16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
26 Nov 2016 • News
The Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi joined the Government and other partners on Friday 25th November 2016 to launch a series of activities that will run until 11th December 2016. Present at the ceremonies were Bishops of different Dioceses; representatives of the National Council of Churches; Christian Aid, Norwegian Church Aid and other partners; Civil Society organizations concerned about Gender Based Violence and some victims of GBV.
In his speech the Archbishop of Burundi, the Most Rev. Martin Blaise Nyaboho stressed that since 1935 when the Anglican Church of Burundi was established in the country it has always acted to fight against human indignity that includes gender based violence. The Church is more than ever committed to end violence in all its forms.
To that end 126 persons from the Anglican Church have recently been trained on how to address GBV issues. A safe house will provide services related to counselling of victims and be able to refer to other centres those needing more specialized help. “We are very happy and thank God for this new step of launching a safe house to help victims of gender based violence”, said Archbishop Martin.
Rev. Jeanne Françoise Ndimubakunzi the coordinator of GBV issues in the Province is hopeful that gender based violence will reduce in Burundi’s communities as there is an obvious increased willingness among Church and community leaders and different partners to work together to eradicate violence. “I am very encouraged by the Burundian Government’s new law against violence that came into effect two months ago. That law gives us the strength we need to move forward in our advocacy for victims and also to see the eradication of impunity for perpetrators of GBV”, she said.
Provinces thought to be most affected by GBV are Cibitoke, Makamba and Muyinga. At national level just over 20% of GBV cases are male victims. Last year Gitega was the first Province where known cases were registered with 1231 cases recorded.
During the 16 Days of Activism Campaign against Gender Based Violence many activities have been organized throughout all the Dioceses of the Anglican Church of Burundi that will end with a march against GBV at Gitega. Young people representing the Dioceses will also engage in activities that raise awareness about how to address GBV issues.