Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Côte d’Ivoire, hosted the national restitution workshop for the training of Muslim leaders held at Al Azhar University in Egypt on SWEDD themes related to the education of girls and to their retention in school, to the economic empowerment of out-of-school and uneducated young girls, to the harmful effects of early marriage.
The Call for Religious Leaders
The Minister of Solidarity and the Fight against Poverty, Myss Belmonde Dogo took advantage of the Yamoussoukro meeting to appeal to the various stakeholders for their involvement in monitoring the activities of religious and customary leaders within the framework of the SWEDD Project.
” I asks those responsible for the SWEDD Project and mainly its National Coordinator to scrupulously ensure the active participation of the various religious institutions in monitoring the commitments that will result from this workshop”, she wished.
Cécile Compaoré Zoungrana, Resident Representative of Unfpa in Côte d’Ivoire indicated that the role of religious guides is essential for the balance, the spiritual and social well-being of their faithful, their communities and the whole of the society.
“Their contribution to the elimination of the many challenges facing our populations, particularly in the sector of reproductive health, gender equality and gender-based violence is well established”, she let know.
“The national restitution seminar of the training of Muslim leaders aims to strengthen awareness of the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people”
Clearly, this national restitution seminar on the training of Muslim leaders aims first and foremost to strengthen awareness of the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people, family planning, schooling and keeping girls in formal school, gender, gender-based violence including child marriage and female genital mutilation, the contribution of Muslim religious guides in Côte d’Ivoire to the fight against maternal and infant mortality, illiteracy and dropping out of school for girls . And then, the development of socio-economic opportunities for girls and women to capture the demographic dividend.
Strengthen Sexual Health Awareness
At the end of this restitution, the Muslim religious leaders throughout the territory will have to be at the same level of information in order to initiate a global response, and ensure synergy of action with the other actors of the SWEDD project.
This synergy of action aims to effectively raise awareness against violence against women, young girls and adolescents.
As a reminder, the training of religious leaders was held at Al Azhar University in Egypt in 2018, as part of the capacity building of Muslim religious leaders from the beneficiary countries of the SWEDD project.
“Muslim religious leaders throughout the territory will have to be at the same level of information in order to initiate a global response, and ensure synergy of action with the other actors of the SWEDD project”
A training that is of paramount importance in view of the preponderant role that religious guides play in the awakening of consciences and the societal and behavioral change of populations. This training of Muslim leaders at Al Azhar University in Egypt on themes more generally affecting the sexual health of the girl and her empowerment, in relation to religious precepts and constitutes an opportunity for the success of the Empowerment project for Women and the Demographic Dividend in the Sahel (SWEDD).
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SWEDD Project/Fight against violence against women: Belmonde Dogo involvement of religious leaders