For
a long time the future of the girl child and women has remained uncertain, frustrated or even cut short by fate, selfish individuals and
sometimes by their own ignorance stemming from the continued lack of access to
information, and their low self esteem as created by society. But this is not
all that should be for the girl child. I believe there is still hope and a
future for them, only if you and I can brace our efforts and purpose to voice
the silent concerns affecting the woman. Which among others include; domestic
violence, rape, early marriages, early pregnancies, poor access to health information
and services. Related to this, some have been denied the opportunity to go to
school or even concentrate by their parents.
Many girls have times without number been denied scholarlastic
materials like books, pens, lunch, pads and uniforms, forcing them to either
drop out of school or even have unhealthy relationships with their teachers and
or peers who seem to provide some of these necessities. And thus, this has led
to poor grades, or even lack of interest in school. Reports indicate that some schools
do not even have senior women teachers to guide and support the girl child
while some do not even have wash rooms and sanitaries to offer the girl child
when need arises, hence leaving her in the middle of confusion, timidity and scorn
from the rest of the pupils and students. The situation is even worse when it
comes to the female pupils with disabilities because most schools are
inadequately providing for PWDs whether female or male.
Inspite of all this i am certain of one thing, that you and I can
inspire these girls and connect them to their intended future by: encouraging
them to study and work hard while in school, encouraging parents to provide
scholastic materials, lobby government to provide adequate facilities in
schools to the comfort of the girl child, sensitize the community on the need
to protect the rights of the girl child and women, reporting any form of abuse,
and to encourage young girls who have dropped out of school to get back after
delivery. On the other hand, information on health and wealth issues should be
extended to the women especially the rural woman who has often fallen victim
of circumstances due to the poor service delivery issues in these two areas.
It
is on record that many women have carried on with illnesses like Cervical
Cancer, Fistula, and HIV/AIDs, without knowledge of their existence in their
bodies or where to go or even what to do about them. This has most often
impacted on their productivity, health, and also self esteem. For example the Superintendent
of Kagando Hospital, Mr. Kapuru Asingia notes that the hospital receives over
100 cases of fistula mothers from and beyond Rwenzori region per year. He
revealed that victims of fistula suffer from a bad smelly discharge that has
left many women isolated/disserted by their friends and family. Statistics also
reveal that several other women are suffering from HIV/AIDs with very little or
no access to ARVs and PMTCT services. Related to the above, issues of poor
maternal mortality rate are still very rampant despite the local, national and
global efforts towards eradicating the same. I guess we still need to encourage
more women to utilize health services, check for cervical cancer, HIV/Aids and
be treated from them and any other killer diseases for a bright future.
Besides
living healthy and literate women should be directed towards economic
empowerment. We should encourage them to form groups that can enable them to
access funds like the 2,500,000UGX that government remits to Local governments
annually if they must realize development in their homes. And to also introduce
and them engage them more in innovative
income generating projects and Saving and Credit Schemes.
I
personally believe that when a woman’s financial muscle is made stronger, she
becomes more self reliant and less subjective to issues of domestic violence.
I
would like to appreciate the efforts made by several development partners in
addressing issues of women. Particularly I want to thank RIC-NET for inspiring
the women through its continued information sharing and dissemination on key
maternal health, wealth and agricultural issues through her ICT media; phones,
radios, documentaries and community meetings.
I
equally appeal to everyone to join in inspiring the girl/woman and connecting
them to their beautiful future.
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