“Training on mainstreaming Gender-based Violence prevention and response mechanisms in our respective working areas has transformed my perspective of learning and sharing knowledge to others. CARE Bangladesh serves as a catalyst for change in our rural communities by transforming NGO workers like us. We are developing as a leaders in our respective areas.”, - Monirul Islam, a front-line NGO worker in Moheskhali, shares his story with confidence. He is one of the active participants to have attended training initiatives on GBV prevention and response, facilitated by the Field Facilitators in frames of the project “Achieving Universal Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Host Communities of Cox’s Bazar” (hereinafter, the Project), implemented by CARE Bangladesh, with the technical support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and funded by the Government of Canada.
38 years old Monirul Islam is one of community change makers in Moheskhali upazila and the Moheskhali Upazila Supervisor of Shimantik (a national NGO).
“Every human being needs these kind of trainings in his/her life, as it opened my eyes on many issues which I usually avoided to address.”, - said Monirul. He articulated that the training he received helped him gain depth knowledge on core gender issues, which is helping him to analyse his programmatic views and address sensible and critical concerns while dealing with women in community. He tries hard to get more engaged in gender-related aspects of work in his workplace and be an example of engaging men in gender equality struggle.
“I do believe that there is a need for more awareness-raising discussions on issues of gender segregation through community engagement work. More training needs to be organized for the grassroots workers to increase their awareness and capacitate them with tools. The discussion on violence against women among communities should be continued as much as possible to break taboos and harmful practices in communities",- says Monirul
