“Women are the voice of peace that will be heard by warring parties because they are the most affected group.”
”Acceptance, satisfaction and success” were the expectations of Sumaya Sahloul during her participation in the Community Needs Monitoring training course.
Sumaya is a broadcaster and correspondent for local public radios in Ibb governorate. Through her work, she seeks to have a positive impact on the community, and this training course enabled her to come closer to community members and identify their needs. “I have acquired new and essential skills during the UNDP-funded training course organized by the Public Works Project (PWP). I have realized that I needed those skills to be able to work with local communities and identify their needs in order to highlight them through my work as a broadcaster,” says Sumaya. Sumaya is a persuasive young woman and attracts attention by her voice and calmness that reflect her high self-confidence and capability of highlighting community needs.
“Whoever works with the community should obtain the skills we gained during this training course, and learn the community-based participatory research (PRA),” she added. The training course targets women in the first place to provide them with the necessary skills to engage women in the work and rely on them as a primary source of necessary information to assess the community needs and help them determine the initial needs of the geographical area where they live and then take into account the standards to implement projects, such as the number of IDPs in the area, poverty rate and education and awareness level. “The most important parts of the community needs assessment are establishing familiarity and breaking the ice between community monitoring workers and beneficiaries to enable the beneficiaries to express their hopes, aspirations and basic needs. We have been trained on this part, which will facilitate our work to a great extent,” said Sumaya. “Engaging community members in defining their needs is a method that makes the project more effective and achieves interaction between the implementing agency and beneficiaries, and at the same time contributes to strengthening social accountability,” Sumayah emphasized. Sumaya believes that the equal engagement of women and men in the implementation of PWP’s emergency projects is an effective way to make the community accept women’s work in unfamiliar fields. “Much of the work that women are currently doing wasn’t accepted by society in the past, but women’s insistence on proving themselves through these activities is the main factor to make community members change their perceptions,” Sumaya added. Sumaya will continue her field work, provide community services and organize advocacy campaigns for the issues that are important for the community and women.
More Quotes by Sumayah:
“Nobody denies the role of women in their society. They were the first source of inspiration for men.” “During conflict periods, the voice of women, children and people with special needs must be communicated to enable them to express all their concerns.” “With the passage of time, people become aware about the great role of women in all aspects of life.”
