FAWE Benin continues to reinforce its commitment to creating safe, inclusive, and protective learning environments through the active engagement of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Complaint Management Committees established across nine Centres de Formation Professionnelle et d’Apprentissage (CFPA). Throughout January 2026, committee members carried out a critical step in strengthening protection systems by convening to review and verify reports submitted through confidential complaint boxes installed within the centres.
These committees play a vital role in ensuring that learners—both girls and boys—have access to safe, confidential, and trusted mechanisms for reporting incidents of gender-based violence. Their work contributes to fostering accountability, protecting learners’ rights, and promoting environments where all students can pursue their education free from fear, discrimination, or harm.
Ensuring Confidential and Professional Handling of Complaints
The GBV Complaint Management Committees are mandated to handle reported cases with the highest standards of confidentiality, impartiality, and professionalism. By regularly reviewing complaint boxes and assessing reports, the committees ensure that concerns are addressed appropriately and that affected individuals receive the necessary support and protection.
This mechanism is particularly important in vocational training environments, where learners are developing skills essential for their future livelihoods. Safe learning environments are fundamental to enabling young people to fully participate in their training and reach their full potential.
The committees also serve as an important bridge between learners, training centre leadership, and programme implementers—ensuring that concerns are acknowledged and addressed while strengthening trust in institutional protection systems.
Promoting Awareness and Encouraging Reporting
Alongside reviewing complaint mechanisms, FAWE Benin conducted sensitisation sessions within the training centres to raise awareness about gender-based violence and encourage learners to report incidents safely. These sessions targeted both female and male learners, reinforcing the importance of shared responsibility in preventing violence and promoting respectful, inclusive learning environments.
By empowering learners with knowledge about their rights and available support systems, FAWE Benin is helping to break the silence that often surrounds gender-based violence. Encouraging open dialogue and awareness is a critical step in preventing abuse and ensuring early intervention when incidents occur.
Advancing Protection Through Partnership
This initiative is implemented under the 3M Programme, led by International Development – Education internationale, in partnership with national organisations including FAWE Benin and Réseau National des Jeunes Engagés pour le Développement (RENEJ-Bénin). The programme is supported financially by Global Affairs Canada and the Embassy of Canada in Burkina Faso and Benin.
Through this collaborative effort, FAWE Benin is contributing to strengthening institutional systems that protect learners and promote gender equality within vocational education settings.
Building Safer and More Inclusive Training Centres
The work of the GBV Complaint Management Committees reflects FAWE Benin’s broader mission to ensure that education and training environments are safe, inclusive, and empowering for all learners. By establishing trusted reporting systems and promoting awareness, FAWE is helping to create spaces where learners feel respected, protected, and supported.
These efforts are essential in enabling young people to focus on their education, develop skills, and pursue their aspirations without fear of violence or discrimination.
Through sustained engagement, strong partnerships, and community awareness, FAWE Benin continues to strengthen protective systems within vocational training centres—advancing a future where every learner can thrive in a safe and supportive environment.