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For Dukwi Refugee Settlement, 16 Days of Activism is culmination of a year of campaigning in Botswana’s only refugee camp
UNHCR Photo

Refugees in Botswana mark a year of opposing gender-based violence

DUKWI REFUGEE SETTLEMENT, Botswana, 30 November – Dancing, singing and drama marked not only the launch of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence but the culmination of a year of campaigning in Botswana’s only refugee camp.

The year 2009 saw the commitment of the whole refugee community to preventing and responding to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), including the creation of the Dukwi SGBV Task Force, training and workshops, and production of paintings all over the camp in which the community pledged to stop violence against women and children.

The 16 Days of Activism that began last week were the culmination of 2009’s SGBV activities in Dukwi refugee settlement under the coordination of UNHCR community services with help from protection colleagues and the Botswana Red Cross Society.

Dukwi’s refugees launched the 16 Days of Activism by holding hands and reciting the slogan in one voice; a celebration in which the community pledged to fight violence against women and children far beyond the 16 days. There were performances by children and adults and a discussion of the slogan “we can stop violence against women and children.”

With a crowd of nearly 700 refugees applauding, Georgette, an 11-year-old refugee girl from DRC, stood in the Dukwi Community Hall and recited a poem that a Zimbabwean refugee, Shine Nyahoto, had written for the day:

The Voice that is No Longer Voiceless

“Silence, silence”
Sang the forgotten voice
“Silence, silence”
Cried the voice of the woman
Did you hear that?
At last, the least expected voice has spoken
Please, don’t let the voice die down
For it is not my voice
It is the voice of the children
The voice of that who respects
But it is not respected
The voice that no ear can give attention
Like a deaf, the voice is voiceless
But today the deaf have spoken
Time, oh dear time!
You are so innocent
You allow all the things to happen
Even the unexpected
Because today the deaf have spoken
For women and children are always
The subject of abuse
But today they have redeemed themselves
Hear my word
Truly I shall never cherish the past
No matter the sweetness
For today is worth more than a century
Because the women have spoken
Speak! Oh women speak!
Let your voice be audible
Stand tall! Oh women and children
For sexual and gender base violence is a crime
Don’t be quiet about it, let’s stop it!

By Marcela Rodriguez-Farrelly in Dukwi Refugee Settlement, Botswana

En este emblemático punto comenzó el viaje que nos ha mantenido fuera de casa hasta ayer mismo. Es la segunda vez que estamos en Ciudad del Cabo pero entonces no tuvimos ocasión de acercarnos a este cabo.

Cabo de Buena Esperanza, Ciudad del Cabo, Provincia Occidental del Cabo, Sudáfrica.

Group of Zebra close together - thought it would make a good photo

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Small group of Rhinos grazing near Berg en Dal

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Images automaticaly loaded from flickr with tags : (afriqueaustrale,southernafrica)