Local government leaders, under their
umbrella organisation Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA), have asked
the Ministry of Health to allocate them at least 40 per cent of the budget,
saying they do more work than the central government which takes the biggest
chunk. This follows the proposal from the 2012/13 national budget frame work
paper which suggests 17 per cent, way below the 35 per cent allocated to the
health sector under the local government in the last financial year. The ULGA
vice president, Ms Josephine Kasya, during the ULGA negotiation and advocacy
meeting held in Kampala yesterday, said there was need to harmonise the funds
given to the two sectors. The president of the same organisation, Mr Peter
Odok, expressed disappointment over the level of “selfishness” at the central
government. “If we cannot get 50 per cent, let the ministry give us 40 per cent
and we will use it to improve service delivery rather than giving 83 per cent
of the funds to people who sit in offices and draw plans to implement yet they
don’t want to give the money for implementation,” Mr Odok said. The local government
officials accused the central government of a deliberate move to under look
them, an allegation which the central government representative from the
Ministry of Health, Dr Isac Ezati, said would be addressed by the relevant
authorities.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Basic maternal care could ease Uganda's fistula problem
Ugandan women face a higher risk of fistula due to
a lack of skilled birth attendants in the country. The Commissioner Clinical
for Clinical Services Dr Jacinto Amanduaau old Daily Monitor that 15 per cent of
labours in Uganda require the aid of a professional midwife, but most women
have to do without such essential medical care. Fistula is usually caused when
a woman is in labour for too long or the delivery is obstructed. The condition
can cause an abnormal opening of the birth canal which often leaves the woman
with a recurring problem with leaking urine and feacal matter. Dr Amandau was
speaking at the launch of the country's new fistula care programme.
Authorities in Uganda recognise there is a fistula problem and they want to ascertain
the scale of it and develop new ways to address the issue. The latest official
figures are from 2006 and show that 2.64 per cent (200,000) of Ugandan women
have suffered from symptoms of fistula.
Monday, 30 April 2012
2012 is an even year and that means something in the Sebei Region - FGM!
The dreaded time of the year 2012 (for some) is fast approaching. 2012 is an even year and in the Sebei and Pokot region, the surgeon's blade will be the language come December. Young girls will either be forcefully OR ignorantly circumcised or they will turn up for FGM because they believe that it is cultural and one must never go against culture. Sadly, women who refuse to undergo female genital
mutilation (FGM) in Pokot and Tepeth communities in Karamoja sub-region are
forcibly cut by traditional birth attendants while delivering. The law against FGM is in place and the Sabiny contributed to its formation, according to sources interviewed by EASSI. It was not imposed on them at all, rather it was through participatory dialogue. Kenya, Uganda's neighbor to the East also banned the unkind cut in 2011, months after Uganda. And now the East African Community is to legislate against FGM.
Plans are underway to
implement an FGM law at a regional level, Dora Byamukama, a legislator at the
East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member recently revealed. “One of the
fundamental principles of the East African treaty is that member states observe
human rights which include women’s rights. This principle also calls for
legislation against harmful practices like FGM.
Beyond the blade, what are these woman and gils being subjected to?
HIV/AIDS, Obstructed labor, permanent damage to their bodies, DEATH is the extreme! Must we even have a law against a practice that leads to these kinds of burdens on the victims and their families?
Without even looking at the law and others that are yet to come, how about door to door awareness campaigns? community conversations and yes education campaigns - or literacy campaigns. With matters of life and death, are income generating alternatives even viable? changing mindsets with the end results of FGM as the center of focus are enough a starting point for surgeons, strong believers in culture and the victims - willing and unwilling. Unrelenting advocacy against FGM is what needs to be done. Lets not leave anyone in the dark.
EASSI is at this for the year 2012 - and we are sure that the results will be there.
Bare breasts and the naked face of official brutality
Several armed riot police swooped on Turinawe’s car to stop her from travelling to an opposition rally.
One officer then repeatedly went for her right
breast, squeezing it violently as Turinawe screamed and fought him.
Eventually, she was yanked out of her car and bundled into a police van.
Until now, police and other security officers who crack down violently on the opposition in Uganda have been promoted.
Indeed, at the height of the Walk to Work protests by the recently banned Activists for Change (A4C), a senior officer who did not violently break up one of the walks was demoted to oversee a decrepit police garage.
The difference this time was that the breast-attack on Turinawe was not just bizarre, but disturbing in a strange sort of way.
The video of the attack that was posted on YouTube sparked notably angry responses.
There are many other stories in this, though. In the 1990s, East Africa witnessed the rise of militant street political activism by women.
Kenya was the epicentre, and the late Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai the poster girl of the movement.
Women’s activism seemed to die down in the mixed democratisation wave that swept the region, but is now on the rise again.
In Kenya, activist Ann Njogu has been flying the new flag. In Uganda, Turinawe is the face of the new feminism.
There is something unnerving about Turinawe. Literally every other month, she is either beaten up by security officers (sometimes badly), or is arrested, or is in court.
She most spends more time in hospital, prison, at rallies, and in court than in her house. No matter how much she is struck down, she will get up and defy power again.
Second, it is reveals a striking pattern in the way East African Men of Power use intimate body parts to terrorise their people.
In West Africa, both rebels and unruly government soldiers like to cut off the genitals of their male opponents and eat them.
Sourced from the East African Newspaper
Indeed, at the height of the Walk to Work protests by the recently banned Activists for Change (A4C), a senior officer who did not violently break up one of the walks was demoted to oversee a decrepit police garage.
The difference this time was that the breast-attack on Turinawe was not just bizarre, but disturbing in a strange sort of way.
The video of the attack that was posted on YouTube sparked notably angry responses.
There are many other stories in this, though. In the 1990s, East Africa witnessed the rise of militant street political activism by women.
Kenya was the epicentre, and the late Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai the poster girl of the movement.
Women’s activism seemed to die down in the mixed democratisation wave that swept the region, but is now on the rise again.
In Kenya, activist Ann Njogu has been flying the new flag. In Uganda, Turinawe is the face of the new feminism.
There is something unnerving about Turinawe. Literally every other month, she is either beaten up by security officers (sometimes badly), or is arrested, or is in court.
She most spends more time in hospital, prison, at rallies, and in court than in her house. No matter how much she is struck down, she will get up and defy power again.
Second, it is reveals a striking pattern in the way East African Men of Power use intimate body parts to terrorise their people.
In West Africa, both rebels and unruly government soldiers like to cut off the genitals of their male opponents and eat them.
Sourced from the East African Newspaper
Today it is Ingrid, but tomorrow it will be you
The word revulsion does not capture the feeling, but it comes quite close to describing my reaction to images of last week’s sexual assault on Ingrid Turinawe, the leader of the FDC Women’s League, which was perpetrated by a Uganda Police officer, acting on behalf of the ruling regime. Most of the world did not have any doubt about what happened to Ms. Turinawe. The television images and still photographs reached us in Toronto, as they did all over the world, within minutes of the attack. Uganda’s image took another beating, made worse by the feeble response of the regime’s spokespersons, who could not bring themselves to call the attack what it was – a crime of sexual assault against a citizen. I choose my words very carefully and deliberately. So I invite you, Tingasiga, to note that I have not said “alleged sexual assault.” The crime committed by the policeman was captured live on video. Only those addicted to self-deception would waste time discussing the nature of the crime that was perpetrated against an innocent woman. I hear that the government spin-masters are claiming that the criminal police officer was a woman as if the gender matters. The only civilized action that the government must take against the policeman is to arrest him and charge him with assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault and other crimes that the learned fraternity is adept at compiling. One hopes that Ms Turinawe herself will launch a case against the policeman, the police and government.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/OpEdColumnists/MuniiniMulera/-/878676/1396302/-/6ac25jz/-/index.html
Friday, 2 March 2012
The EAC-GIZ-EASSI Gender week in focus
The East African Community Secretariat (EAC) in collaboration with German Agency for International Co-operation (GIZ), East African Sub-Regional Support Initiative (EASSI) and Arusha Municipality have jointly organized a series of activities to mark Gender Week from 5-9 March, 2012 in Arusha, Tanzania. The event coincides with the World International Women’s Day on 8th March and linked to the United Nation’s Secretary General’s Campaign to End Violence Against Women UNiTE on 9th March.
This event will bring to focus the critical need to end gender violence, especially against women and children in our region,’’ said the EAC Deputy Secretary General in Charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Jean Claude Nsengivumwa.
He added: ‘’Domestic violence is a deadly crime, a social menace, and a costly public health problem. Domestic violence can explode anywhere, anytime. We all have to make concerted efforts to avert the violence through increased awareness.’’
International sports icon Ambassador Dr Tegla Loroupe of Kenya, a former two-time world record holder in women’s marathon, will be special guest during the event.
Ambassador Loroupe is well known in the region as a firm activist against women and children violence. She has, among others, reformed a significant number of armed warring cattle rustlers in Northern Kenya, Southern Sudan, North-Eastern Uganda and Ethiopia and is famed for having brought considerable peace to these troubled- areas which has won her numerous regional and international awards.
Among the highlights of the activities is a workshop to sensitize EAC staff on how to mainstream gender in their programmes and activities on Monday(5th March) at the Snow Crest Hotel.
The GIZ Support to the EAC Integration Process Programme Manager, Bernd Multhaup says:
The equality of women and men is an integral part of GIZ’s corporate culture’’, adding that GIZ has a long-standing tradition of gender mainstreaming, and its constantly updated gender strategy is based on the assumption that development would only be sustainable if women and men benefit equally from political, economic, social and cultural development, and if they fully exploit their potentials.
Recent ‘EAC Gender Audit’ has acknowledged the EAC –GIZ Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) component as a best- practice for gender mainstreaming in EAC programmes.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
When Women Are Seen As Objects, No Girl Can Be Safe In This Society
A report that has revealed that 20 per cent of city students are in the sex trade. Girls down to pre-teens are recruited into transactional sex. This comes on top of the survey published three-and- half years ago which showed that 40,000 girls in upper primary school were defiled annually by their teachers. This information has not caused public uproar and tangible actions to do something about the underlying attitude towards girls and women. . It shows in many ways, the delay of the Domestic Relations Bill is one; many are comfortable with the male dominance and the handling of women as property. When women are seen as objects you can own and use for entertainment, no girl or budding woman can be safe. Why has nobody concerned with the moral status of this country come out strongly in defence of these young people whose only fault is that they belong to the “weak sex”. “Weak”!? Anybody who has seen an African woman at work knows better than talk about her weakness. But so many of them have been indoctrinated in the “African value” of male dominance, that the opposing voices are hard to hear. With the new report referred to in Sunday Monitor, it is safe to say that every 10 minutes on an average, more than one underage girl is sexually molested.
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