A major component of the Zeest program is building capacity of various organizations and professionals working on violence against women. This includes basic sensitization training as well as providing skills such as facilitation, conflict resolution and para- counseling skills.

Methodology

The methodology of trainings is participatory. Group work, group discussions, role-plays, and self-reflection are used in the majority of exercises to encourage participants to experience, understand and contribute towards individual as well as collective learning.

A. Sensitization Training

Sensitization trainings on violence against women are carried out with community mobilizers, activists, and professionals such as doctors, lawyers, members of the media, and members of the police with the aim of fostering an understanding of the dynamics of violence against women in the context of our own society as well as to allow for some level of personal reflection on personal attitudes, biases and blocks regarding these issues.

Content

A sensitization workshop consists of a five-day module and consists of various sessions which include the following:

• Self-awareness
• Gender
• Power
• Prejudice
• Violence against women

The workshop seeks to incorporate self and self-development in sensitization and addresses gender and its link to power, control, and violence in women's lives.

B. Skills Training

In addition to providing sensitization trainings on violence against women, Zeest also provides training on skills such as

• Facilitation
• Conflict resolution
• Para-counseling

These training are conducted with both government organizations as well as with NGO, CBOs, and professionals working with survivors of violence.

The Para-counseling skills workshops are conducted with the aim to enhance the para-counseling skills of individuals who are working or planning to work with survivors of violence, so that they are able to deal with their clients with more professionalism and sensitivity.

These workshops are conducted as Para-counseling Skills Level 1 and Level 2. The Level 1 workshop provides basic counseling skills and the Level 2 workshop is conducted to further enhance these skills through greater understanding and practice and is conducted for participants who have attended the Level 1 workshop.

• Click here to download Zeest's para-counseling workshop's brochure (58kb PDF file).

Capacity Building Initiatives

Some of the capacity building initiatives carried out by Zeest are:

• Zeest carried out a project with Cavish, a community based organization, through which the organization's community workers of Gujjar Khan and Haripur were trained on issues of self-growth, emotional health, and violence against women and children. The community workers carried out sessions on these topics in their communities and through this project a total of approximately 340 rural women were reached.
• A two-year project being carried out in collaboration with ActionAid is currently underway. The project aims to strengthen 13 CBOs/NGOs (from Punjab , NWFP, Balochistan, and Sindh) through building their capacity to initiate activities related to the issue of violence against women within their communities.
• Zeest has conducted sensitization and skills trainings (communication, para-counseling, etc) with Government Crisis Centers and Dar-ul-amans through various projects.