Justice and Dignity for Women of the Sahel (JDWS)

The NGO Justice and Dignity for the Women of Sahel (JDWS) is a non-profit organization of reflection and initiatives whose main goal is a merciless fight against physical and psychological violence against women and girls in the world and particularly in the Sahel. The NGO (JDWS) owes its origin to a Malian woman who lived in Mali and the Sahel during the difficult periods of armed conflict where she witnessed various types of violence against women and girls. With her team and her partners, she intends to help break silences and lift taboos to better inform about gender-based violence, in order to assist her sisters around the world to loudly denounce their ills.

Thus, the NGO "Justice and Dignity for the Women of Sahel (JDWS)/ Justice et Dignité pour les Femmes du Sahel (JDFS)" was created to achieve the vision of a world without violence against women and girls and which brings together the six (06) countries of the Sahel, namely: Burkina, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad. The NGO was created just a couple of months before the start of the pandemic making it extra challenging to manage operations in six different countries. With all that challenges, the organization was able to make an impact within the communities where it operates, through education, community engagement. While we are a small organization, we think our work makes a difference, not just in the lives of our beneficiaries, but in all of the communities we serve. Here’s a brief review of some the work we did over the past two years: • Educated over 75 community leaders on the impact of GBVs on the community overall, and the existing laws that protect survivors as well as steps they can take to protect victims. • Our Outreach efforts reached over 14 000 individuals with 70% engagement from men. We believe that it’s extremely important that men take action in this cause as in most culture men are the head of the family. • Engaged 13 regional/Popular artists to use their platforms to raise awareness on GBVs and to create arts to support the cause • Surveyed 1056 women in the regions we serve to understand the effect of the current sanitary crisis on GBVs victims. With the data collected, we aim to create programs that will help us address the need identified.