GIR’ITEKA
According to UNICEF, nearly a quarter (23%) of Burundian women between the ages of 15 and 49 have reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetimes. Despite the government’s commitment to improving the availability and quality of services to survivors, the health system faces challenges—the inability of health providers to offer high-quality services, a lack of safe and confidential spaces to treat survivors and an inconsistent supply of SGBV commodities to facilities.
The GIR’ITEKA (“Be Respected”) project builds on the work of the EngenderHealth-led Burundians Responding Against Violence and Inequality (BRAVI) program, which focused on establishing national policies, guidelines, and curricula. The project aims to reduce SGBV and improve services for Burundians living with and affected by SGBV and HIV. We are helping partner organizations responding to HIV to integrate SGBV and family planning services into their work with a focus on gender- and youth-sensitive care.
SWAA-Burundi was a partner during BRAVI and is now leading GIR’ITEKA with technical assistance and training support from EngenderHealth. We are supporting SWAA-Burundi to address harmful gender norms and institutionalize high-quality care and treatment for SGBV survivors, including integrating such care into broader sexual and reproductive health and HIV services. EngenderHealth is excited to be contributing to local sustainability through this partnership with SWAA-Burundi.
