Gender activists have proposed a guide to monitor performance of governments in eliminating sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Great Lakes Region to ensure commitment towards addressing the vice.
Civil society organisations developed the checklist which, if approved by the head of states, will be the first step towards monitoring governments' implementation of the international conventions to fight violence against women and children.
“This is a data collection card which if adopted will help to generate data on yearly basis and to update us on efforts and see who is doing what in terms of enabling laws and their implementation,” said Ms Helen Kezie-Nwoha, the programme manager of Isis- Women's International Cross Cultural Exchange, a global women rights advocacy organisation.
The activists asked governments to allocate specific and adequate funding for SGBV prevention programmes within a gender-responsive budgeting framework.
“Governments should end rhetoric and act. We are concerned about the escalation of SGBV practices by both armed groups and law enforcement agents responsible for protecting citizens,” said Ms Leah Chipepa, the executive director of Akina Mama Wa Afrika, an NGO.
