CELEBRATING YOUNG MEN CHAMPIONING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN AFRICA: A BLOG STORY OF DANIEL OBUA OCARI, A YALI NETWORK MEMBER FROM LIRA, UGANDA.

Young people from across Africa are engaged in the #Africa4Her campaign, more than 18,000 pledges have been taken to promote the rights of women and girls in our communities. If you haven’t taken your pledge yet, please go to www.yali.state.gov/4her . This is a story of a 26 year old young man who is working in post-conflict Northern Uganda to champion the rights of young women and girls. From our conversation with Daniel, it is exciting to highlight that he is proud of his everyday work, as a young man advocating for equal opportunities for women and men.

As a YALINETWORK member, Daniel has also taken his pledge;

‘To share responsibilities so that women and girls have time to learn’

Hello Daniel, please tell us more about yourself and what you do in your community?

My name is Daniel Obua Ocari, I am 26 years old, and I come from Lira district in Northern Uganda. I am a social worker by profession, I am working as a field officer under the Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response programme at Childfund international Uganda. I provide technical support to promote the fundamental rights of women, girls and men including access to justice in society through advocacy, community dialogue and systematic behavior to reduce social tolerance to gender based violence and early adolescent pregnancies in the post war communities in Northern Uganda.

In your opinion, what do you think are the most pressing issues affecting women and girls in your community?

Having spent most of my life in Northern Uganda, I have witnessed the pain, suffering and struggles of our communities during the armed conflict waged by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the adverse effects of the LRA war that lasted for more than twenty years is still visible on the lives of women, men, youth and children all of whom are still battling with poverty, unemployment, psycho social unmet needs among others. I know how conflict takes so much toll on women and girls, many girls have dropped out of school, others have been forced into early marriage against their will, they continue to miss out on educational opportunities. In my work in the community, I have witnessed increased levels of GBV against women, many of whom have suffered physical, emotional and social effects resulting from these abuses. Some of our traditional norms, values and practices are still disadvantageous to women despite the existence of laws and policies that pronounce the rights of women and girls.

What initiatives have you started to address these problems?

As a field officer I have actively participated in training and supporting of peer educators and teachers to become active players in the educational sector, to provide more knowledge and advice to young people on sexual and reproductive health education including Behavioral changes in both schools and the community based settings to keep girls enrolled in schools. Northern Uganda has continued to face a high dropout rate for the rural girls, as indicated in the statistics up to 80% of girls who enter school eventually never complete their primary education particularly as a result of forced marriage and high rates of teenage pregnancies. I have also taken self-initiative to conduct surveys in our community to identify root causes to the rampant school dropout and early pregnancy among girls, I strongly believe that creating awareness is very important for our community to appreciate that it is unlawful and unfair to deny women and girls their opportunities to excel in life. All girls and boys of school going age have a right to stay in school and learn, because these are the next generation of future leaders of our communities.

Do you think the struggle for the rights of women and girls should be women’s only issues?

In my own personal view, the rights of women and girls can not only be championed by women alone, the patriarchal attitudes have dominated the world over and therefore men should be fronted as activist for women’s and girls’ rights for the struggle to be stronger and sustained. I think that men and boys can be involved in championing the women’s and girls’ rights by having more male action groups at grassroots ,they will exemplary people to other men and boys as champs of gender equality. In this way, the struggle for women and girls rights will be supported by both female and male advocates who will speak out on the dangers of GBV and how it’s affects not only on women and girls but households and community in general. They will.

What advice would you give to governments, local leaders and the general community in combating GBV?

Although we are trying to engage parents and guardians, we are challenged by increasing levels of alcohol consumption and abuse especially among adults and the youth, this exhibits bad examples to teenagers and has driven many of them into sports betting and gambling as a means to get money to spend on alcohol, ultimately it affects their education. Our local leaders need to pass by-laws against the sale of alcohol to teenagers and government also needs to regulate sports betting. We require concerted efforts of all stakeholders to prevent and respond to Gender Based Violence.

What inspired you to champion the rights of women and girls in your community to combat GBV?

I believe that bearing a girl child is gift to the world, getting involved in the empowerment of women and girls is the best approach to ensure we support them and work together to realize their full potential and contribute to economic and social transformation. We have seen powerful pronouncements that investing in young people is one of the smartest investments a country/community can make. I have continued to devote my time to support human rights of adolescents to support them by imparting onto them the knowledge and skills I have learnt to ensure create safe spaces for conversations with them. We must support women and girls to break the cycle of poverty, strengthen the social fabric and create a sustainable future.

What are you committing to do for the #Africa4Her campaign?

I am committing to hosting a YALILearns event soon, to share what I have learnt during the ‘Africa4Her campaign”, especially with the peer educators in rural schools so we can have conversations on how to support girl child Education and Health rights.

#Africa4Her

Interviewed by Cinderella Anena, Mandela Washington Fellow and a YALINETWORK member.

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