GoU-Irish Aid Joint Programme To Address Gender Based Violence In Busoga Region
Background and Introduction
GBV prevention and response strategies have been integrated in the main development frameworks of Government namely:
The National Development Plan (NDP) and the Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) for Northern Uganda. The NDP is now approved for implementation during 2010/11 – 2014/15.
The Plan seeks to address GBV as a core strategy to achieve the NDP goal of promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
This is also the goal of the Uganda Gender Policy 2007. Parliament recently passed the Domestic Violence Act and Government produced the National Action Plan on UN SCR 1325, 1820 and the Goma Declaration.
Problem Statement And Justification
Gender based violence (GBV) in Uganda is perceived as a national problem and of growing concern because of its linkage to the spread of HIV and STD infections, unwanted pregnancies and the trauma experienced by victims, its direct negative impact on the dignity of victims and productivity in general.
In Busoga, very few women and men who experience violence report the incidence to relevant authorities. Challenges to address this problem include the absence of a harmonized national strategy and the inadequacy of legal, medical and social services in comparison to the magnitude of the problem.
Changing attitudes to GBV requires continuous community mobilization to promote behaviour change using unique strategies that increase meaningful involvement of men in GBV response, yet the capacity of duty bearers such as the LC courts; police etc, to judiciously handle cases of sexual violence is limited.
A mapping study coordinated by MGLSD with support from Irish Aid (2009) aimed to establish the presence of actors (Local Government, NGOs, and CBOS) responding to GBV through service delivery.
The study established that the majority of interventions were concentrated in Northern Uganda with coverage in other parts of the country at less than 5 percent.
These findings indicate a gap in service provision in other areas of the country including Busoga; where in 2006, the Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS) established the highest incidence of sexual violence cases against women (53 percent) in Uganda.