JONAM YOUTH DEVELOPMenT Initiative

General

Jonam Youth Development Initiative (JOYODI) is a legally registered not-for-profit Non-Governmental Organization incorporated as Company with Limited Liability on the 4th February, 2008. JOYODI is based at Kapita, along Wadelai road in Pakwach Town Council, JonamCounty - Pakwach district. The organization has 8 years of experience in identifying and tackling community health needs. Equal Voices, Equal Rights (EVER) is a project idea which seeks to challenge discrimination, exploitation, abuse and violence that rural women and girls are subjected to in Pakwach Town Council. Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a serious issue in Uganda as a whole but more pronounced in rural areas. According to the Ministry of Gender, labour and social development, more women (39%) have suffered effects of GBV compared to men (11%). This is even more prevalent in marriage (62%). The common forms of GBV in Pakwach district include defilement, assault, rape, threats of violence, child neglect, deprivation of property, widow inheritance, forced marital sex and forced early marriage. These are primary fuelled by the patriarchal mind-set of our society which has led to power imbalance between males and females. Goal: To reduce violence against married women and create an enabling environment for their socio-economic wellbeing. Equal Voices, Equal Rights (EVER) has three specific objectives as below; # Increase individual awareness on GBV and challenge attitudes and harmful traditional practices that promote GBV. Married men and women (18-35 years) increased their knowledge on causes and effects of GBV and the possible consequences of GBV. Improved respect and attitude of men towards their wives, reduced harmfultraditional practices that promote GBV. Survivors of GBV more informed about the available avenues for seeking redress. # Increasedaccess of women and girls to socio-economic opportunities. This objective will specifically empower women and girls to demand for social and economic opportunities that they are lawfully entitled to; including education and land ownership among others. It seeks to achieve equal property distribution between male and females, increased linkage and involvement of women and girls in government aided community economic projects such as NUSAF III, Community Driven Development (CDD) and Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP). # Improved coordination and partnership for effective GBV response. Under this objective, JOYODI envisions increased partnership and collaboration with all key stakeholders to address GBV, community leaders trained and supporting advocacy against GBV, a platform created to enable quarterly or bi-annual dialogue on GBV with all stakeholders, improved referral and support for survivors and collective action planning for betterGBV prevention.