Gov't asked to increase funding for gender ministry

Apr 07, 2016

Funds under MGLSD are very low given the very high cost of domestic violence to the economy

Government has been tasked to increase the budget of the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) to be able to effectively address challenges faced by the mother ministry.

The appeal was made by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) during a policy dialogue on ending domestic violence among rural communities in Uganda, organized by Action for Development (ACFODE).

The dialogue focused on effective implementation of the Domestic Violence Act (2010) and access to justice for survivors of domestic violence at local level.

Richard Makumbi, the program officer, Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention (CEDOVIP) said that funds under MGLSD are very low given the very high cost of domestic violence to the economy.

"There is need to increase funding to the parent ministry to coordinate the domestic violence response and prevention, the overall for social development increased only by 16% national budget yet for all ministries, the budget has increased nearly by 100% from sh62,927 billion in 2014/2015 to sh72.6b in 2015/16," he said

"As such, at approximately 72.6b in 2015/16, the MGLSD budget remains very low in comparison to the response and prevention needs. If the mother ministry is not well funded to deal with the issues of domestic violence, the vice is likely to escalate" Makumbi added.

In 2012, in a research done by ACFODE and Makerere University, it is estimated that DV incidents cost the Uganda economy about sh77b annually, a figure much higher than the annual budget for the ministry of MGLSD, yet DV is the least reported crime owing to its peculiar nature.

The dialogue was attended by different stakeholders including government agencies and civil society organizations, representatives from local government and community agents of change.

Makumbi noted that challenges like lack of awareness of the provisions under the domestic and violence act by duty bearers, limited capacity to fully implement domestic violence activities, corruption in institutions that provide justice, social acceptance of violence against women are some of the things that are in the way of fighting against the vice.

Across the country, at least 56% of women aged 15-49 years, translating into four million Ugandan women, report having ever experienced domestic violence, while 28% of the women have ever experienced sexual violence.

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