Project
Give Girls a Voice
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Amount Funded
22,000 EUROProject Duration
01 Mar 2018 - 31 Aug 2019 -
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Lead organisation
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GLOFORD Uganda was first conceived by a young professional who had experienced and seen the suffering of his people in Northern Uganda. Morris Chris Ongom had lived through the political volatility in the region and felt the need to contribute to the change and transformation that was needed in the attitudes and mindsets in the region to guarantee sustainable post war development after the guns went silent from 2006. It was the year 2008 when Morris conceived this idea. In Mid-2009, Morris contacted his young professional friends who had just finished in different disciplines across the different public universities in Uganda. Eleven of them came together including his young wife and Morris convinced them that it was important not only to desire change but to use their expertise to contribute to the development of Northern Uganda starting from Lango sub region where they were born. In early 2010, GLOFORD Uganda was first registered as a Community Based Organisation with Lira District Local Government in the name of Global Partnership For Holistic Development. In 2015, a decision was reached to register GLOFORD as a national Local Organisation and as a result GLOFORD was successfully registered on 27th March 2015 with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau as company limited by guarantee and finally as a local NGO as required by law. This time, GLOFORD’s name slightly changed because there were some name conflicts hence becoming Global Forum For Development effective 27th March 2015.
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Organisation
GLOFORD Uganda was first conceived by a young professional who had experienced and seen the suffering of his people in Northern Uganda. Morris Chris Ongom had lived through the political volatility in the region and felt the need to contribute to the change and transformation that was needed in the attitudes and mindsets in the region to guarantee sustainable post war development after the guns went silent from 2006. It was the year 2008 when Morris conceived this idea. In Mid-2009, Morris contacted his young professional friends who had just finished in different disciplines across the different public universities in Uganda. Eleven of them came together including his young wife and Morris convinced them that it was important not only to desire change but to use their expertise to contribute to the development of Northern Uganda starting from Lango sub region where they were born. In early 2010, GLOFORD Uganda was first registered as a Community Based Organisation with Lira District Local Government in the name of Global Partnership For Holistic Development. In 2015, a decision was reached to register GLOFORD as a national Local Organisation and as a result GLOFORD was successfully registered on 27th March 2015 with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau as company limited by guarantee and finally as a local NGO as required by law. This time, GLOFORD’s name slightly changed because there were some name conflicts hence becoming Global Forum For Development effective 27th March 2015.
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Project
GLOFORD Uganda’s Give Girls a Voice intends to contribute to the fulfilment of the rights of girls within protective family and institutional (school) care and support system in which girls are free from deprivation, exploitation and danger in Oyam district. Give Girls aVoice project is a school-based campaign running in 15 schools and its catchment community where adolescent girls and boys; parents and leaders get more awareness on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and directly engage in advocating against early girl child marriage which negatively impacts on girl’s education. This project has the following objectives: 1. Amplify voices of and for girls on issues of early marriage, Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and abuse of girl child education rights, 2. Empower and position the school going girls from 12 primary schools to participate in School Health Clubs (SHCs) and or Debating Clubs (DCs) to speak, mobilise, lead, gather evidence for advocacy, 3. Engage and champion issues of MHM, early girl child marriage and girl child education by raising awareness and information sharing and rights education, advocacy through debates, playwrights, poems, Music Dance and Drama, capacity building and case management. 4. Challenge and lobby parents, community and other stakeholders as Oyam district local government to provide girls with sanitary towels
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GLOFORD Uganda’s Give Girls a Voice intends to contribute to the fulfilment of the rights of girls within protective family and institutional (school) care and support system in which girls are free from deprivation, exploitation and danger in Oyam district. Give Girls aVoice project is a school-based campaign running in 15 schools and its catchment community where adolescent girls and boys; parents and leaders get more awareness on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and directly engage in advocating against early girl child marriage which negatively impacts on girl’s education. This project has the following objectives: 1. Amplify voices of and for girls on issues of early marriage, Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and abuse of girl child education rights, 2. Empower and position the school going girls from 12 primary schools to participate in School Health Clubs (SHCs) and or Debating Clubs (DCs) to speak, mobilise, lead, gather evidence for advocacy, 3. Engage and champion issues of MHM, early girl child marriage and girl child education by raising awareness and information sharing and rights education, advocacy through debates, playwrights, poems, Music Dance and Drama, capacity building and case management. 4. Challenge and lobby parents, community and other stakeholders as Oyam district local government to provide girls with sanitary towels
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Creating a free world for girl child development
Early marriage (ECM), often synonymous with forced marriage, menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and abuse of rights of girl-child education (GCE) delivers the poor, marginalized and vulnerable populations, especially women in the rural areas, into deeper developmental challenges, not to mention health challenges. Global Forum for Development (GLOFORD) Uganda launched the Girl Child Voice project to directly amplify the voices of and speak out for the girl child on these issues. The project empowered and positioned school going girls from 12 primary and 3 secondary schools into School Health Clubs (SCHs). The ultimate goal in three sub counties in Oyam district was to contribute to the fulfillment of the rights of the girl child within a protective family and institutional (school) care and support system where the girls are free from deprivation, exploitation and danger.
Leaders from the SHCs were supported to mobilize, lead, gather evidence for advocacy, engage and champion the interlinked tri issues of MHM, ECM and GCE. The teachers were empowered to sensitise the girls on menstrual care and develop into youth who are no longer afraid of their menses and offer support to one another when this happens. The clubs use poetry to pass messages about menstrual health in the schools. This has reduced school drop outs and class absenteeism and is expected to contribute to the improvement of the learning outcomes for the students and schools. Absenteeism was due to the stigma attached to menses and fear of girls sitting next to boys in class. An incinerator has also been set up to help with the disposal of used pads. This has been a big challenge. Changing rooms have also been provided for the girls to change their pads when they are in school
The girls alongside boys mentored and facilitated by GLOFORD that also provided linkage and networking, took leadership to drive the campaign dubbed “Girls at Crossroads”. To this effect, the project has been able to trace and re-enroll into school three girls who had eloped and got married.
Some of the challenges that these girls reported included lack of toilets or changing rooms at school as well as door-less toilets.
Acuta Primary School in Aber Sub County emerged the best during an inter school debate organized by GLOFORD UG during the 5th awareness campaign on promoting MHM and girl child education. Opio Esau an advocate of promoting girl child eduction at Alutkot Primary school is excited to receive his award of recognition through the voice project. Here are some of the additional stories;
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News
