Raising Voices Programme Tools

Executive Summary

Raising Voices, a project of the Tides Center, works to develop sustainable programmes that prevent violence against women and children. The organisation is based in Uganda and provides resources and supports that build gender-based violence prevention capacity in organisations primarily in East and Southern Africa, as well as around the world. One key strategy is the development and publication of programme tools that assist organisations and individuals to work in their community to prevent gender-based violence. Raising Voices has produced two Programme Tools focused on violence prevention in East and Southern Africa:

• Mobilising Communities to Prevent Domestic Violence: A Resource Guide for Organisations in East and Southern Africa, a comprehensive guide which outlines key community mobilisation strategies in order to effect lasting change.
• Rethinking Domestic Violence: A Training Process for Community Activists, a practical tool that outlines training activities focused on preventing domestic violence.

Although originally intended for use in East and Southern Africa, approximately 2,500 Programme Tools have been disseminated by request in 65 countries. They are being used by organisations and individuals to develop programmes and guide violence prevention activities in local communities, on national levels, and in large geographic regions.


Raising Voices recruited an external evaluator to assess the use and impact of the Programme Tools. A representative sample of 272 participants in 40 countries responded to an online survey, followed up with 26 in-depth interviews.

Key findings

• Organisations have very high confidence in Raising Voices and the Programme Tools. They frequently recommend Raising Voices and share the Tools with partners.
• The publications are actively used to develop and implement violence prevention programmes in communities and regions around the world. The majority of respondents also regularly use the Tools for reference and capacity building. In addition, organisations reported that the Tools have positively impacted the quality of their violence prevention programmes.
• Respondents commented on the high quality of the publications, their clarity, usefulness and the ability to easily adapt the resources. Respondents found the Resource Guide comprehensive and the Training Process valuable for implementing training. Organisations expressed a strong interest in receiving further supports from Raising Voices, including more resources and training.
• An overwhelming majority of organisations do not gather feedback on their violence prevention activities. 46% have little experience in monitoring and evaluation, presenting an important opportunity for capacity building.

Recommendations

• Continue with the provision of resources and support to organisations engaged in mobilising communities to prevent gender-based violence. Expand these supports to organisations through the development of new multi-media tools and increased technical support and training.
• Further document monitoring and evaluation capacity needs in the violence prevention field. Develop tools to support organisational competence in programme evaluation.

Raising Voices has developed effective resources that mobilise communities and prevent violence against women and children. They have a strong reputation for successfully responding to capacity building needs within the violence prevention community. Raising Voices provides organisational and programme development supports that enable significant community mobilisation violence prevention initiatives worldwide.