The orientation on the gender-based violence (GBV) was conducted on September 21, 2015 at INFO Training Center, Simuay, Sultan Kudarat for 25 Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade (BIWAB) members and 10 medics from the Health and Dental Department of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).

The activity was graced by the presence of Dr. Danda Juanday, the President of the Bangsamoro Medical Society (BMS) and BIAF Chief of Staff Sammy Al-Mansoor.

Al-Mansoor delivered a message shedding Islamic perspective on the issue of GBV.

“If you look up to the message of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) in his last farewell sermon, he addressed the issue towards women not only to all Muslims but to all humanity”, Mansoor said.

Ms. Venus Samson, the Cotabato-based GBV consultant of United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA), was the resource person.

In her lecture, she defined gender sensitivity as not about pitting women against men or about male bashing / attacking.

She said that the topic helps distinguish between what is real and valid from what is stereotyped generalization.

Samson related that said activity became sharing and learning process not only for the participants but also for her as resource person.

“I can say that even though I was the source of all the knowledge (in the activity), I’ve also learned a lot from the participants”, Samson added.

She expressed hoped that the participants would gain knowledge on GBV even a little so that when they come back to their community, they can practice in their little way for their selves, home and communities.

Meanwhile, the participants expressed their gratitude to BDA and other partners for the initiative of conducting such activity for them.

This orientation on GBV is part of the implementation of the program on strengthening capacities for RH delivery and advocacy in the Bangsamoro is supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

BDA served as the trust fund recipient and the implementing partners are the Bangsamoro Medical Society (BMS) and Bangsamoro Leadership Management Institute (BLMI).