Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Women Youth Peace and Security Institute (WYPSI) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), in collaboration with Sweden, has commenced a five-day training program on “Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence” for local actors in Uganda.
The one-week training program commenced on Monday 16 June 2025, in Entebbe, Uganda, with the Commissioner, Women and Gender Affairs, Uganda – Dr Angela Nakafeero; Program Officer, Women Peace and Security (WPS), United Nations (UN) Women, Uganda – Ms Hadijah Nammudu; and the Acting Director, WYPSI, KAIPTC – Mrs Sylvia Horname Nutsukpui, as guests of the opening ceremony.
Delivering the keynote address, Mrs Nutsukpui stated that the training is tailor-made with the objective of providing a cross-section of local actors with requisite knowledge and skills set, to effectively prevent and respond to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on the African continent.
She expects the program to foster an environment of collaboration and networking, enabling actors engaged in the prevention and response to GBV to forge valuable partnerships, and share experiences in addressing GBV in Uganda, by exploring various approaches to prevention, intervention, and support, with global best practices and context-specific strategies.
GBV is a pressing issue as addressed by international instruments such as the Convention on the Eliminations of All Forms of Violence (CEDAW), UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, and 1820.
Research conducted by KAIPTC’s WYPSI in 2020 in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, South Sudan and Central African Republic, revealed that the high rate of GBV is due to factors like the lack of local actors’ capacity, low prosecution rates, lack of evidence and ineffective investigation among others.
The study suggested that an impactful approach to eliminate this menace will be to collaborate with local actors in African communities, thus leading to the conduct of an online survey among stakeholders, and the development of a manual, based on findings.
Proceeding from this, WYPSI’s GBV training has been delivered in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, South Sudan, Liberia and Ghana, within the period of November 2020 to May 2022, and is expected to be held also in N’Djamena Chad, soon.
Violence against women is referred to as “Any act of gender-based violence (GBV) perpetrated by the family, community, or State that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
The purpose of the GBV training therefore, is to enhance the capacity of local actors for effective prevention and response to GBV in Uganda, with specific objectives of equipping key local actors with requisite knowledge and skills set, to effectively prevent and respond to GBV.
It is expected that the training for a total number of 33 participants, selected across various categories of local actors drawn from many organizations, would build individual knowledge and skills, shape attitudes, while building a sense of teamwork and collaboration among actors in Uganda.
The cadre is formed by persons from the; Security Services, Media, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Faith Based Organizations (FBOs), Traditional Leaders, Girl Child Officers, Head teachers, counsellors, matrons, Judges, Lawyers, Nurses, Doctors, social workers, mental health workers, Persons with Disabilities and Vulnerable groups.
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