ENGAGING WITH CSE
Community & Traditional Leaders.
Resources about CSE for trusted figures on the ground.
Community and traditional leaders play a pivotal role within many African societies and serve as a source of trusted information for many individuals. Therefore, engaging with them is essential to ensure holistic access to communities.
For community and traditional leaders
Maintaining traditional and cultural values
While community and traditional leaders do not play a formal role in education, they continue to play a gate keeping role within some communities when it comes to how information is perceived, received and implemented.
Key message
Lead with shared values and the right terminology
Start from the values that a community already cares about. Remember that terminology and words matter within these types of conversations.
In practice
Lead with values such as care, protection, and responsibility, bringing in evidence once trust has been established.
Key message
Use the community’s own concerns
Focus your efforts on the community’s own concerns about young people’s health and wellbeing. Invite them to name these concerns themselves without pre-empting their answers.
In practice
Guide the conversation with reflective questions rather than making statements. These could include:
- “What worries you most about this?”
- “What experiences have led you to be concerned about this?”
- “Could you explain what this looks like in your community right now?”
Take the full toolkit with you
Download the complete Stakeholder Toolkit as a document for offline use, printing, and sharing.
