrators but also as potential victims as well as partners;4. Having at least minimal support services in place before encouraging victims to comeforward; and5. Building on existing programs.Issues and RecommendationsIn Section IV, the Team provides a summary of the general issues and recommendations as reported by ministry officials, NGO staff of the USAID implementing partner of the New Horizons Project, Jamaican educational personnel, and local schoolteachers, parents and students. The Team augmented these issues and recommendations through research of the global literature on best practices. After analyzing the data and general recommendations in Section IV. A., the Team identified the priority issues and recommendations that are proposed as the SSP’s pilot program in Jamaica. Guided by the SSP’s key principles for programming asoutlined in Section I, these priority issues and recommendations address gaps at multiple levels: national, institutional, community and individual, and in three areas of programming including prevention, reporting and response. In each of these three areas of programming, the Team also identified key organizations that could serve as potential partners.