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Two years underway: End Impunity of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Uganda

23-11-2020

In April 2019, the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) project 'End Impunity of SGBV' had its kick-off in Kampala, Uganda, officially launching Project EIS. In the past two years the EIS team has worked tirelessly to - despite COVID-19 challenges - implement all planned project activities.

Project EIS
In Project EIS, Maastricht School of Management (MSM) collaborates with the Regional Training Facility of the ICGLR in Kampala, Uganda. The beneficiary organizations of Project EIS are the Police Senior Command and Staff College and the Judicial Training Institute. The project focuses on a) Research; a full formative research approach including baseline and needs assessment and b) Training; including manual development, and extensive training of 60 trainers and 500 officers in the area of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV). It is unique in the way that stakeholders from the judicial and police sector are facilitated to work together.

Research
In June 2019 MSM faculty members provided a training to Senior Police and Judiciary staff on Research Methods Skills. The aim of the “introduction to research methods skills” training was to prepare both senior police and judiciary staff for their formative research that they have now completed. The introduction to the research methods skills contained all relevant topics of formative research such as problem statement development, research questions, literature reviews, data collection methods (interviews, focus groups, projective techniques, observations and surveys), data collection tools (video, survivor diaries, etc.), ethical considerations, data processing, data analysis and reporting. Between May 2019 and March 2020, the local (trained) research team conducted research. Data was collected through structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). A total of 126 key informants from the institutions of Police, ODPP and the Judiciary were interviewed and 74 respondents got involved in FGDs held while 340 people filled a survey in the five districts of Amuru (Northern Uganda), Kween (Eastern Uganda), Wakiso (Central Uganda), Iganga (Eastern Uganda) and Kyenjojo (Western Uganda). The research outcomes inform the SGBV manuals for police and the judiciary.

Opening Resource Centre at the Police College
The commissioning of the Police Senior Command and Staff College Resource/Learning Centre took place on 21 February 2020 at the Police Senior Command and Staff College in Bwebajja. The Resource Centre consists of two spacious rooms holding 42 new computers, desks, a server, a printer etc. The Judicial Training Institute also received 9 computers, desks, a printer, projectors etc. The Police College also opened a victim friendly space / nursing home to showcase the urgency for all police stations to have such a room to receive SGBV survivors. If the room is not in use, it can be used by nursing mothers or others that need a private room to calm down. Click here for a 8 minute video of the day.

Training of trainers
After an intensive phase of manual development, the training of 90 trainers, started in November 2020, training over 90 trainers from the Police Senior Command Staff College (PSCSC, and its three academies) and the Judicial Training Institute. Each of the three cohorts consisted of a mix of police officers, magistrates, judges and state attorneys. This has further enforced the unique collaboration between the judicial and the police system.

COVID-19
The local project management team keeps meeting with representatives of the ICGLR-RTF, the Police Senior Command and Staff College and the Judicial Training Institute. With respect to local Covid-19 regulations Project EIS is trying to keep up with the original project schedule. Furthermore, an important extra element was added to the project in the form of e-learning capacity building. MSM is currently exploring the possibilities to implement a full e-learning programme at both beneficiary institutions, enabling online educational activities.

Next steps until the end of 2021
After the ToTs, the training of officers will commence; a large and important component of Project EIS. These trainings (of more than 500 police officers) will take up the larger part of 2021. Further, the team will focus on sustainability of project achievements, on the e-learning programme and on setting up an impact study. The EIS team is committed and enthusiastic about the project and is pleased that all deliverables have been succesful and timely.

About the project
Project EIS (End Impunity of SGBV) is managed by Maastricht School of Managment and strengthens institutional and training capacity of police and judiciary to end impunity of perpetrators and support survivors of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in Uganda. Through the project, crucial training institutions for police and judiciary officers are equipped with the capacity to better address cases of SGBV in order to prosecute perpetrators and treat SGBV survivors with the sensitivity they deserve. The project is managed by Dr. Astrid ter Wiel, Associate Consultant at MSM.

Orange Knowledge Programme
This project is part of the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) which is funded by the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and managed by Nuffic. For more information click here.

Back to overview

Members of the EIS research team working on their report. It was finalised in April 2020 and the results were used to inform the newly developed training manuals on SGBV for police and judicial officers

Dr. John Kamya, the Commandant of PSCSC facilitates the Power Walk; an interactive exercise creating understanding of power and its relationship to gender and the risk of sexual and gender based violence.

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