Conquest for Life

Conquest for Life is a community based organiztaion operating in Johannesburg’s underserved townships that is run by young people, empowered to become agents of change by developing their identity, self worth and a sense of community. In the final grant to Conquest for Life in 2008, EMpower supported an 8 day training program that developed the conceptual and practical understanding of gender for the Conquest for Life staff, including men, and peer leaders to enable them to address the gender-based challenges of young women and young men in the communities that they serve. This process is explored issues of sexuality and gender and the implications of this in the context of HIV/AIDS. As a result, the staff reported strengthened capacity to design, implement and assess approaches to its work with young women (and men) that account for gender differences.