Ireland applauds Uganda over gender-based violence fight

KAMPALA - The percentage of men that agree that a husband is justified to beat his wife for any reason has decreased from 81% in 2006 to 22% in 2016 while that for women has decreased from 78% to 43% over the same period.

The statistics were shared during a reception hosted by William Carlos, the Ireland's ambassador to Uganda, to recognise achievements and learnings from the joint gender based violence prevention and response programme implemented jointly in Busoga region by the Governments of Ireland and Uganda.

According to a press release from the Ireland embassy, Carlos stated that the Government of Ireland has been privileged to partner with the Government of Uganda in addressing this problem.

The ambassador highlighted some of the encouraging results of the programme since 2006, while noting that there is still progress to be made, including the decrease of domestic violence/physical violence among women from 66% in 2006 to 46% in 2016, the marked decline in violence during pregnancy from 16% in 2006 to 7% in 2016 among women aged 15-49 years as well as the decline in experience of sexual violence amongst women from 53% in 2006 to 26% in 2016.

"Ireland contributed €3.7 million (sh14.8b) to this programme over the last eight years. Despite this, there is still need for increased funding for gender based violence prevention and response services from Government," Carlos noted.

He further emphasised that Ireland's new policy for international development ‘A Better World' places gender equality and addressing gender-based violence right at the heart of Ireland's programmes.

"In Uganda, Ireland will continue to support the Government in addressing domestic and gender-based violence through various actions as part of our current strategic plan. Ireland's education, HIV/AIDS and governance programmes will continue to work to ensure that attention to the protection and safety of women and girls is actively considered by government and non-governmental partners," Carlos said.

Jinja High Court resident judge, Justice Eva Luswata, briefly shared her reflections on the progress Uganda has made in providing access to justice for women and girls. Although gender based prevention and response policies exist, implementation of these policies is still a challenge. 

The Ambassador concluded the event by thanking the parliamentarians and representatives from government and civil society organisations for the commitment they have demonstrated.