Members Of Parliament Demand for Re-Opening of Schools to Save Children from Escalating Cases of Sexual Violence – Forum for African Women Educationalists: FAWE

By David Omoding

FAWE Uganda

The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Uganda Chapter held a National Dialogue with Members of Parliament to find practical solutions and end all forms of sexual and gender based violence mated on girls and young women, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda.

The dialogue focused on sharing empirical evidence of the study conducted by FAWE Uganda and partners on the situation of, and impact of COVID-19 pandemic on school going girls and young women in Uganda, facilitate utilization of research findings in decision-making and policy development processes, maximize the effectiveness of the research findings in improving education and health outcomes of young people and engage policy makers in identifying possible innovations to support girls continue with education during and post the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Ms. Susan Opok Tumusiime, the Executive Director, FAWE Uganda said, “We are engaging Members of Parliament to find lasting solutions to the current challenges befalling girls and young women in Uganda. They are policy makers, we expect them to go back and act, initiate policies in parliament and pass them, review old policies and push for implementation through ensuring that adequate funds are allocated towards enforcement.”

She called upon parents and families to protect their children, provide basic needs including food, shelter and sanitary towels to shield them from wrong elements. “Parents urgently need to guard against sexual abuse in homes being perpetrated by close relatives (brothers, cousins, uncles and friends) as a majority of girls were impregnated by them during the COVID-19 lockdown. Community members and local leaders should play a lead role in monitoring and reporting cases to law enforcement agencies like the Uganda Police Force.”

Hon. Betty Aol Ochan, the Former Leader of Opposition in Parliament expressed the urgent need by the Government of Uganda to prioritize vaccination of Ugandans across the country. She decried increasing cases of sexual violence across the country with over 17,000 cases of teenage pregnancy reported in Northern Uganda by another study. She emphasized the need for Government to re-open schools and have all girls including those who conceived and delivered return to school.  She commended FAWE Uganda’s effort in addressing the issue and raising it to the attention of policy makers. She urged Civil Society Organizations to continue working together and end the suffering of children especially those in the Northern part of the country.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused devastating effects to millions of children and youth across the world. At the height of the pandemic, nearly 90% of students were affected by the closure of Schools and Tertiary Institutions (UNESCO, April 2020). In an effort to control the spread of the second wave of COVID-19 in Uganda, the Government announced a national lock down, shut down all learning institutions and declared curfew. As a result many students were left stranded in various schools.

At Makerere University Business School (MUBs), over 280 students both Ugandan and foreign were left stranded in hostels due to high transport fares both within and outside Uganda, uncertainty of re-opening of learning institutions, some were undergoing industrial training and others infected by COVID-19 and didn’t want to infect family members. As a result, the students ran out of food supplies and other basic necessities as their parents were unable to support them adequately due to loss of family incomes and unemployment occasioned by the pandemic.

In light of this, FAWE Uganda reached out to the stranded students/youth at Makerere University Business School (MUBS) with relief food items including; rice, sugar, soap, cooking oil & sanitary towels for the young ladies. The objective was to support and enable them go through the difficult times in addition to saving them from different temptations .i.e. using wrong means like prostitution to get help, especially for  the girls.  The students had earlier petitioned Government to include them on the list of vulnerable Ugandans who were to receive cash tokens during lockdown, although their plea did not yield any positive results.

Ms. Susan Opok Tumusiime, the FAWE Uganda Executive Director said that, “MUBS has been a great partner of FAWE Uganda and we are happy to be here today. The food distribution was informed by the national study we conducted, that revealed a majority of children – girls were lured into early sex during this period due to lack of basic needs including food and sanitary towels. This has led to high cases of teenage pregnancy, early child marriages and sexually transmitted infections among young people. We therefore, could not afford to look on, we had to take action and do whatever we could to save the situation and avoid a repeat of what is happening to girls in different parts of the country.”

While receiving the items, Prof. Moses Muhwezi, the MUBS Deputy Principal said, “As an institution we were aware of the students’ needs, as it was brought to our attention by their leaders. The students stayed around for different reasons, some were doing internship, others didn’t have enough transport to take them home as the decision to close learning institutions was abrupt and transport costs skyrocketed right away, and the rest were COVID-19 positive, they did not want to return and infect their families.  The situation has been very difficult; they did not have food and other necessities. We are glad that FAWE Uganda responded positively to our cry.”

MUBS Guild President, Ogwang Robinson appreciated FAWE Uganda for coming to their rescue. “The situation has been very difficult as students ran out of food supplies. Many have been approaching us for help but we had not yet received any form of support from anyone. Their parents could not support them fully because of the effects of the pandemic on their incomes as many have lost jobs and businesses collapsed. We have previously reached out to different stakeholders including Government for support but they have not responded yet. I thank FAWE Uganda for donating the different relief items to students; they are too paying tuition for some students here and we appreciate them for their continued support. I call upon other organizations including private sector to come in and support us since we still have many students without food.”

According to students, the situation has been terrible. Some of them moved from having three meals a day to two and one. “Some of us had to shift from our hostels and start staying like four in one room. We now share meals and eat once a day; there’s no money, the economy is closed and you can’t even get a job anywhere. Most of our parents were locked-up at home, they are not working and are unable to support us fully.” Circumstances have been much worse for female students as many could not even afford to buy sanitary towels for themselves.