Change Agents Can Significantly

Change Agents Can Significantly Impact Gender Based Violence

The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, a compendium of terms and constructs used in implementation research, defines change agents as: “Individuals who formally influence or facilitate intervention decisions in a desirable direction”. It is within this framework that The Caribbean Voice is launching Project Change Agents (PCA) to tackle domestic violence specifically and violence in general in the Caribbean.

The project currently in its fund-raising phase, aims to involve schools, ministries of education, the media and other stakeholders in a process that will hopefully result in young people been identified and trained to become anti-violence

change agents in communities across the Caribbean, with special focus on domestic violence but also with skills sets to address sexual abuse, child abuse and hopefully substance abuse.

At the crux of the project is an essay contest on domestic violence for fourth to sixth form students in all English-speaking Caribbean nations during the 2022/23 school year. However, the plan is to secure the support of ministries of education in these nations with respect to getting domestic violence on the curricula for the 2021/22 school year enabling students to engage in research, including primary research within their communities. This will provide sensitization and the information they will use to write their essays during the 2022/23 school year. TCV also plans to approach Caribbean media to partner with respect to widely promoting the essay, providing constant coverage of domestic violence and publishing the winning essays in each nation as well as the overall regional winners. While cash prizes will be presented to the overall winners, TCV is hoping that ministries of education can reach out to the private sector for help to organize for cash prizes within each participating nation as well. All winners will be provided with certificates by TCV and regional winners will also receive plaques.

The expectation is that with higher sensitivity and greater knowledge about domestic violence, students would be willing to undertake training, to be provided virtually by The Caribbean Voice and other stakeholders, that will enable them to then become change agents within their communities. Ongoing support will be provided by TCV in collaboration with other stakeholders.

Given that attitudes are harder to dispel the older one gets, TCV hopes that by starting with young people, the entire next generation adults can be socialized towards a positive change attitude with respect to relationship violence and abuse thereby laying the foundation for an ongoing reengineering of attitudes.

TCV is appealing to the public to support Project Change Agent by donating to our gofundme account at https://www.gofundme. com/f/caribbean-high-school-domesticessay-contest?fbclid=IwAR1091sAxXMLpOKEBMsrTVyc6MoW3SrmuxKXYL4IDLWoueTkETEfS2vPs. Donors can be included as supporters of the project and businesses and organizations as partners in all publicity and promotion. For info or to be involved in this project as a supporter or partner please email caribvoice@ aol.com or call/what’s app 646-461-0574.