HANDLE Uganda
GBV MID-TERM REPORT // 2019
PROJECT: PROMOTING
COMPREHENSIVE PREVENTION AND
RESPONSE TO GENDER BASED
VIOLENCE IN COMMUNITIES OF
NWOYA DISTRICT IN NORTHERN
UGANDA
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Handle Uganda under the auspices of OMOANA Switzerland, joined Ugandan government and other development partners in the implementation of a three-year intervention “Promoting Comprehensive Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence in Communities”. The first phase of the activities was conducted in Koch Goma Sub County. In the second phase, HANDLE is now implementing GBV activities in Alero Sub County, Nwoya district.
As learning point and with the involvement of the Role Model Men (RMM) the project activities brought men as agent of change, equal partners to women and also men as victims that also require mentorship and support.
Using the RMM has been instrumental in behaviour and attitude change in the highly patriarchy society that positioned men with unquestionable authority that created unbalanced power relationship between men and women, boys and girls.
As part of the broader agenda on the overall goal for the Prevention and Response to Gender Based Violence in Communities, HANDLE integrated activities implementation with a scalable model for prevention and response beyond the potential negative impacts that are directly linked to ability to engage men as change agents, institutional and individual attitude and behaviours change toward women (nonviolent homes) and making men become more supportive of their wives in the household work, VSLA activities and women’s empowerment.
OUTPUT 1
SUPPORT 20 NEW WOMEN VSLA SOLIDARITY GROUPS WITH
IMPROVED SEEDS/FARM INPUTS TO PROMOTE LIVELIHOODS
DIVERSIFICATION
To support the continued economic empowerment
of women, the program established 15 VSLA
women’s groups in Alero and Koch Goma Sub
Counties up to date. The groups were trained on
VSLA principles and methodology that made them
to begin saving money amongst themselves. In
addition, the 15 women VSLA solidarity groups
established have been supported with improved
seeds and farming skills to boost their livelihoods
choices and diversification. The aim of this
intervention is to allow members of the VSLA group
attain positive and sustainable outcomes on
livelihoods through strategic diversification of
productive activities, which can be empowering for
women in securing their economic independence
and stability.
TRAIN 4 WOMEN GROUPS ( 120 WOMEN) WHO WILL BE ENGAGED
IN THE MICRO ENTERPRISE PROJECT ON "SELECTION, PLANNING AND
MANAGEMENT"
One of the strategies for HANDLE to combat gender-based violence is to
enhanced economic empowerment of women. To date, 15 VSLA groups of 376
members were trained on how to establish and engage in micro enterprise
project. To avoid emergency of conflict among the group members, not only the
4 groups of 120 participants were trained since it would lead to conflict
amongst the groups.
PROVIDE FINANCIAL LITERACY TO WOMEN VSLA GROUPS
VSLA is a key channel for achieving women’s empowerment, and creates access
to social, physical and financial capital. In order to achieve this, HANDLE Uganda conducted financial literacy training to 6 women VSLA groups consisting of 170 members. The training helped to improve the financial discipline of the groups.
With this training, all the groups trained now have systematic procedure by which the records of an association are created, captured and maintained. The records group register, collection allocation of welfare/social fund ledger, managing saving, loan disbursement and utilization and returned with 10% interest and the management of the group cash book.
PROMOTE LINKAGES OF WOMEN VSLA GROUPS TO BANKING
INSTITUTIONS AND PRIVATE SECTORS FOR MARKET
HANDLE supported women VSLA groups in their process of gaining financial
independent and discipline. With the financial literacy training, the group
gained basic understanding of banking, savings, and the importance of good
credit. Basing on the above, 6 women groups were linked to Koch Goma SACCO where they are now able to access loans to improve on their businesses..
ADVOCATE FOR IMPROVEMENTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATIONS BY THE WOMEN GROUPS TO EFFECT CHANGE AND
LIVELIHOODS
Up to date, 2,020 seedlings were distributed to the VSLA group members to be
planted as part of the climate change adaptation to improve climate. The
distribution of the seedling was at 3 fronts; (1) the climate change component to
support handling eco-system management and restoration, disaster risk
reduction and climate change adaptation. Basing on the vulnerability and
poverty level, the sub county witnessed devastating effect of the massive tree
cutting for charcoal burning, digging along the stream and the quarry work
along the stream and the types of farming where trees are cut off from the
garden to give space for crops to grow well.
SUPPORT WOMEN GROUPS ON INTERNATIONAL DAYS
( INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, 16 DAYS OF GENDER ACTIVISM,
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY)
HANDLE Uganda has supported 15 women VSLA groups on 5 different
international days celebration up to date; these includes; 2 international
women’s days (2018/2019), 2 days of African Child (2018/2019), one 16 Days of
Gender Activism, and Human rights day celebrations.
The international days celebrated acted as an advocacy forum where women in
their voices were able to voice out issues that affect them and which requires
immediately attention. During the 16 days of gender activism, HANDLE through
the GBV project supported women for lobbying concerning gender issues and
responsiveness.
In all, HANDLE Uganda supported women groups to develop 2
position papers which were presented during the commemoration of the
international women day and during the launch of the 16 Days of Activism for
lobbying concerning gender issues and responsiveness. Women groups were
also facilitated with transport and feeding during the launch of the 16 Days of
Activism week and other international days
CONDUCT RADIO TALK SHOWS AND RADIO SPOT MESSAGES TO
PROMOTE WOMEN'S LAND RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO ECONOMIC
SUPPORT
5 radio talk shows and 2 spot messages developed and aired up to date on two different local radio stations in Gulu. The 5 talk shows and the spot messages were conducted on Radio Rupiny and Radio Pacis respectively in Gulu since Nwoya District does not have a radio stations as yet. The panelists during the radio talk shows included; Nwoya District woman councilor, Nwoya District Community development officer, District Gender officer, LC 3 Chairman Koch Goma Sub County, and staffs of HANDLE Uganda (Case manager, program coordinator, and the project officer).
CONDUCT 12 AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS TARGETING 300 MEN WITH MEN AND BOYS ON HOW TO COMBAT NEGATIVE MASCULINITIES AND GENDER STEREOTYPES
To create a common understanding among the communities, local leaders on key concepts, forms and other issues related to SGBV, 6 awareness campaigns have been conducted targeting men and boys as agent of change in creating
behavior and attitude change towards women agency.
This activity was conducted with men and boys as a move to combat negative masculinities and
gender stereotypes. It also aimed at Community sensitization, awareness and mobilization for positive gender relations. Basing on the awareness creation, the communities are now able to report the GBV cases with clear referrals
pathways.
CONDUCT MALE ENGAGED SEMINAR BY THE RMM TARGETING 100 MEN
One male engaged seminar has been conducted up to date where by 72 men where reached through the seminar. To support the development of positive attitudes and behavior among men to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment a one day couple seminar was organized.
The seminar brought in a total of 72 men to allow them gain confidence first in themselves and
secondly to practice new aspects of masculinity identity, practicing nonviolence and possess more supportive behavior towards their wives. Finally they were helped on best approaches to demonstrate an understanding and
appreciation of the benefits of gender equality and women empowerment.
ESTABLISH 24 ROLE MODEL VSLA GROUPS IN NWOYA (8 PER YEAR)
15 Role Model VSLA Groups have been stablished in Koch Goma and Alero Sub Counties by HANDLE to date. The VSLA groups were all trained on VSLA management and now engaged in the VSLA activities.
ESTABLISH 30 RMM AND TRAIN ON JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION
Recognizing that engaging men for gender equality does not rob women of agency or ownership of their equity and empowerment agenda, for the last 1 year, HANDLE implemented a male engaged initiative that sought to target men through a three pronged approach, that has proved successful in emphasizing the instrumental role that men play in challenging the institutionalized nature of patriarchy. To date, HANDLE established 60 RMM in Alero and Koch Goma sub counties in Nwoya District and trained them on the Journey of transformation.
The program has been able to open up dialogue to explore ways of engaging men as activists in confronting institutionalized settings, challenging sexual and gender based violence and policies that reinforce inequalities.
To date, the project has been working with Role Model Men (RMM) who are practicing positive masculinity as a means of influencing change within the 600 households as well as reaching out to other men.
This approach too has proved promising as these role models were able to change a
few men in their communities.
SUPPORT 30 RMM WITH BICYCLES!
In order to facilitate RMM activities within Koch Goma and Alero sub counties
and linking with the broader male engaged network to ensure easy movement
and sustainability of their work, the 60 RMM have been supported with bicycles.
The RMM are now able to reach all the direct 10 households allocated to each
one of them, make follow up and carry out referrals and support to victims
within their community.
QUARTERLY REVIEW AND REFLECTION MEETINGS WITH RMM TO INFLUENCE BEHAVIOURS AND ATTITUDES TO TAKE ACTIONS
5 quarterly review meetings with RMM conducted up to date, this helped to influence behaviors and
attitudes to allow them take actions. Up to date, the project conducted 5 reflection and review meetings. The participants for this reflection meetings were the 60 RMM established, the CDO, members of staff from HANDLE. The aim was to review activities of RMM on quarterly basis and
assess the challenges and lessons learnt.
On the other hand, the meetings built the capacity of the role model men in stages of male involvement on personal change, role model for family and friends, speaking out in the community, and advocating for social change.
The refection meeting gave the RMM a better mechanism to support 10 households in terms of mentorship, coaching for attitude and behavior change.
It also taught RMM the change process that includes; training, attitude change, conflict with the old behavior, confrontation and mentoring to create new levels of ownership and behavior change.
CONDUCT QUARTERLY RADIO TALK SHOWS AND 12 RADIO SPOT MESSAGES WITH RMM TO PROMOTE MALE ENGAGED INITIATIVES
AND EMPOWER MEN FOR GENDER EQUALITY
4 quarterly radio talk shows and 2 spot messages developed and relayed on two
radio stations in Gulu. Key issues discussed were related to Gender and power
relationship between men and women and testimonies by Role Model Men.Radio spots messages were also developed and relayed on key topics of sharing gender roles, decision making in the household, widows property and positive masculinity.
CONDUCT ANNUAL COUPLE SEMINARS WITH 30 RMM AND THEIR SPOUSES (60 TOTAL)
HANDLE conducted one annual couple seminar with 30 RMM and their spouses (60 in totals). This was conducted to further support the RMM and their families as they are the ambusaders of peace in the the community they lived.
The RMM are working under difficult condition that require a peaceful mind that begin
right from their families before they go out to support others.
BUILD CAPACITY OF RMM ON DOCUMENTATION AND REPORTING
2 capacities building trainings of RMM on documentation and reporting conducted. During the reflection meetings with the RMM, one of the challenged noticed and recommended for immediate attention was documentation and reporting cases of GBV.
As a result, the RMM were trained on documentation and reporting. They were also trained on how to collect data for GBV incident report using Ministry of Gender reporting form. The data collected by the RMM are captured within the national GBV data base and HANDLE archive.
CONDUCT REFRESHER TRAINING FOR RMM ON JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION AND GENDER TRANSFORMATIONS
As a measure towards continuous capacity strengthening of the RMM, one day refresher training was conducted. The refresher training was based on the challenges that the RMM were facing as they conducted their activities at
community level. One of the challenges was on sexual and reproductive health rights and men attitudes toward health seeking, psycho social support to the GBV survivors at community level.
This training was therefore done in partnership with VIVO who are experts in counseling. They therefore helped to further improve on the program’s work to promote the development of positive changes in household, gender relations between men and women.
The learning from this training is being adapted to the context of Northern Uganda to improve programming on engaging men as partners to women.
O U T P U T 3
STRENGTHEN COORDINATION MEETING AT DISTRICT/SUBCOUNTY LEVELS ON SGBV
13 coordination meetings held up to date at district/sub county levels on SGBV in
Nwoya District. During the period between January/2018-June/2019, HANDLE
supported 10 GBV coordination and sectoral meetings for partners implementing
GBV activities in Koch Goma and Alero Sub Counties financially and through
participation and also taking lead. This helped in experience sharing and
addressing common issues that affect GBV implementation in Nwoya District. The
meetings brought in implementing partners like VIVO, Action Aid, GWED-G and
ZOA including the sub county leadership such as CDO, Sub County chief,
chairperson LC III and the Police Child and Family Protection Unit. Mobilization and
the support given by HANDLE helped to strengthen the coordination meetings at
the district and the sub counties of Koch Goma and Alero In Nwoya District.
SUPPORT COMMUNITY POLICING
6 police-communities policing were conducted up to date. This activity was facilitated by the police officers from Koch Goma and Alero police posts with the aim of making the general public aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens of Uganda.
The activities were also to help community understand how to channel GBV cases, procedures for prosecutions, identification of
criminal cases and the role of police and HANDLE in the prevention and legal response to cases of gender based violence within the communities.
The community policing promoted partnership-based, collaborative effort between the police and the community to more effectively and efficiently identify, prevent and solve problems of crime, the fear of crime, issues of physical safety and security, social disorder, and neighbourhood decay in order to improve everyone’s quality of life. The activities created informal and formal social protection and safety mechanism to respond and prevent GBV.
SUPPORT REFERRALS OF 300 SURVIVORS OF SGBV ( 100/YEAR) FOR MEDICAL AND LEGAL REDRESS FROM NWOYA DISTRICT
120 referrals of SGBV survivors were supported for medical and legal redress up to date. All the cases which are criminal in nature are referred to the police for the legal redress are captured within the national GBV data base and HANDLE archive.
HOUSEHOLD DIALOGUES CONDUCTED WITH
RMM REACHING 300 HOUSEHOLDS THROUGH
COACHING AND MENTORSHIP TO SUPPORT
FAMILIES AND REDUCE GBV AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL
A total of 535 household dialogues have been conducted by RMM through coaching and mentorship to support families and reduce on GBV at household levels. This statistic is both for Koch Goma and Alero Sub Counties in Nwoya District.
SUPPORT DUTY BEARERS TO CONDUCT
AWARENESS RAISING ON DANGERS OF SGBV
5 Meetings organized to support the duty bearers to conduct awareness rising on the dangers of SGBV.
One strategy for project implementation is
participatory approach of engaging relevant stakeholders especially technical district and sub county team and beneficiaries to make the program more holistic and inclusive of all actors.
HANDLE strengthened the capacity of the
project stakeholders and GBV working group in Nwoya District, HANDLE organized five meetings with the project stakeholders during the period who included; police, sub-county authorities, RMM and district stake holders for effective collaboration for a joint effort in addressing the challenges of SGBV in the sub counties and the District.
CONDUCT PROJECT INCEPTION MEETING WITH 40 PARTICPANTS FROM NWOYA DISTRICT INCLUDING DUTY BEARERS RESPONSIBLE
FOR PROMOTING PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
2 inception meetings were held in Nwoya District head quarter and Alero Sub County in Nwoya District to introduce the project to the stake holders both at the sub county and the district head quarter. The meetings drew the attention
of the District Community Development Officer (DCDO), Chairperson LCV, and District councilors (male and female), Operational Commander (OC) Nwoya Police station, , Secretary Community Service, Senior Community Development
Officer (SCDO), Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the Senior Probation and Social Welfare Officer and Focal Person GBV.
At the sub County the participants were Assistant Inspector of police Koch Goma, Chairperson LCIII Koch Goma, Councilors (Male and Female) the sub county chief. The meeting strengthened the link between HANDLE GBV project and the district and sub county leadership on their roles in the implementation of the project. They were also
made to understand Project thematic focus, Strategies for the project implementation and the role of the various stakeholders in GBV response and prevention services.
SENSITIZE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PUPILS REGARDING GENDER EQUALITY
4 sensitization sessions conducted in primary and
secondary schools in Koch Goma and Alero Sub counties, Nwoya District to date regarding gender
equality.