COVOID proposes to Voice Empowering survivors of gender based violence (GBV) to fight GBV in Sheema District. This is a 24 months project estimated to cost 549,929,710 Ugx. The project focuses on empowering survivors of GBV (Rights holders) and duty bearers atboth community and local government levels to fight Gender based violence using community structures such as VSLA and other solidarity groups such as Parish development committees, VHTs etc. as entry point in the Sub counties of Kyangyenyi andRugarama Sheema District.
Empowering survivors of GBV to fight Violence (ESGBV) in Sheema District is targeting GBV survivors of the following categories: Children aged 15-18 years, young women (19- 35), elderly women and men above 35 years of age.

The project has been initiated as a result of various consultations by COVOID staff in collaboration with the Departments of Community Development of Sheema District, particularly the office of Probation and Social Welfare and other stakeholders confirmedthe gravity of GBV in the sub county. They indicated that causes of GBV and related challenges include, among others, the following:
1) Women’s economic dependence on theirhusbands and
2) Cultural perceptions of women’s sexual and reproductive obligations in marriage . GBV is treated as a cultural norm and hence perceived normal. This ought to change with the VOICE supported project. The project will invest in building the capacity of survivors of GBV to influence duty bearers and the rest of the community to respond to GBV issues
3) Overdependence on alcohol by men. This inhibits judgment and leads to GBV
4) Outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2021 and second wave that followed in 2021 scaled up GBV cases and increased teenage pregnancies in Sheema. From 2020 to October 2021, for example 1014 girls have been, impregnated and have babies and with no hopes of going back to school and this has equally scaled up the dropout rate for children in the District .
Besides teenage pregnancies there is a new form of GBV namely incest where men sleep with their daughters and 45 girls have been impregnated and the girls have been abandoned by their parents. Most of these survivors stay alone and are stressed; they are in need of skills to enable them survive. At national level a total of 354,736 teenage pregnancies were registered in 2020, and 196,499 in the first six months of 2021 . The project will provide psychosocial support services to GBV survivors and Sexual reproductive health services to the adolescents to ensure they avoid unplanned pregnancies.
5) GBV in the two sub counties and Sheema district as a whole has been worsened by silence of GBV survivors leading to underreporting of cases. The project will invest in ‘opening the eyes of the women to break the silence. This will be through training them on human and women’s rights and laws to ensure perpetrators face the law. The intent is to make committing GBV a risky business.
6) Majority of duty bearers are not aware of the existing laws related to GBV. The project will strategically invest in orienting duty bearers on laws such as Child Protection Policy, Domestic Violence Act 2010 and other policies. This will provide justice to GBV survivors since they will be aware of the laws, their mandate and roles. It will create a mass of the converted to support and champion the fight against GBV.