02. October 2018 was a special day as we commemorated for the first time the world Non-Violence Day in Uganda as an organization working to promote a culture of nonviolence. It was a great experience sharing, connecting with diverse stakeholder and key players in the work of combating violence.
Uganda grapples with the problem of violence especially violence against children, youth and women. This violence is fueled by a number of factors including cultural, gender, economic, political, and religious among others. The problem of violence is not just unique to Uganda but a global threat; every year across the world one billion children suffer violence. Imagine if there was a disease outbreak affecting one billion people, what would be the response of the world? And indeed violence is a disease that our generation is face with.
On this day, we invited different stakeholder in our work including, master trainers, teachers, students, community and religious leaders, partner organizations, local government authority and Uganda Police.
Our theme this year for the international Day of Non-Violence is; Together for Nonviolent schools and families. We had presentation from The Anti-domestic Violence Coalition, Neranda Family Counseling program, Family Support network and other key player working to build peace and nonviolence in the region of Busoga. Our chief guest was the Head of Family and Child Protection Unit in the Uganda Police ASP. Birungi Lydia, she appreciate the effort of NVP Uganda and partners and used the occasion to call for multisector partnership and knowledge sharing.
NVP Educational manager shared the finding our survey conducted in 63 schools interviewing 5018 students. We also held Knotted gun exhibition of 1400 painting by students across the region of Busoga in Eastern Uganda. The audience was tasked to vote for the outstanding painting and the best school was Hope Community School in Jinja, Wairaka Village.
This day also coincides with the birthday of one of our role models; Mahatma Gandhi, we continue to reflect on his statement: “ If you want to change the world start with children”.
Great appreciation to all our esteemed development partners for the technical and financial support. Thank you The Non-Violence Project Foundation, State and City of Geneva.