The MEMPROW Cultural, religious leaders and champions training held on the 5th to 7th October 2020
The gender awareness training for cultural, religious and selected champions is one of MEMPROW’s approach to shifting patriarchal mind-sets and bringing about mind shift to girls and women’s empowerment and equality in the communities of Zombo, Pakwach, Nebbi and Arua. We organised this training for 60 participants; 10 of whom were female and 50 men from communities of Nebbi, Pakwach and Zombo.
The session was carefully delivered to tickle reflection on the self, cultural and religious beliefs that inherently sustain women and girls’ subordination and disempowerment. Against that backdrop the sessions focused on power and power relations, a session on violence against women and its impacts and human rights. Through questions, group assignments and role plays, participants were given opportunity to reflect and rethink their espoused values and relate these on how they impact women’s enjoyment of rights, their participation in leadership and girls’ education in West Nile region.
We achieved tremendous shifts in mind-set as exemplified in the following testimonials;
I have learned that there are different types of power within us that make us take decisions in our society to cause change.
Yesterday we walked about violence and on the question of why women justify GBV and so I learned why because of reasons such as fear of public shame and many others, I am now more committed to ensure that women speak up when in trouble and not to silence them.
