Africa-Press – Uganda. The government together with its partners have now turned their focus to uplifting the lives of boys and young men to fight and reduce the escalating rate of gender-based violence.
Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, the Minister of State for higher education during the launch of the Boy Child Uplifting Program (BCUP) in Kampala on Saturday, said that the government has decided to turn the focus to boys after realizing that the majority of GBV is due to the gap that was created by fronting only girls.
“When NRM government came to power in 1986, the focus was put on uplifting the girl child who had been left behind but we have now woken up and are now lifting these boys too to have a proper decent society,” he said, in his speech read by Mr Kabuye Kyofatogabye, the state minister for Kampala and metropolitan areas.
“We need to recognize that boys, like girls, have diverse learning styles and preferences. Provide a variety of teaching methods that cater to different learning needs, including hands-on activities, group projects, and visual aids,” Dr Muyingo added.
Uplifting and educating a boy child, he said, has the potential to address the root causes of
BCUP is a flagship five-year program of the Rotary District 9213 which will target at least 2.68 million boys and young men annually.
Mr Kakembo Nsubuga, the Rotary District Governor said: “Recognising our society has predominantly concentrated on initiatives empowering the girl child, with only 13 per cent of documented efforts directed towards mentoring boys,” he said.
He added: “A number of studies and reports have stated that the exclusion of the boy child has had profound consequences on a generation of young men. These consequences include increased crime rates, low self-esteem, prone to violent habits, alcoholism, drug abuse, and increasing school dropout incidences.”
Ms Jennifer Mirembe Ssensuwa, the Chairperson of BCUP said that the initiative will be sustained through Rotary’s programs like Basic Education and Literacy and the Economic and Community Development across the country.
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