General

Awareness Through Art: Burmese refugee youth raise awareness about sexual and gender-based violence

18.10.2016
Malaysia

Organization:

International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)

Kachin Refugee Learning Centre

Spring Learning Center

Date program started:

2015

Purpose:

Increase awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) faced by refugee women and children from Myanmar

Objective:

Promote greater awareness of the high-risk of gender-based violence refugee women and children face
Engage Burmese refugee youth in increasing knowledge of these risks in their own community
Promotion of changed attitudes and behavior with the goal of preventing gender-based violence

Targeted population:

Burmese refugees in Malaysia, particularly refugee youth

Challenge addressed:

Lack of awareness of gender-based violence

Program description:

The majority of Kuala Lumpur’s urban refugees come from Mayanmar
Cultural attitudes and behaviors surrounding gender roles and vilence, coupled with the stresses of statelessness, poverty, and uncertainty, have led to refugee women and children being at high-risk of gender-based violence
The International Catholic Migration Commission (IDMC) teamed up with Kachin Refugee Learning Centre (Kuala Lumpur) and Spring Learning Center (Penang) to launch an Awareness Through Art contest
In Kuala Lumpur almost 100 youths between the ages of 13 and 17 participated, creating artwork illustrating the themes of “Say no to violence” and “Respect”
In Penang more than 60 children aged between 5 and 16 from the Rohingya and Muslim refugee groups created artwork with oil pastels focused on the themes of “Respect” and “Staying Safe”
The top three pieces of artwork were featured on postcards which were then distributed in the community, with the aim of promoting new attitudes and behavior

Impact on targeted population:

Over 100 refugee youths were involved in promoting awareness of sexual and gender-based violence in Kuala Lumpur and Penang
The art pieces reached a broader audience within the refugee community in both cities

Conditions required:

Information and training on gender-based violence for refugee youths
Art supplies, such as paint and canvases, and a space for the art work to be created

Support:

ICMC provided mini-grants to enable these programs
ICMC received funding support from the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)

Resources:

ICMC – Preventing and addressing gender-based violence in Malaysia

ICMC – ‘A mini grants program promotes equality and prevents gender-based violence in Malaysia’

Kachin Learning Centre [Website]

Kachin Learning Centre [Facebook]

Our impact

3700
refugees have better access to education and livelihood opportunities
40
countries in which our partner NGOs are implementing solutions
490
refugee children benefit from mathematics, english, art and sports classes
700
women can now support their families
650
refugees have access to critical healthcare and safety information

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