The “MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership” (MCGL) is a four-year USAID-funded project run by Jhpiego in consortium partnership with Save the Children, PACT and The Manhoff Group (TMG).
The project is working on preventing and mitigating the consequences of violence against women and girls and identifying possible drivers of Forced Early and Child Marriage (CEFM). The project covers four technical areas such Sexual violence (SV), Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), CEFM and Early adoption of family planning.
One of the critical prevention interventions adopted by the project is SASA Together. “SASA!” means “NOW!” in Kiswahili, emphasising the urgent need to avoid violence against women. “Together” emphasises that change is possible with teamwork, support and solidarity. SASA! is a groundbreaking community mobilisation approach created by Raising Voices (Uganda) for preventing violence against women.
It is a proven approach that has worked in countries like Tanzania, Sudan and Rwanda. It is uniquely built to address a core driver of violence against women and unpack the power imbalance between women and men, girls and boys. This approach inspires and allows communities to rethink and reshape social norms.
SASA! Together is applied in phases, i.e. START, AWARENESS, SUPPORT and ACTION. Sequel to the implementation of the start phase, the project is in the process of going to the next step, which is awareness. At the end of the START phase, MCGL gave IEC materials to community leaders and activists to mark the end of the START phase and LUNCH the awareness stage. The distribution of these Merchs has further increased the passion of the activists and facilitator to work harder towards the project goal of ending GBV.