FATHER'S DAY | MEN | FAMILY 

KAMPALA - The gender ministry says there is an increasing demand for fathers to participate more actively in the lives of their children and more broadly in family life.

The principal social development officer at the gender ministry, Ruth Muguta says research evidence increasingly shows that children with fathers more involved in their lives have better cognitive and behavior outcomes than their peers with less involvement of their fathers.

Fathers’ Day 2021 is being marked today under the theme; “Being a father a midst Covid-19 era.”

The Day is utilized to highlight the role of fathers in parenting, family preservation and protection.

Muguta says that the dominant narrative in Uganda currently was that fathers are absent, irresponsible, less involved in caregiving and domestic work and they are leading perpetrators of gender-based violence and more worrying against children.

The recent study by Uganda National Violence Against Children found a high prevalence of violence against children with fathers or step-fathers as leading perpetrators in more recent episodes of physical and emotional violence.

The government through the gender ministry, Muguta said has come up with policy interventions such as the national parenting guidelines to among others equip fathers to be responsible parents.

It has also initiated a policy on the elimination of gender-based violence through fostering tolerance environment, providing comprehensive response care and support services to survivors of GBV.

Muguta cheered up the fathers; “Our family is faced with various challenges but we can use these challenges as opportunities to mend what went wrong in our absence from the lives of the members of the family.”