LASPNET TO EMPOWER INFORMAL AND FORMAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS TO HANDLE GENDER BASED VIOLENCE (GBV) IN MUKONO, BUIKWE AND KAYUNGA DISTRICTS WITH SUPPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

08 January 2021 -

Written by Laspnet

Uganda just like other countries is grappling with Gender Based Violence (GBV). Whereas Uganda scores highly in enacting gender responsive laws and policies including ratification and domestication of key human rights instruments to curb GBV such as the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); 1995 Constitution and Domestic Violence Act (2010) as well as setting up law enforcement agencies and structures such as the Police and the Judiciary to better respond and handle GBV, the vice remains rampant

This situation has been exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic. Suffice to mention that the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development reported that between the months of March to April 2020, GBV cases were recorded at 3280 cases. Further, the Ministry noted that the vice was as a result of the lockdown enforced by the President of Uganda in order to curb the pandemic.

Against this background and as we approached the 16 Days of Activism, on 2nd November 2020, LASPNET received the European Union (EU) as a new partner committing funds to fight GBV in three (3) districts of Mukono, Buikwe and Kayunga. The EU is a consortium of 27 countries which include among others Belgium, Austria, France and Netherlands. The Union is an embodiment of Good governance, Human Rights and Social justice. Under this partnership, LASPNET is a proud recipient of EUR 449,951.05 an equivalent of UGx 1,867,296,857 (One Billion Eight Hundred Sixty-Seven Million Two Hundred Ninety-Six Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Seven Shillings). The resources are intended to support implementation of a 2-year project titled “Empowering formal and informal justice systems to handle and respond to Gender Based Violence.”

The project is anchored on EU’s thematic area of Good Governance which seeks to improve Access to Justice for the poor and marginalized persons who are often times susceptible to social, economic and political vulnerabilities. Most importantly, this project was birthed out of the COVID 19 context and the subsequent disruptions it extended to society such as GBV.

The project also intends to achieve five (5) broader objectives geared towards fighting GBV which include:
• Increased evidence-based knowledge and information to inform project interventions within Mukono, Buikwe and Kayunga districts; This will be achieved through undertaking a rapid assessment that will provide preliminary information to inform project inputs and strategy.

• Increased awareness on the rights of women and children to combat GBV in Buikwe, Kayunga and Mukono districts; This will be enhanced through undertaking activities such as community awareness campaign on GBV via community-based radios as well as holding Community GBV Awareness Days within the target districts.

• Strengthened GBV responses by Informal Justice actors within Buikwe, Kayunga and Mukono districts; To achieve this objective, LASPNET will train cultural and religious leaders as well as Local Council Courts about the law, GBV and how to respond to cases of abuse within the communities.

• Increased community participation in the GBV fight within Buikwe, Kayunga and Mukono districts; The project intends to identify, empower and facilitate Community Watch Committees to undertake community policing, tracking and preventing possible abuses and violations within the community.

• Increased legal protection support to GBV Survivors within Buikwe, Kayunga and Mukono districts.The activities under this project will include giving first responder
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support to victims of violence including dispatching lawyers to follow up their matters closely through watching brief with investigators and prosecutors as need arises.
Ultimately, the project will enable LASPNET and its partners to contribute towards enhanced capacity of formal, informal justice system actors and community members especially women and girls to fight GBV in Mukono, Buikwe and Kayunga districts. The Project will also feature a series of innovations such as the establishment of Community Watch Committees to act as champions against GBV at the grassroots. Additionally, and as already noted in order to enhance access to justice for the GBV Survivors, LASPNET will work closely with Lawyers to support them on watching brief.

LASPNET greatly appreciates EU for considering it as one of the Implementing Partners for this project. It is a welcome opportunity that is intended towards eliminating the scourge of GBV within Mukono, Buikwe and Kayunga districts. While receiving and orienting the new project staff on 18th November 2020, Dr. Sylvia Namubiru Mukasa the LASPNET CEO noted that the EU funded project is timely and resonates well with the ongoing 16 Days of Activism against GBV. Therefore, as a Network, we pledge our total commitment to realizing the project goal and purpose and further call upon LASPs and other Strategic partners to embrace and support the successful implementation of this project.
Together let us “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent and Collect!”