Oxfam designs program to fight Gender Based Violence

In an effort to end Gender Based Violence (GBV), Oxfam has designed a Gender Action Learning System (GALS) which brings men and women together to plan for their households.

GALS is a community-led household tool that seeks to transform power relations between women and men through joint visioning, planning and decision.

The programme uses visual diagrams to address gender and power imbalances within households, communities and institutions.

Speaking during the National stakeholders' conference in Kampala, the coordinator of Power at Scale project at Oxfam, Peace Chandini said the tool has so registered success in West Nile, Kasese and Northern Uganda.

"The GAL methodology has addressed issues of GBV in such a way that men and women can come together and are able to work together as a couple," she said.

The tool has also been taken up by farmer groups and village saving and Loan associations and they are using it within their different ways of life.
 
Chandini gave an example of Wadelai Farmers' Cooperative Society in Pakwach district where the GALS tool has transformed the lives of the members, adding that people are able to come together and plan.

The woman Member of Parliament for Pakwach Jane Avur said ever since the introduction of this methodology in some sub counties there has been trust among the couples.

"After the introduction of the GALS methodology in my district, there is transformation in the lives of people. The housing structures have also changed," she said

Avur added that the Sexual Offenses bill is expected to be presented to the floor of Parliament at the start of next year, adding that consultations between different stakeholders including the religious institutions among others have been done.

The conference was part of activities to mark the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

The acting country director Oxfam Uganda Jane Ocaya called upon the government to take up the tool and apply it in the various programmes they are implementing, like the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) which supports women to carry out various business initiatives.