Innovative researchers fighting gender-based violence win more than $1 million
By Chinyere Ogbonna – The World Bank Group and Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) has awarded US$1.1 million to 11 research teams from around the world for innovations to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).
According to reports,more than 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.Violence experienced by women and girls not only has devastating effects on survivors, but poses an obstacle to development and shared economic progress, as it impedes full participation in society and the economy and limits access to education and other opportunities.
The Development Marketplace Awards aim to help individuals, communities, and nations stamp out GBV. The Awards, first launched two years ago, honour GBV victims and survivors, and are held in memory of Hannah Graham, daughter of a longtime World Bank employee.
This year’s winners include a team evaluating a ‘walking school bus’ — a group of children walking to school with one or more adults — as a school-related GBV intervention in KwaZulu-Natal; a team looking at how monks and devotees can intervene to reduce GBV in communities in Cambodia; and a team working with young boys and girls in Papua New Guinea to train future leaders devoted to ending inequality and preventing GBV.
“No country is immune to gender-based violence,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. “Gender-based violence (GBV) is not only devastating for survivors; it causes significant social and economic costs that threaten our goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity around the world. Development Marketplace of the World Bank is in its third year of supporting innovative research on how to prevent it.
An expert panel reviewed more than 250 proposals submitted to the Bank Group and SVRI following an open call for innovations to prevent GBV in low- and middle-income countries. Winning teams, which received up to US$100,000 each, were chosen based on overall merit, research or project design and methods, significance, team expertise, and ethical considerations.
“Around the world, the research funded by this award will close gaps in evidence and help policy makers to design more effective ways of preventing and responding to gender-based violence,” said SVRI Research Manager, Elizabeth Dartnall.
The SVRI Grant, a global innovation award started in 2014, previously awarded more than US$1 million to nine projects in seven countries. With more than 5,500 members, SVRI is one of the largest global research networks focused on violence against women. SVRI supports research by disseminating and sharing knowledge and nurturing collaboration and networking, and improves policy and practice by supporting and funding research and capacity development. It hosts an international forum every two years to advance and expand research on sexual and intimate partner violence.
2018 Winners include
Enterprise Incubator Foundation, Geeks against GBV: Unlocking Potential of new change Makers and Leveraging ICT Solutions, Monash University, Culture for change: Prevention of gender based violence in Cambodia,Cambodia,Fundación Juan Felipe Gómez Escobar.
Others are,Evaluation of the Impact of the Adolescent Mother Program of Fundación Juanfe in the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence, Internet Sexuality Information Services, Zona Segura: A trauma-informed youth-centered innovative solution to teen dating violence prevention,
Follow up Primary Prevention Program of Intimate Partner Violence among New Married Couples in Jordan.
Examining the effectiveness of a gender transformative approach in economic empowerment programs to reduce Intimate Partner Violence, Equal Access International
Diffusion of Gender Norms Change at the Community Level in Nepal,
Innovations for Poverty Action
Training Local Leaders to Prevent and Reduce Gender-Based Violence in their Communities: Impact Evaluation of Leaders in Action (LIA), Peru among others.
