PROGRAM / FOCAL AREA

1. RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION

Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA conducts research in the various areas of the SDGs. We offer seminars and hands – on workshops to deepen knowledge and advance understanding of selected social problems that are root causes of peaceful co-existence and sustainable human security and community wellness in collaboration with policy makers and other stakeholders.

Some of our research and documentation program includes:

1.1 End Violence Against Women, (children and vulnerable population) Monitoring and Documentation

The purpose of this program is to conduct research in order to generate critical information and data that enhances understanding about violence against women, children and other vulnerable population within the home, school and the larger community. The study is to assist governments, communities, and organizations working with women, children and vulnerable populations in finding solutions to stopping violence, preventing violence from continuing. We conduct research and disseminate data from the research findings for the purpose of informing women, children and other vulnerable population who have been harmed by any type of violence or hate crime about opportunities, resources, and services.

The Study has identified five settings or places where violence against children takes place:

• Home and family

• Schools and other educational settings

• Institutions and prisons

• The workplace

• The community

The Violence monitoring and documentation is based on the idea that women, children and other vulnerable population have the right to be protected against violence. Women’s Rights are spelled out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Also, children’s rights are spelled out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international human rights agreement that was adopted by the UN in 1989. Nearly every country in the world has ratified these treaties – that means they agree to fulfill the rights set out in the CEDAW and CRC.

These two International legal documents says that women and children have the right to be protected from physical, psychological, economic and mental violence, degrading punishment, injury, neglect and abuse. They have the right to be protected from work that places them in danger, drug abuse, sexual violence, trafficking, and other forms of exploitation. They have the right to good physical health, education, medical care, reproductive rights and informed choices, and a decent standard of living. They also have the right to express their opinions, form organizations and participate in them, live as free citizens in their respective countries without any fear, want, abuse or infringement of their personal and human rights.

To this end, Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA supports the United Nations Council Resolution 1820 (2008) on Sexual Violence and Resolution 1888 (2009) which encourages traditional and religious leaders at the national, local and community levels, to play a more active and vital role in sensitizing their communities on the issue of sexual assault, hate crime, and violence; to avoid marginalization and stigmatization of victims, to assist with victim’s social reintegration back into normal society, to combat a culture of impunity for these crimes, violence and assaults; and to take measures to increase the inclusion and representation of women in mediation and decision-making processes with regard to conflict resolution and peace building.

1.2 Involving Men and Boys in Ending Violence Network

Violence against women and girls is one of the most systematic and widespread human rights violations. According to a 2013 global review of available data, 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. Eliminating such violence globally requires intensive efforts which led Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA in working to involve men and boys in its massive education and campaign to end all types of violence, inequality and all forms of discrimination against women, children and vulnerable populations in the United States (State of New York), Haiti and Africa.

According to the United Nations, “Gender equality…can only be achieved through partnership. This includes partnership between men and women and between different stakeholders and organisations. Gender equality will benefit society as a whole and both women and men have an important part to play in changing attitudes and behaviors and transforming roles and responsibilities”.

This program has already begun in the United States, (specifically in the State of New York), Haiti and in Nigeria with three main components:

•  Formation and maintenance of an informal Community Support Network of Volunteers, community organizers and activists.
• Training of Police Officers and partnering with municipal boards, neighborhood associations, and organizations on “Responding to Violence”.
• Develop protocols and manuals on dealing with violence and sexual assaults by the police, law enforcement, and health care personnel to be adopted and used in various communities to foster a stronger relationship with the local police, law enforcement and first responder unit.

1.3. Sexual and Gender Based Violence Victims Support.

Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA is constantly reaching out in partnership and serving domestic and other forms of violence, and hate crime victims by helping to provide temporary shelters and accommodation that serve as “safe havens” thereby facilitating quick recovery.

People with disabilities, older persons, youths and other vulnerable populations are at higher risk of victimization because they may be dependent on another person to meet critical needs. Caregivers — such as relatives, significant others, neighbors, or professional aids—may control access to information and documents, medication, transportation, finances, or restrict abilities to contact loved ones. Victims may be unable to report a crime without their caregiver’s assistance or they may be anxious about who will care for them if they report their caregiver’s maltreatment. If they do successfully reach out for services, they may face difficulty getting the accommodations they need due to a service provider’s lack of understanding or funding to seek the services they need to recover from violence or hate crimes.

1.4 Psychosocial and Logotherapy support

We provide ongoing support that enables victims of sexual trauma and gender based violence to heal and overcome the experience in order to adjust to normal life in their communities. We also offer other holistic and integrative approaches to healing as part of our peace building program.

 

2. CAREER AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

According to the United Nations, the concept of bringing gender issues into the mainstream of society was clearly established as a global strategy for the promotion of gender equality in the Platform for Action adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing (China) in 1995. It highlighted the necessity to ensure that gender equality is a primary goal in all area(s) of social and economic development.

In July 1997, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) defined the concept of gender mainstreaming as follows:

The International Labor Organization (ILO) specifies that mainstreaming is not about adding a “woman’s component” or even a “gender equality component” into an existing activity. It goes beyond increasing women’s participation; it means bringing together the experiences, knowledge, and interests of both women and men to the development agenda.

It may entail identifying the need for changes in that agenda. This may require changes in goals, strategies, and actions so that both women and men can influence, participate in, and benefit from development processes. The goal of mainstreaming gender equality is to transform unequal social and institutional structures into equal and just structures for both men and women (http://www.ilo.org/).

“On October 31 2000, the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 under the presidency of Namibia. This resolution was the culmination of advocacy by women’s organizations, and understanding the diverse roles women play both in conflict and building peace, which result in active involvement” (un.org/womenwatch). Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA support and promotes the United Nations Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UN SCR 1325) to advance women’s leadership and provide them with skills necessary to remain competitive through the following programs:

2.1 School to work skill Training

There are also constraints such as shortages of qualified staff and ill-adapted programs. Very few countries emphasize skills development in rural communities and the informal economy, which is the largest employer and source of vocational learning in Africa. Most of the training provided in sub-Saharan Africa is delivered through private providers.  Most African Secondary Schools and Universities are not focused on productive needs or fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. The potential of education to promote positive change in society is largely untapped.

Graduates are often unemployed, whilst at the same time small- and medium-sized businesses lack educated and skilled staff to drive innovation. Essentially, there is too little relationship between universities, what they teach and study, and the real challenges that businesses in the private sector encounter.

Yet, studies show that when university graduates do business, they create more jobs than those without a university education.

Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA Career and Leadership Skills Development is set to equip school graduates both Secondary and University, with essential employable skills and networking for achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development. Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA supports graduates with educational, business, and life skills. As part of our core program of activities, we support, train and equip young women with professional development skills that can be useful and applicable on the job, in the community and in their personal vocation or business.

This focuses on providing graduates with:

-Increase access to relevant and quality skills training
-Career development assistance
-Labor market placements
-Self-employment skills development
-International networking
-Support for micro and small enterprises to grow and create jobs through better access to credit and business development services
-Dress for success office suits distribution
-Resume and job search assistance.

2.2 Enhancing Knowledge for Leadership that Enhances Women and Youths Participation in Sustainable Development (SDGs).

We organize workshops and forum aimed at sharing knowledge for leadership that enhances women and youths’ Participation in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 on Gender Equality, Empowering women and Girls and SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions by working collaboratively with schools, and communities in selecting promising young minds, through a competitive process that assesses their potential for leadership and commitment to promoting sustainable peace and development.

Our leadership skills training program aims to help women and youths to better understand the challenges of sustainable development for communities all over the world, and provide them with the necessary leadership and skills training that will make them productive citizens.

The primary aim of the Leadership Development Program is to:

-Encourage knowledge creation and dialogue on the Sustainable Development Goals, security and human development progress issues using the Transformational Leadership approach.
-Strengthen leadership and critical thinking skills, initiative-taking and communication skills.
-Bring about an attitudinal change so that the approach of collaboration towards issues is multi-faceted, analytical, and mindful of sustainability.
-Cultivate a multi-faceted & analytical attitude in the collaboration with others while creating an awareness of sustainable development.
-Promote inter-religious dialogue, inter-cultural harmony and peaceful coexistence.

2.3 Entrepreneurship and Employment Skills Building

The potential of education to promote positive change in society is largely untapped. Graduates are often unemployed, whilst at the same time small- and medium-sized businesses lack educated and skilled staff to drive innovation. Essentially, there is too little relationship between universities, what they teach and study, and the real challenges that businesses in the private sector encounter.

For women to realize their full potential, they must have equal access to economic activities. Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA works to change the tradition of gendered division of labor and create a climate, including one free from sexual harassment, any type of discrimination, which would allow women to engage in leadership and economic activities of their choice.

Life skills training and employment generation are our strategies to address the problems of acute poverty among the poorest Women, children, and persons with disabilities and minority groups in urban communities in the United States, Haiti and Africa. The program is set to increase employment and earnings opportunities for targeted women, children, persons with disabilities and minority groups in both urban communities.

The program comprises of four components. The first component, improving women, children, and persons with disabilities and minority groups’ employability by addressing skills mismatch, engaging training providers and private sector employers to offer training and work experience to targeted women, children, and persons with disabilities and minority groups.

This component contain two sub-components: i) provision of training and work experience in the formal sector and provision of training and work experience in the informal sector; ii) the second component, support for job creation responds to the need for job creation with initiatives to help launch new businesses, improve productivity and job creation potential of existing micro-enterprises and among self-employed youth, and support innovative approaches to improve job and earning opportunities among hard-to-serve women, children, persons with disabilities and minority groups.

 

3. SUPPORT FOR LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT

National governments hold the ultimate responsibility for implementing laws, policies and services around Gender Based Violence against women and girls, tackle impunity and improve implementation of laws and policy can make a significant difference. Through capacity building, sector policy dialogue and joint sector reviews, missions and sector consultative forums, the project and its partners can influence national programming on Gender Based Violence, support the advancement of gender equality at the institutional level. For example, integrating Gender Based Violence and girls’ programming in governance and security sector reform can build state capacity to recognize, respond to and tackle Gender Based Violence against women, girls and vulnerable populations.

According to an 18 October 2013 statement by the United Nations, “Women’s participation in peace efforts is a matter of gender equality and universal human rights – and crucial to achieving sustainable peace, economic recovery, social cohesion and political legitimacy…Women must be involved at every stage of efforts to reassert the rule of law and rebuild societies through transitional justice. Their needs for security and justice must be addressed. Their voices must be heard. Their rights must be protected”.

Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA provides support for revision of the national penal code and penal procedure code, promoting the incorporation of relevant international standards and norms, especially concerning violence against women. We advise states on reforming laws and support the formulation and implementation of laws to ensure compliance with international human rights standards, especially in the implementation of anti-discrimination laws on sexual assaults, Gender Based Violence and hate crimes.

Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA supports Legal Aid Department of Ministry of Justice and Ministry for Women Affairs to build a legal aid system sensitive to the needs of survivors. This includes 1) technical assistance to legal drafters of the amended Legal Aid Law with stakeholders, highlighting gaps with national normative frameworks; and 2) support to develop a guideline for legal aid providers in promoting gender sensitive and survivor-centered response based on international standards.

4. COMMUNITY OUTREACH

King David Ministries is a project of Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA It is an outreach ministry working in close relationship  with pastors, ministers, clergy, development experts, community organizers, business men and women, law enforcement, and Peace Builders. We meet regularly to discuss some of the pressing issues facing our communities in the 21^st century, especially in under served communities through clergy dialogue, community outreach, service learning, mission trips, prayer breakfasts, fellowship and other activities which addresses the need for social justice within the beloved community.

 

5. INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

World Interfaith Alliance is a project of Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA This project is a participatory and experiential one – to dialogue with the religious other through various activities and exchanges such as small group discussions, living room interfaith dialogue, cultural and religious celebrations, and seminars. Sharing knowledge about each other’s faith, lived experiences and understanding our commonalities as one family under God’s love.

 

6. COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

Institute For Peace And Leadership, USA is engaging and reaching out to a wide audience regarding the organization’s activities in order to increase visibility through the following means:

6.1 Social Media

Social media is about two-way communications in:

-Facebook Posts
-Twitter Posts
-YouTube
-LinkedIn
-Instagram

6.2 Traditional Media Platforms

Traditional media publications reach a wide audience through print newspapers and online publications. They are an opportunity to draw attention to violent-related issues in community, within the nation and across nations, share information about the work of the organization, and ask for community support.

6.3 Press Release

Press release is to generate media coverage for the organization’s participation in National violence, Victims’ Rights and involvement in other events throughout the year.

6.4 Letter to the Editor

Readers’ letters and comments are often the most read sections of newspapers and news websites. They are great tools for building awareness about National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. By writing a letter to the editor, we are able to link domestic and other forms of violence Crime Victims’ Rights

6.5 Public Service Announcements

Broadcast media (radio and television) are required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve “the public interest.” Many stations donate portions of their commercial time to non-commercial causes and air community calendars with information about local events and activities. PSAs (public service announcements) are short video or audio messages that advertise a public service or event and, as such, are broadcast for free by radio or television stations.

6.6 Hosting special events and programs

The organization can host special events and program workshop/stakeholders round tables, to raise awareness about all domestic and other forms of violent, victims’ issues and rights and introduce the community to the important resources and services available.

6.7 Networking, partnership and Collaboration

Collaboration is an integral part of the crime victims’ rights movement. Strong partnerships among victim service providers, criminal justice professionals, and allies provide rich opportunities for raising awareness and educating the community.