UN Resident Coordinator gives hope to child abuse survivors

The UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Rosa Malango has given hope to dozens of victims of defilement and forced marriages in Amudat, southern Karamoja.

She encouraged the survivors to overcome traditional beliefs and culture by embracing education and ensuring they complete school and become future leaders. Malango said there were opportunities for the survivors to make a turnaround and take charge of their own future by staying in school and attaining higher levels of education.

She cited an example of her own education challenges in a society that viewed women as incapable of leading but she eluded all the traditions to become a family head as well as a clan head, apart from her international responsibility as the UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, an international structure.

This was during an impromptu stop to the rescue centre at Alakas Girls Primary School in Amudat town council on Tuesday. Malango is currently in Karamoja on an official visit to monitor the various projects implemented by UN agencies in Karamoja.

At Alakas Girls Primary School currently turned into a children’s rescue centre, 26 girls have been rescued from early marriage following alerts from social workers and probation office of the district who have collaborated to rescue victims of child marriage from the community.

The girls are given psychosocial support and counselling before they are integrated into the formal education system while those who have never been to school are given skills such as hairdressing and tailoring.

Frida Amuron, the Amudat community based development officer said that there were a lot of unreported cases across the district notably in rural areas where information about the rights of a girl child was still scanty. She said all 26 girls were rescued during the recent COVID-19 lockdown after the closure of schools.

She encouraged partners to scale up sensitization of communities coupled with punitive punishment under the law.

The Amudat Chief Administrative Officer, Wasswa Masokoyi noted that strong cultural norms such as adoration for bride price has made a section of the Pokot to view girls as a source of wealth. He asked UN agencies to collaborate with the probation office, police and other government structures to mobilize the community against child abuse and support girl child education.

According to the UBOS report, Amudat has 26.1 percent enrollment which is one of the least in the country. The district has projected 33,000 school-going age children of whom an estimated 8,885 were in school before COVID-19 pandemic. Local authorities have attributed the low enrollment and low literacy levels of 5 percent to traditional views about the girl child.

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This article was published online by The Independent magazine of Uganda on 16 September 2020 based on report from Uganda Radio Network