With only 2 days left to the 2nd edition of the Elgon Half Marathon with Joshua Cheptegei in Mbale city, UNDP, JOCDEF and partners have held a successful 5km walk and community dialogue at Nabokotum primary school in Amudat district aimed at raising awareness against gender based violence (GBV) and protecting the environment. This is part of the pre-marathon activity leading to the main event.
Nwanne Vwede-Obahor UNDP’s resident representative to Uganda was the Chief walker. During the community dialogue, Nwanne highlighted that their motivation for participating in running and walking activities is not due to the love for the activities themselves, but rather to raise awareness about important issues.
“We don’t run because we love running, or walk because we love walking. We do this to raise awareness to these various issues”, she said.
She expressed disappointment in the rising cases of GBV against both women and men in Amudat over what she termed as “petty issues like girls, chicken, cows and goats” which according to the community are the main causes of GBV in Amudat. She appealed to the community to have conscience in whatever they do which will go a long way in eliminating all forms of GBV.
Nwaawe further appreciated development partners especially JOCDEF with whom they have shared values that support the community in ending GBV and conserving the environment. Other partners were the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social development, FIDA, ULS (Uganda Law Society) and Spotlight initiative Uganda.
According to Lobot Joseph Nangole, LC5 Chairperson of Amudat, the Local government council has enacted an ordinance mandating compulsory education, and he urged stakeholders to provide support for its implementation to bridge the substantial disparity between school enrollment and attendance.
Speaking on behalf of Joshua Cheptegei Development Foundation (JOCDEF), Justine Jims Yeko expressed the foundation’s readiness to support the community in eradicating all forms of GBV against girls and women.
She pointed out a recent case where a Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei (RIP) was killed by her boyfriend in Kenya. She also called upon the community to register and participate in the Elgon half marathon to show solidarity in ending GBV especially child marriage and sexual gender-based violence besides conservation through planting trees.
At the end of the event, a commitment was signed and handled over to the district Chairperson Amudat to headline the ongoing efforts to eliminate all forms of GBV & protect the environment.
