HeforShe Campaign officially endorsed in Uganda
Date:
Alur King, Ubimu Philip Olarker Rauni III has vowed to fight all the injustices against women in his Kingdom.
Olarker pledged to champion the HeForShe Campaign with a call to all men and boys in his kingdom to rally behind him in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
“Promoting women and girls’ rights is something I have personally decided to champion. I therefore, issue a call to all men and boys of Alur Kingdom to rally behind me to end gender inequality as well as discrimination,” King Olarker said.
The king was optimistic that by the end of five years of implementing this campaign, attitudes of men in Alur Kingdom towards gender equality will have changed and rivaled by no other community.
King Olarker urged his subjects to take a lead and ensure that the HeForShe campaign succeeds. He said, “UN Women and MEMPROW (Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for young women) are giving us a stepping stone to tackle this injustice. It up on us as leaders and people of Alur Kingdom especially men to champion this campaign.”
King Olarker posed a question to the chiefs and men around, whether in their old age they would prefer being looked after by an educated girl with a good job and hardworking or to be looked after by uneducated village girl who relies on subsistence farming for a living. “If you had logic, you would want to be looked after by someone who has the means, “he noted.
Mary Okumu, UN Women Representative (a.i)/OIC for Uganda, thanked the king for championing the campaign that will contribute to gender equality and the general wellbeing of women and girls.
The Minister of State for Northern Uganda, Grace Kwiyucwiny urged girls to remain focused and utilize government programmes such as Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education to enable them complete school. Kwiyuucwiny called on male parents to play a key role in educating and supporting the girl child.
Prime Minister Jadipu Vincent Ochaya promised UN women about the Kingdom’s commitment to gender equality. He said, “This is a journey we have taken; to advocate for the rights of women, and is a journey of no return”.
The event began with marching from the Mayors gardens through the streets of Nebbi town to Nebbi Town secondary school where the launch took place. It was characterized by cultural music, poems, speeches and climaxed with a football match. His majesty flagged off the King’s football tournament commonly known as ‘Kupo pa Ubimu” which is co-sponsored by UN Women Uganda. The climax for the tournament will coincide with the Kings coronation anniversary at the end of October.
The campaign will be implemented in partnership with UN Women, Alur Kingdom and MEMPROW, an NGO that has been operating in the area for more than five years.
