Developing Reading Skills

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Read about the program Morocco and El Salvador created against violence. Look specially the strategies implemented against violence. Compare them and answer the exercise choosing the best answer from the options.

Young People Use Music to Fight Violence in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR – About 1,000 children, teenagers and young people living in high-crime areas in El Salvador have found the best way to prevent violence in a musical program promoted by the World Bank and financed by Japan. “Many more” youths were called on to apply, but following the selection process “we’re working with 1,000,” the president of the Salvadoran Foundation for Education and Labor, the Spanish Salesian priest Jose Maria Moratalla Escudero, better known as “Padre Pepe,” told EFE. The Don Bosco Youth Symphony Orchestra debuted just over a year ago in San Salvador, the program’s director Moratalla said. The project got underway three years ago and, of the 1,000 students from different public schools in San Salvador province, some 470 make music, with 220 in the symphony orchestra and 250 in the chorus, while the rest are in training. The 25-year-old conductor of the orchestra, Bryan Cea, like his musicians, comes from a notoriously crime-ridden district. The youths live together as brothers without problems at the Don Bosco Industrial Polygon, home of the project, despite belonging to communities ruled by rival street gangs Mara Salvatrucha and Pandilla 18, which also surround this refuge in a neighborhood known as Las Iberias. The project has been financed with at least $1 million from the Japan Social Development Fund, administered by the World Bank, an analyst at the international financial institution, Jania Ibarra, said. The World Bank’s aid ends July 22, but Moratalla said the project will continue and the foundation will try to integrate it into other cultural workshops they offer, with the help of other organizations.

 

 

Over the past decade, Morocco has made significant strides in improving women's rights, including the ground-breaking passage of the 2004 Family Code, giving women greater protection and equality, and the 2008 ban on discrimination against women. But the country still struggles with high levels of gender-based violence: fully 60% of Moroccan women have experienced some form of violence and a quarter of them sexual violence in their lifetime. The Joint Programme was conceived to reduce gender-based violence against Morocco's women and girls by addressing the linkages between their poverty and their vulnerability.

It was implemented through two strategies:

1. The mainstreaming of gender issues in national policies including the promotion of gender-sensitive planning, programming and budgeting processes;
2. The application of gender-sensitive policies in six regions through: the establishment of multisectorial referral systems for women and girl victims of violence; the creation of multifunctional spaces for empowering women and girls; and awareness-raising and education to promote a culture of equality.

The programme represented a pioneering experience in coordination and governance, as it included 13 ministerial departments, eight UN agencies and more than 40 NGOs.

Main achievements included:

• The programme supported the drafting of a proposed amendment to the Criminal Law, and bills on domestic work and domestic violence.  Several government departments have integrated budgetary reforms, including gender sensitivity. The programme made significant contributions to this process through the publication of the 2011 Gender Report, capacity-building of NGOs and elected officials and support for advocacy efforts addressed at decision-makers.
• Support was provided to create networks of elected female officials.
• A programme was developed to involve men and boys in the fight against gender-based violence. Training workshops were help for women’s associations combating gender-based violence.
• A study comparing national criminal laws and international standards for the protection of children and women was completed and a national survey on the prevalence of violence against women was conducted and its results diseminated. Systems were created for collecting and analysing data on gender-based violence, care of abused women and empowerment of women and girls.
• A reference Guide on standards for the care of female victims of violence was published and widely circulated to the Department of Justice, the police and Royal Guard. Training was provided to NGOs on listening techniques, legal violence, social violence and emotional abuse and support provided to counseling centers. A Programme of Action for the Protection of Children, particularly girls, was initiated. 
• Support was provided to income-generating women’s cooperatives.

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