From November 25 to December 10, 2024, Environmental Defenders celebrated Sixteen Days of Activism, to raise awareness and build support for ending violence against women and girls.
The importance of these sixteen days cannot be underestimated for Environmental Defenders operating in the Albertine Rift region, which spans Greater Virunga and Ituri landscapes, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Murchison-Semliki terrain in Western Uganda.
It should be an anomaly for Environmental Defenders to commemorate sixteen days of activism, but in a warming world, where, food, water and firewood scarcity is common, women face different forms of violence, as they have to move longer distances in search of life’s necessities.
Sixteen days of activism capture the link between ending violence against women and the importance of human rights for all genders, of which the latter is on the wane and yet of significance for an organisation like Environmental Defenders.
Held under the theme “Towards 30 Years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: Unite to End Violence Against Women”, Environmental Defenders started the 16 Days of Activism campaign with radio talk shows on Terra FM.
The radio talk show raised awareness of the local community about the dangers of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
A woman activist, Proscovia Binega from Pachego Women’s’ Initiative Development in Pakwach district came on radio and discussed GBV causes, the Bible’s perspective, the laws and international protocols such as the Maputo Protocol, which advances African Women and girls rights.
She criticised backward and harmful traditions such as child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), while offering valuable lessons to end them.
From the Maputo protocol, she highlighted the urgent need to invest in reproductive health rights and to explain why a just and peaceful society can only emerge after women are empowered to participate in economic and political processes.
Binega implored people to avoid GBV because it has negative effects on women, as it leads to broken homes, body injuries, divorce and broken homes.
Binega highlighted core principles of avoiding GBV, which include a rights based approach, being accountable, Gender transformative, while urging women and young girls facing GBV to seek support from community and political leadership.
She said people must be empowered with information to report to local authorities and organisations dealing in GBV advocacy.
Over the 16 days that start a day before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and run until Human Rights Day, Environmental Defenders other activities, as well.
Samuel Jaryekonga Warom, a Communications Director of Environmental Defenders in the Congo Basin says highlights included community dialogues in Wagungu Chiefdom at Ubungwa Landing site.
The community dialogues attracted 125 women who went home equipped with transformative information on how to stop GBV and shun early and forced child marriages.
“Awareness is the bedrock of social consciousness,” he says.
He adds that awareness and togetherness, lead to a just and peaceful society with a high adherence to human rights.
The topics up for discussion during the community dialogues included calling for action against this social menace and highlighting what people are going through.
Warom said after that they sloped to Usoke also in Wagungu chiefdom in Ubungwa village, DRC, met the in charge of the health facility, and an interview, she revealed disheartening statistics of the cases of violence against women.
The nurses said the facility in Ubungwa received monthly, 8 to 10 cases of domestic violence characterised by forced abortions, fractures, and injuries.
Other grim statistics include the monthly registration of 3 to 7 cases of defilement. The nurses attributed these cases to drug abuse, ignorance, culture, socio-economic related problems.
Warom said another dialogue was held by the organisation in Angal Chiefdom in Pangoro village in DR Congo. This attracted 98 women who participated in discussions and talked of existing policies to mitigate GBV.
During all the sixteen days, Terra FM’s programming on Good morning Africa, Savanah and Lingala, among others, always had a special focus on content related to GBV, women land rights and protection.
Environmental Defenders planned quizzes where people with the right answers won radio sets. As a result, 50 radios are to be distributed to winners.
“We gave more grass root women space to come and talk about GBV they are facing. We interviewed the survivors of GBV,” he added.
The last day Environmental Defenders did not gather in one place for celebrations but dedicated two hours to a closing talk show on Terra FM on December 10.
Source: Environmental Defenders https://watetezi.org/
