Zindagii Shoista: Living with dignity – Workshop manual

Zindagii Shoista is a workshop series designed to promote harmony within families and protect women and girls from violence through socioeconomic empowerment.

By considering wider family dynamics when working with local communities, it aims to create a socio-economic environment that enables women to enjoy greater protection from sexual and gender-based violence, with a focus on violence against women and girls. The workshop comprises two parts: social empowerment and economic empowerment.

The workshops address questions of gender, relationships, family conflict, violence and communication. When family members are in conflict or a family member is abused, this can affect all members of that family. In the workshops, participants are encouraged to recognise that relationships between husbands and wives are embedded in the broader context of the family and the community in which we live.

These strongly influence how we act, the possibilities open to us and our ability to lead lives that are safe and happy. Knowledge is important, but to make changes in our lives, we need to understand what affects our behaviour and that of the people around us, and we need certain skills to be able to better communicate with our families and the community.

Zindagii Shoista workshops provide opportunities for participants to examine their values and attitudes towards gender and relationships within the family, to build their knowledge on health and to develop skills to help them communicate effectively.

The workshops are based on participatory learning approaches, which take into account that people learn better when they are able to discuss and decide things for themselves, rather than just receiving lectures.

The workshops are designed for men and women, for the young and elderly.