Cultural leaders, civil society organisations and local government representatives from Nebbi, Pakwach and Zombo pledged to integrate the ‘Culture in Development Approach in their programming to mitigate violence against women and girls. The pledge was made after a 4 days workshop that took place in Nebbi from 5th to 8th April, 2022 on the ‘Culture in Development Approach.’
On behalf of the Nebbi District local government, the District Community Development Officer, Mr. Okiria Peter and Senior Probation and Social Welfare Officer, Ms. Ayiorwoth Yerusa pledged to “debrief the district technical planning committee about the ‘Culture in Development Approach’ and to integrate it in their development plans and budgets; create awareness about the existence of traditional justice systems, especially the ‘Ajaa’ (Truth Telling) and encourage their use in handling cases of violence against women and girls.”
Cultural leaders pledged “to create awareness about the traditional justice system, with emphasis on ‘Ajaa’, how it works and highlight cases of women’s rights violations addressed within the system.”
Civil society organisations pledged to “identify cultural resources within their areas of operation and use them to empower women to realise their rights and to take into account the cultural context as they design community development interventions for the protection of women and girls.”
Culture is often blamed for oppressing women and girls. Negative cultural practices such as female genital mutilation that abuse the rights of women and girls have been highlighted and clearly understood by the world. However, there are positive cultural resources such as values, principles and practices that promote the rights of women and girls, and if harnessed, can contribute to the end of violence.
It is against this background that the CCFU, with support from UN Women organised the capacity building workshop, to enhance the capacity of cultural leaders, local government representatives and civil society organisations on how they can integrate the cultural approach in their programming to promote the rights of women and girls. The workshop involved the mapping of such cultural resources and how they can be used. Participants visited cultural resources persons to understand their role in promoting the rights of women and girls.
