ICGLR First ladies Meeting opens today

BY UGAMEDIA The First meeting of the First ladies from the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) has opened in Kampala, Uganda today. The opening ceremony was presided over by the chair of the ICGLR First Ladies, Her Excellency, Dr. Christine Kaseba Sata from the Republic of Zambia. The First Ladies host, Her Excellency, Janet Museveni said it is good and right to participate in this historic conference on sexual and gender based violence, which is aimed at discussing how we can unite as governments and people of the region. “The opportunity for us to discuss the problem of sexual and gender based violence and collectively work out solutions could not have at a better time. A time when social values in our African communities are disintegrating, when the family unit is threatened by some negative foreign cultural influences, when gender based violence is, painfully, increasing in our society, this indeed is a time to put our heads together to find lasting solutions in this area,” Hon. Janet Museveni said. Mrs. Museveni said sexual violence comes in many forms but the most often cited is rape and defilement. “However, sexual and gender-based violence encompasses a wide range of other abuses that many may include sexual threats, exploitation, humiliation, assault, molestation, domestic violence, incest and rape,” the Ugandan First lady told the meeting. “Needless to say, most cases of sexual violence involve female and male perpetrators. However, men and young boys can also be vulnerable to sexual violence especially in detention or war or refugee situations,” she added. She said it was painful to acknowledge that’s sexual abuse of children including infants happens in our society every day. She noted that many sexual abuse cases are not reported to the authorities due to social acceptance of these practices, or the stigma most abused women face, or fear of more violence from partners, or failure by authorities to act on the perpetrators and the absence of relevant laws to punish the culprits. “The time is now up for our governments to be up and running in advancing effective laws preventing gender-based violence and enforcing policies that ensure survivors’ access to acre and legal justice,” she added. Uganda’s Minister for Gender, labor and Social Development said it is fitting that this extraordinary opportunity, of having our leaders engage in a dedicated dialogue on practical strategies to curb a scourge that has for centuries epitomized social behavior, not only in situations of war but also during peace times, is held here in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. “I am confident that Uganda offers a lot to learn in the area of SGBV prevention and response. I take this opportunity to thank all our partners for joining us in this struggle to make Uganda, the Great Lakes Region, Africa and indeed the world a safe place for women, men, boys and girls,” she added. “Excellencies, as First Ladies, your track record in advancing the cause of protecting the rights of vulnerable groups most especially women and children is clearly visible in your countries, the region and globally,” the Minister said. She said the meeting is a testimony that their Excellencies, the First Ladies are a critical component of the cure for SGBV in the Great Lakes Region. “Your privileged position provides a strategic platform to strengthen measures for prevention, ending impunity and providing requisite support by relevant actors to survivors of SGBV,” the Minister added. She said the nature of violence that women experience unlike men is based on their gender and how society perceives womanhood. “Because of being female, a woman is vulnerable to rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, confinement and the like. Data around these pervasive acts is very disturbing. Globally, it is estimated that seven in ten women have experienced either physical or sexual violence in their life time and one in four women have suffered sexual violence,” she added. The effects of these acts of aggression against nearly half of the world’s population are grave: HIV infection, unwanted pregnancy, death, obstetric fistula, insecurity and low productivity, name it. There is need to take collective and concerted action, on all fronts. Action cures fear; the lack of it creates terror.