Gender has been one of Civis’ priority issues for a long time. Through its internal gender strategy Civis is committed to include gender both in its projects with Colombian youth organizations and through its internal operations as an organization. The main objective is to mainstream a gender perspective in all the different activities and for the partners to have a general idea of what gender inclusion means.
With its partners, Civis has raised gender issues through its different project activities and through encouraging partners to include a gender analysis in their project reports. To help this work, Civis has for several years been offering partners individual workshops, specifically focused on gender issues, as a means of increasing their knowledge. While some of its partners, namely El Colectivo de Hombres y Masculinidades, Lesbiapolis and Entertránsitos, work directly with gender issues, other partners have just started to reflect on gender and their knowledge is therefore limited.
To complement the gender-focused workshops and the individual activities that the partners are undertaking, Civis initiated its first Online Academy on Gender issues on 20th October 2010. The participants of the Academy belong to Civis partner organizations and allies, and are located in different regions in Colombia.
“The Online Academy allows us to share knowledge and experiences as men and women,” said one of the 35 members signed up for the Academy.
“In one way or another we are working towards a transformation of the existing power relations between men and women, as a way of thinking and constructing a more just and equal society.”
The idea of online education came up after it was noticed that workshops lacked continuity. Although the partners found that they were useful, it was difficult to maintain a continuous discussion on gender issues within the organizations and in the communities: “This whole learning process is now key and it feeds into all our work as women”.
Also, the one-day workshops did not allow for a deep analysis or for the exploration of the different aspects of the discussion. In addition, long distances and limited financial resources made an exchange of experiences between partner organizations from different regions in Colombia impossible.
Civis’ Online Academy on Gender Issues intends to address these shortcomings. It gives young people, involved in Civis partner organizations, the opportunity to learn about gender and to exchange experiences online without requiring any extra resources. The teaching is divided into four different modules with each module lasting for a total of three weeks.
Module 1: Introduction to gender issues
Module 2: Gender diversity and sexual diversity
Module 3: Gender and sexual violence
Module 4: Including gender in the organizations and in the projects.
Each module has a specific topic and raises different issues. Each week, students have access to different documents, articles and/or videos through which they can deepen their knowledge. Also, through an interactive forum, the participants are given the possibility to share their thoughts and experiences with each other and answer specific questions. Moreover, the online nature of the academy gives the participants the opportunity to share their experiences with each other and to learn about gender roles and relationships in different part of the country, without having to travel long distances and at no cost.
As a bonus, the young people involved in the Academy increase their ability to use information technology and gain experience of using an online education system. For many of the young people, who are predominantly from disadvantaged communities where education is scarce or of low quality, this is the first use of an online learning system. It can give them an insight into different education methods that can also be accessed at very low cost wherever you have access to the internet.
The Online Academy is currently implementing its second module about gender and sexual diversity: “I am very grateful for this opportunity that Civis is offering us. The academy encourages us to criticize our actions, not just learning theories. Most importantly, these individual reflections lead to a transformation of our attitudes!”
For more information, please contact Karolina Karlsson
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