Gender based violence

i write this article with so much disappointment in my heart. Recently I was listening to one interview in a radio program and they were taking about prostitution and how it should be legalized in our country.

My spirit was so grieved especially that the interviewee was a public official who has been in the public service for as long as I can remember and also leader within the women’s sphere of leadership. Growing up in a land locked country with only about 2million people has really taught us young people a lot. To legalize such as act will not only cause a corrosive effect upon the nation but will also increase the high rates of gender based violence. Understand that everyone is entitled to their own rights and freedom to their own bodies but this on its own rather acts as impediment in moving the country forward.

Women are pillars within their homes and societies. So many look up to them because they have the natural ability of creating peace, tranquility and building up homes but the question is when we allow our women the privilege to continue with such, what exactly are we saying to the younger generation. What examples are we setting up for them.

Today we talk so much about empowering our women, but how is this empowering them. We should understand that empowerment is about imparting skills and knowledge in others in order to improve their own livelihoods, It is also about giving others an opportunity to display their skills, talents etc. for the betterment of their homes and societies, it is about building up and creating leaders within others in order for more leaders to be established. This on its own is totally absurd and totally degrading to our women.

Women’s rights do matter and they should also be respected. there are so many ways in which livelihoods can be improved. Countries or stakeholders should initiate initiatives that would help women living below the poverty line hence increasing their chances of improving their livelihoods.

This act alone exposes women to violence, such as rape, assaults etc. That is why it is important for women to be empowered. Let us not expose women and the girl child to such. It also increases the chance of discrimination against women but we are working towards establishing leaders and also inclusive progressive growth.

 

 

 

 

HARNESSING ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE: ADVANCING THE CONCEPTS OF PEACE, TOLERANCE AND THE RULE OF LAW IN ORDER TO ENSURE FREEDOM AND RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL

It is evident that young people in Africa make up to 60% of the population and this indicates that there is great need to harness on the involvement of young people in order to ensure that there is freedom and respect for human rights within a society. However, there are about three major concepts that need to be focused on in order to ensure that freedom, and these concepts are tolerance, peace as well as the effective application of the rule of law. Moreover, it should be noted that freedom is not only limited to the listed concepts, but they serve as the most crucial concepts that need to be applied at all times in order to ensure that freedom for all citizens is not limited in any way or infringed. Peace is usually associated with the absence of war and to some extend this is very true, however peace is when there is no poverty and the people within the community equally enjoy the prosperity within their own community. However, so many people in Africa are victims of poverty hence challenging their freedom as citizens to pursue their desired goals and ambitions so as to provide for themselves and to the economy of the country, therefore in order to overcome such a challenge it is time for young people to be more involved in ensuring freedom for all. One basic example will be that in my very own community, poverty has escalated due to various reasons such unemployment, cronyism, just to mention a few; which has affected many young people both in the urban and rural areas. Therefore, in order to challenge such an issue and advance freedom in my community; the following aspects should be maintained so as to create a solution to this issue/ problem. These aspects include training, research, conducting more campaigns or parades so as to advance the importance of maintaining peace, tolerance and the effective application of the rule of law. As discussed in the latter, peace is when all members of the community enjoy the benefits equally whereas tolerance is respecting the different opinions, ideas of others irrespective of those ideas being different from your own personal point of view and lastly the rule of law is when there is no bias in the application of law and when the law principles are equally applied to all members of the community despite the status of a person. In terms of training, young people should be trained on the essence of peace, tolerance and effective application of the rule of law, and such trainings should be conducted on regular basis in schools colleges or universities as well as including young people working with non-governmental organizations. However, before this training can be conducted a proper, detailed research should be carried out so as to find out the different opinions of people within the community concerning such a problem and the exact number of people affected. The research will enable the researcher to be more informative and be able to share with others the possible ideas that could be the solutions of advancing freedom. The other aspect will be that of campaigns, campaigns usually educate others on a specific matter which is a concern within a community or raise awareness. Trained youth should conduct campaigns in schools and such campaigns should be informative, direct and reflect the possible goals of conducting such campaigns. Not only should these campaigns be informative but should edge more young people to be more involved, edge more young people to establish groups , which will vigorously fight for peace, tolerance within a community in order for all members to enjoy the prospects of freedom. Such can be done by holding more campaigns or parades in schools, which will teach students about peace and how poverty can be overcome when prosperity is equally shared and enjoyed by all citizens within a community. Furthermore, local stakeholders should form partnerships with young or youth leaders that advocate for peace and tolerance. Therefore, with that, in conclusion, in order to advance freedom, more young people should be involved and the discussed concepts should be upheld at all times. Just as Nelson Mandela said” to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others’

How do we create a better Africa

The African continent is mostly known for its wars, and other forms of violence which has seemed to shadow the beauty of Africa one way or the other. What the rest of the World may not know is Africa is rich and has strong cultural diversity, which  portrays the beauty of Africa and our cultures.

In a recent research,its evident that 1:7 people in World is an African,indicating the need to empower ourselves as Africans.Creating a better Africa may seem like a simple job but within its simpleness comes forth a lot of complexities.To create a better Africa will mean including women,young people, indigenous tribes of which most goverments is not so keen on. But then the question remains,how then do we convince the goverments the importance of including all..

This then explains why development has almost  seemed impossible in our continent. Moreover, there is need to harness on the importance of including all in order for development to be possible and the start of it all is through EDUCATION. Nelson Mandela was once said ‘education is the most powerful tool that be used to change the world’, however education alone is not enough. We also need to ensure the perfect flow of the rule of law and encourage the involvement of young people and women.

Importance of empowering women

Living in a male dominant world has affected so many women. Their rights have been violated and women are mostly considered to belong to the kitchen. It saddens my heart to know that many young ladies like myself are marginalized, told they can make it ,laughed at,their ideas mocked simply because of being a woman.

However, what the world does not seem to realize is the effect a woman. It has been evident that empowering and educating a woman has a positive effect to bring change and end poverty.

Let us empower young girls and enforce the global citizenship education concept.ket them actively get engaged in social issues form a young age. We need fresh, brilliant minds if we are working towards bringing up change and making the SDG’S a reality.

Women our destiny carriers

so many women face challenges everyday which violate their rights as women and it is time we unite and ensure that our rights as women are heard,protected,respected and valued.

Just to memtion a few,one of these challenges is female genital cutting,which not only puts women’s health at risk but also violates the sexual and reproductive rights of women. About 140 million girls and women go through this horrific procedure and about 3million are at risk of  Female Genital Cutting.  I believe it is time for awareness to be raised,to protect our young beautiful girls from going through this procedure.

Young girls should be empowered to be women of virtue and not of circumstance,because women are destiny carriers. They bring into the world so many destinies that contribute positively to the world.

#Remember to be bold for change