| Overview : UNDP together with other UN agencies, is implementing an EU funded Joint Programme, the Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), in partnership with Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) using a whole government approach. The Spotlight Initiative aims to address the prevalent problem of increased violence against women and girls as one of the most prevalent human rights violations against Women and Girls and if not addressed, will affect the achievement of SDGs, and Uganda vision 2040. The Spotlight Initiative takes on whole of government approach and all of society approach to address VAW and VAC. It involves eight UN agencies and entities – including the Resident Coordinator’s Office, UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, IOM, OHCHR, and Pulse Lab’; 20 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); District Local Governments (DLGs) selected CSOs; Private Sector and academia. The goal of the programme is for all women and girls, particularly those most vulnerable, live a life free of violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and FGM. The programme has six pillars: - Enhanced legislative and policy framework;
- Strengthened institutions;
- Prevention and social norm change;
- Quality survivor services and ending impunity for VAWG, including SGBV and HP;
- Improved data availability and capacities; and
- Strengthened women’s movement and civil society engagement.
One of the key interventions for UNDP is Strengthened Institutions that will support selected institutions with enhanced efficiency, transparency and accountability to deliver on SGBV, HP and SRHR, through gender responsive budgeting, monitoring, improved evidence based advocacy, periodic policy review to integrate and allocate resources for VAWG/HP and SRHR. This support will be in selected MDAs namely: Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development; Ministry of Justice and JLOS Secretariat; Ministry of Local Government; Judiciary; Uganda Human Rights Commission; Office of the Prime Minister; Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives; Ministry of ICT and National Guidance; Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and Ministry of Public Service; The selected DLGs are: Arua, Amudat, Kampala, Kasese, Kitgum, Kyegegwa, Tororo; Situation analysis: Uganda is a signatory to international and regional instruments and conventions that promote and protect women and children. These include: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1992; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995); the Declaration on Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW, 1993); Africa Agenda 2063; UN Security Council Resolution (UN SCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; UN SCR 1820 on Sexual Violence in Situations of Armed Conflict; and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, among others. At the national levels, there are various laws and policies that address gender equity and women empowerment, GBV and VAC include: The Constitution (1995); National Development Plan,; Gender Policy 1997; National Policy on the Elimination of GBV (2016) and its Action Plan ;Domestic Violence Act 2010; Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2010 and the Regulations (2011); Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2009; the amended Penal Code Act Cap 120; National Policy on the Elimination of GBV (2016) and its Action Plan; The 2006 Persons with Disabilities Act; The Children’s (Amended) Act 2016; The Public Finance Management Act (2015) requires Sectors, MDAs and Local Governments to have gender and equity responsive budgets and policies and issues Certificates of compliance. Institutions are also in place including the Uganda Human Rights Commission; Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs; Uganda Law Reform Commission and Parliament. The Social Development Sector Plan, the Child Policy (underway) is an appropriate frameworks for institutions to prioritise and implement programmes. The above frameworks provide positive efforts for protection of Women and Children. One of the highlighted strategies is the Public Finance Management Act (2015) requires Sectors, MDAs and Local Governments to have gender and equity responsive budgets and policies and issues Certificates of compliance. The gender and equity budgeting for Sectors, MDAs and DLGs promotes inclusive and non-discriminative planning and budgeting which in return increases the participation of the people in economic activities, eliminates social inequalities and address income gaps. Rationale: In spite of the good laws and policies, Violence against Women and Girls is still high. 56% of women of 15-49 years have experienced physical violence and 22% experienced sexual violence. Sexual Violence against children is also reported at 35% girls and 17% for boys. There are also forms of economic violence including illegal deprivation of Widows and orphans’ assets, denial of land and inheritance rights for women and girls. There is high burden of care for women and girls affecting their education, employment and participation in economic activities. The discrimination against women with disabilities; orphans and vulnerable children; Women Living with HIV; Refugee Women and Girls (82%) of the refugee population. While government is embracing longer-term investments in strengthening delivery of social care and support services (as stipulated in the National Social Protection Policy 2015 and efforts by the MGLSD to develop a framework for supporting the social service workforce), there are huge gaps in the social service workforce, which is a critical component of a functional protection system for both women and children. The low numbers and capacity of the existing social service workforce affects access to probation and social welfare services. Nationally, the established positions are fewer compared to the workload. The Functional Review of the Government Social Service Workforce in Relation to Child Protection 2019, reveals that 49% of DCDO positions in 121 districts were filled, 84% substantive appointments for Senior Probations and Social Welfare Officer (SPSWO) positions were filled. 51% double as acting DCDOs in majority of districts, diminishing their functionality as SPSWO due to the work overload. The above demonstrates that there are challenges in translating the good policies and frameworks into action. In the implementation of gender and equity budgeting, there are noticeable challenges for MDAs and DLGs to integrate and prioritise issues of gender and equity in plans and budgets at both national and sub national levels. The 2018 EOC Report on equity assessments reported that the overall national compliance with Gender and Equity requirements for FY 2018/2019 was 55% with 10% and 44% of the MDAs not reflecting funds utilised on gender and youth related concerns respectively in the 2018 Ministerial policy statements. For 2019, 10% and 68% of the MDAs did not commit funds to outputs that address gender and youth concerns respectively and 67% MDAs did not reflect concerns of Children, PWDs and Older persons. The EOC report on compliance of Local Government Budget Framework Papers with Gender and Equity requirements (2019/2020) indicated 43% compliance with 65 of the 172 LGs passing the assessment ( 50% compliance) and over 107 DLG framework papers below the minimum 50% and were not issued certificates of compliance for 2019/2020 FY. The statistics of the target Districts compliance indicate Arua with 55%; Amudat 37%; Kasese 25%; Kitgum 34%; Kyegegwa 60% and Tororo 55%. The above scenario, reflects limited allocation of resources, the weak staff capacity and poor accountability mechanisms. Even where there were budget allocations, these were not matched with actual to disbursements for gender related programmes. This is evidence that there are capacity gaps of MDAs and DLGs to undertake participatory gender responsive budgeting and implement gender responsive policies, programmes relating to VAWG/HP/SRHR. While there are several capacity building interventions for gender responsive planning and budgeting, these are fragmented, misaligned and often do not integrate VAWG/HP/SRHR. Although the Government, with development partners, are making significant efforts to respond to overall protection and wellbeing of women and children through various program initiatives, however, capacity building for duty bearers is fragmented, ad hoc, and uncoordinated, often misaligned with standard guidelines, and does not integrate VAWG/HP/SRHR, leading to duplication and wastage of resources. It is against this background the Spotlight Initiative programme has identified capacity building MDAs and DLGs, to deliver on SGBV, HP and SRHR, through gender responsive budgeting and planning one of the key interventions. This will start with a Rapid assessment of the training needs for selected MDAs and District Local Governments (DLGs). |
