NEW MEMBERS OF COMMUNITY GREEN RADIO LISTENER CLUBS ENTINCED TO ENGAGE IN GOOD CONSERVATION PRACTICES

New members of Community Green Radio listener clubs in Kyankwanzi and kiboga Districts have been enticed to engage in activities that promote environmental conservation and improved livelihoods.

During a meeting between Community Green Radio staff and Listeners from Lwamata, and Nabidondolo villages, the listeners said they are motivated to do more to conserve the environment and change their lives economically.

“Most of us were not aware of the values of conserving the environment and now the radio is opening our eyes to some of these things”, explained Joseph Kisuule a member of Lwamata listeners’ club.

Ms. Janat Kengonzi, the mobilize of Lwamata Listeners’ club says that apart from raising indigenous plant and tree seedlings, as a club they have also established a poultry project that has 15 active members.

“We are more than 15 members and every member has to bring a local breed of chicken to be considered active”, she explained to a Community Green radio reporter.

Asuman Ssembatya from Nabidondolo listeners’ club says the radio has mobilized communities towards working together. He believes working as group will quickly transform communities.

National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) through the various Community Green Radio programs encourages communities to engage in schemes that aid Environmental Conservation and activities that improve their household income and conserve the environment.

COMMUNITY GREEN RADIO TAKES PART IN CLEANING EXERCISE IN KIBOGA

Community Green Radio celebrated this year’s World Environmental day by taking part in a cleaning exercise in Kiboga.

The exercise saw public places such as markets, town council headquarters, Taxi Park and different streets in the town cleaned.

On the same day, over 100 trees were planted as one way of conserving the environment.

The trees were planted at the district playground, district and town council headquarters, and others were planted along Hoima Kampala high way for beatification and environment conservations purposes.

The world environment day commemorations attracted other players like Rotary club, World Vision plus schools.

Julius kyamanywa the station manager community green radio explained that NAPE being an environmental organization it can’t sit back and watch as the world is marking the environmental day.

He said taking part in the celebrations is part of Nape’s core mandate and responsibility.

“We are the environment and it’s our mandate to protect it.

Kiboga town council LC III Chairperson Hajji Suleiman Ssekiwunga thanked the organizations for the cleaning and tree planting exercises. He hailed Community Green Radio for the mobilization work that he said made the day a success.

“Community Green radio gave us a talk show and presenters kept mentioning this day. We are really blessed to have you”, Hajji Ssekiwunga explained.

He appealed for more organization operating in Kiboga district to come out and give support towards having the town clean.

MEN ARGUED TO PROMOTE RIGHTS OF WOMEN

As the world commemorates mothers’ day, men have been called up to create an enabling environment for women to enjoy their rights to the maximum.

The call was made by Mr. Patrick Nsubuga, the Kiboga District community development officer, CDO, while appearing on the weekly gender show, Nyinabwenge on Saturday last week.

“Men should stop violating the rights of women especially in regards to forced sex, battering them and denying them food”, Mr. Nsubuga explained.

Mr. Nsubuga said government has put in place various laws that facilitate the enjoyment of rights by women, citing Article 33 of the constitution of Uganda. Article 33 guarantees rights of women to full and equal dignity of the person with men.

Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhoodmaternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.

The day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father’s DaySiblings Day, and Grandparents Day.

The modern Mother’s day began in the United States, at the initiative of Anna Jarvis in the early 20th century.

Uganda’s 2016 police crime report showed that defilement cases alone rose by 34 percent, from 13,118 in 2015 to 17,567 in 2016. Defilement is the act of having sex with girls under 18. Rape cases reported, according to the report, also increased, from 1,419 to 1,572.

A 2015 report by the International Justice Mission indicates that 40% of widows experience actual or attempted property grabbing in their lifetime. More than 30% of widows are victims of property grabbing. In many cases the widows spoke of perpetrators (usually relatives of their deceased husbands) threatening and physically assaulting them and sometimes making attempts on their lives and those of their children.

According to statistics from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), out of 1,594 new rape and 7,618 defilement cases reported in 2015 and 2016, only 57% brought punishment to the perpetrator. Such a low number gives others a sense of impunity, and in so doing exacerbates violence against women.

The police and Ministry of Health—the two leading public institutions in GBV response—spend an estimated UGX 37.7 billion (about $10.4 million) annually dealing with GB.

Community Green radio has been running the gender show since 2014 when the radio started. The show is aimed at uplifting the status of women especially the rural women. The radio has since expanded it coverage to cover more districts including among others Hoima, Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Buliisa and Kikuube.