Empower 10,000 Vulnerable Girls in Uganda

GPAs is what they are called, standing for Girl Power Advocates to mean an adult member of the community that freely gives their time and effort to teach, mentor, investigate and refer cases of violence affecting children and their families, as part of their community contribution to champion the rights of children.

As part of the Girl Power Project®, it is very important for community members to know everything their children are going to be taught because, firstly to get buy-in and avoid any misconceptions about the program, and secondly to bridge the knowledge gap as often the community members are missing critical information on parenting of adolescents.

It is with this background that in March 2024, 100 GPAs from four communities in Zirobwe and Busiika sub counties of Luwero District were enrolled, and trained on various topics focused on:

• Building life skills.
• Building healthy friendships for adolescents.
• Building healthy bodies and minds.
• Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
• Parenting.

The purpose of the training was to strengthen the capacity of communities, so they can support themselves and each other. The primary role of the GPAs is to;

• Mobilize and sensitize communities through dialogue on rights of children, positive parenting for adolescents and violence against girls.
• Conduct one on one counselling sessions with both children and adults.
• Work hand in hand with local council child protection committees on cases involving children.
• Support on case referrals especially those involving children.

With the information the GPAs have gained and the responsibilities they are committed to, they are now very ready to tackle the key issues they highlighted such as;

• Child and forced marriages.
• Sexual exploitation and abuse.
• Child neglect by families.
• Drug use and abuse among children.

We are able to engage communities in this work due to the support of The Fund for Global Human Rights Legal Empowerment Fund and JLMC-USA.

Links:

• JLMC Uganda Website
• JLMC Instagram
• JLMC Facebook