Cultural leaders commit to end gender based violence

Cultural leaders under their umbrella body,  the Council of Traditional Leaders in Africa (COTLA) Uganda has pledged to work towards ending gender based violence.

“We declare that we shall strengthen the involvement of men and boys in shaping and re-shaping cultural norms and practices and commit to address harmful cultural practices that contribute to GBV such as child marriages, teenage pregnancies and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM),” the cultural leaders said in a joint statement.

Statistics from UBOS indicate that the proportion of females without formal education is twice (24%) that of their male (10%) counterparts, and less females (19%) than males (25%) had completed secondary education.

The contributing factors to the low completion rates and retention of girls in schools include; poverty resulting in lack of school scholastic materials and school fees.

Some families decide to marry off their young daughters to receive dowry, which prevents them from continuing their education. 35% of girls are reported to drop out of school due to early marriages, and 23% drop out due to early pregnancy.

In a statement as the 16 days of activism climax tomorrow, the prime ministers of Tooro Kingdom, Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, Iteso Cultural Union, Alur Kingdom, Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu, Inzu Ya Masaaba, Obundingiya Bwa Bamba, Obwenengo Bwa Bugwe, Buruuli Cultural Institution, Lango Cultural Institution, Kumam Cultural Heritage and Sebei Cultural Institute, the cultural leaders committed to identifying, publicizing, and raising awareness of the positive cultural resources in their communities that support enrollment and retention of children in schools, particularly girls.

According to the cultural leaders, this will be achieved through community outreach programs, mass media, traditional and cultural events, promoting positive parenting practices, and other initiatives that promote the value of education for all children.

“Every girl child has a right to access quality education free from discrimination, violence and cultural barriers. Any actions by parents, teachers, guardians or relatives that hinder opportunities for the girl-child to attend school shall be brought to book,” the cultural leaders said.

“We shall support and promote children’s education with emphasis on girls in our communities; recognizing the unique challenges they face in accessing and completing education.”

The cultural leaders also pledged to collaborate with other stakeholders to create a supportive environment for school-going girls by addressing early warning signs of drop out, and providing mentorship to the young people using available traditional learning spaces.

“We shall identify, publicise and raise awareness of the positive cultural resources in our communities to support enrollment and retention of children in schools particularly girls, through community outreach programmes, mass media, traditional and cultural events.”

They said they will shall collaborate with other stakeholders including government, civil society organisations, private sector and development partners to collectively pull resources and expertise in promoting the positive aspects of our cultures that aid child education especially the girl-child.

“We shall establish mechanisms in collaboration with other stakeholders to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts, tracking progress and addressing challenges in respect to increasing enrollment and retention rates for both girls and boys in school.”

Cultural leaders also pledged to mobilise cultural resource persons at all levels to monitor families for compliance in support of child education especially girls.

“We shall support government programmes aimed at improving the lives of families with emphasis on women and girls, and the implementation of relevant legal and policy frameworks.”