The story of Esther Kiko

Protection of women refugees in Uganda

Around 85% of the refugees from South Sudan that reach Uganda are women and children. Having fled from the horrors of war, they are far safer than before, but not yet secure. While struggling with trauma, women are often still faced with gender-based violence. Thanks to the women’s groups in refugee camps they take giant steps toward recovery. In these safe spaces, women can talk freely and listen, take a break from bad memories and learn about their rights and how to assert them.

A strong humanitarian program

Oxfam and partners also formed youth groups and spread the word about – reproductive – health and protection issues in schools and other fora. Community protection committees in the camps and surrounding host communities, are there to refer cases of gender-based violence to NGOs, UNHCR, and the police.

We trained local police on how to handle protection issues; for example, how to enforce the Ugandan age of consent, and how to manage cases of rape without doing further harm. Furthermore, the organization expresses the suffering of women to policymakers and requests their action to alleviate this.

When your husband shares the workload with you, you feel you can trust him.

To raise awareness and engage men in realizing gender equality, Oxfam and partners also launched men’s groups. To lay the groundwork for peace in the camp, they pulled together football teams of mixed tribe and gender.

Hear the story of Esther Kiko, gender protection officer Ceford:

Video

Op deze plek staat een YouTube video. YouTube plaatst cookies.
Als je die hier wilt bekijken, kies dan bij cookie-instellingen dat je social media cookies accepteert.
Of bekijk de video buiten deze site op YouTube.

Donor: IKEA FOUNDATION