Background
This tool is designed to support Nutrition partners in South Sudan to identify potential GBV-related safety risks at and around the Stabilization Centers.
Stabilization Center safety audits are participatory and practical tools that can be used to rapidly assess a facility’s usability from the perspective of users, whose requirements are often ignored in standard design.
It generally focuses on:
- The Stabilization Center structural design
- The Latrine for users (hygiene)
- Handwashing and bathing area
- General protection environment for women and children
Focusing on these broad four components, the safety audit helps to:
- Identify barriers that make it difficult for some people to use the facility independently
- Identify which features make the facility easy to use and which make it difficult to use for people with special needs (e.g. persons with physical impairments)
- Identify any safety concerns around using the facility, especially for women and children
- Identify any changes needed to the facility and/or the surrounding area
- Make practical suggestions for changes/improvement.
General tips on using this tool
- The tool is divided into three parts: 1) Observation; 2) Community Consultation (through focus group discussions); and 3) Staff Consultation. Ideally, all components should be used together, but depending on time, staff capacity, etc. individual components of the tool can also be used independently.
- For Part 2 (community consultations), it is recommended to have a female enumerator. If it is not possible to translate this tool into the local language ahead of time and/or train someone who speaks the local language to collect the data directly, it is recommended to have a female translator.
- When forming the focus groups for Part 2 of the tool, consider the power dynamics that might affect some participants’ ability to speak freely. For example, in some communities, older women may tend to dominate the conversation and younger women/adolescent girls may not have an opportunity to express their views unless there is a separate group just for them. Similarly, in some communities, unmarried women may feel less free to speak than married women may.
Suggested preparation steps prior to beginning data collection
- The purpose of this tool is NOT to actively identify specific GBV cases or survivors. However, when discussing topics such as safety, some participants may choose to disclose their personal experience or the experience of someone they know. Before beginning the data collection process, it is important to ensure that enumerators are prepared for such disclosures, including training on psychological first aid (PFA) and the available GBV response services in the location (if there are any). If GBV response services are not available in the location where data collection is taking place, enumerators should receive training on the Pocket Guide1 and/or have the GBV Pocket Guide app.
Source: UN Children’s Fund