The Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) is starting March with the rollout of the Train the Trainer Workshops for the Group’s Psychosocial Team as well as the Facilitators of the Offenders Program.
The capacity-building sessions are part of the SVSG and the British High Commission’s partnership approach to addressing gender-based violence in Samoa.
The project, titled “Training of Community Leaders to Provide Psychological First Aid and Rehabilitative Counselling for Survivors and Offenders of Gender-Based Violence,” aims to train 20 SVSG village representatives; 10 to provide psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence and 10 others to facilitate rehabilitative counselling for offenders of violence.
The 10 participants to the psychological first aid training are selected from the SVSG village representatives who have completed a unit of the Diploma in Counselling, delivered by the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) late 2022 for a course entitled “Domestic & Family Violence & Anger Management”.
The 10 participants to the rehabilitative counselling for offenders of violence training are drawn from the current facilitators of the Offenders Program conducted by the SVSG Office in Apia, as well as the SVSG Office at Tuasivi in Savaii.
The Session 1 for both the Facilitators and the Psychosocial Team were held on Thursday and Friday at the Vodafone Conference Room at Maluafou.
According to the SVSG President Siliniu Lina Chang, “The project’s activities are based on a human rights approach and are premised on Samoa’s culture and Christian beliefs, as they form the essence of being Samoan.”
“I, therefore, acknowledge the timely financial assistance from the British High Commission in Samoa, through the grant, which now enables SVSG to improve the capacity of its personnel, especially those volunteering to provide psychological first aid support to survivors of GBV and rehabilitative counselling to offenders of violence.”
