Zombo, Uganda: The Alur Kingdom has launched its “Minimum Agenda 2026,” a coordinated cultural and community-led framework aimed at combating Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and related abuses across its chiefdoms.
The initiative was unveiled on January 30, 2026, during a stakeholder engagement at ZODFA offices in Zombo Town Council, building on a series of royal pronouncements issued between 2015 and 2023 by His Majesty Rwoth Ubimu Phillip Rauni Olarker III that call for zero tolerance to rape and defilement, protection of women’s property rights, girls’ education, safe communities, and access to justice.
The agenda aligns with national priorities under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, the Council of Traditional Leaders in Africa (COTLA) Uganda Chapter, and international partnerships, including support from UN Women Uganda and coordination by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU).
Opening the session, Alur Kingdom Prime Minister Prince Lawrence Opar Angala urged traditional leaders to “profile, document, and record GBV, VAWG, and domestic violence cases for evidence-based mitigation,” stressing that accurate reporting is critical for follow-up, survivor support, and accountability.
He called on chiefs to popularize anti-violence messages and maintain records to guide interventions, expressing optimism that sustained leadership would accelerate socio-economic transformation.
Cultural leaders in attendance pledged to domesticate and implement the King’s directives through the cultural principle of Kura Matira—a values-based approach promoting good behavior, non-violence, dignity for women and girls, and the elimination of harmful practices.
Chiefs committed to integrating anti-VAWG messaging into cultural gatherings such as funerals and customary marriages, reporting cases to relevant authorities, and conducting routine visits to police posts and courts to track prevalence, response gaps, and outcomes.
Key commitments under the Minimum Agenda 2026 include publishing and distributing a “Call to Action Against VAWG in Alur Chiefdoms,” strengthening survivor referral pathways, including women leaders in traditional mediation, particularly on land inheritance and customary marriage, and launching multimedia campaigns to keep girls in school and support re-entry for those affected by violence.
Chiefs also committed to school outreach to promote Kura Matira values, engage boys as allies, and counter practices such as child marriage, forced widow inheritance, and land grabbing from widows.
At chiefdom level, leaders outlined additional actions, including training women leaders in GBV handling and conflict management; village, school, and market sensitization to curb teenage pregnancy; home-to-home visits to support girls’ school retention; linking women to economic empowerment programs such as the Parish Development Model (PDM); and clan-level campaigns against incest and other harmful norms.
Bob Opio Okech, the Minister of Culture and Legal Affairs handling Gender and Social Development, said the Kingdom would champion the agenda through the Kura Matira policy, while Zombo District Community Development Officer Samuel Ocaki cited persistently high teenage pregnancy rates in the district and called for a multi-stakeholder response.
Civil society partners, including MEMPROW, pledged continued support for women’s rights and community engagement.
Stakeholders shared local perspectives on prevalence and response gaps. Chiefs called for standardized reporting tools, capacity building in documentation, promotion of women in cultural leadership, joint by-laws with local governments, and benchmarking with counterparts in the Democratic Republic of Congo to harmonize approaches across Alurland.
The launch comes amid ongoing national efforts to address GBV. According to the Uganda Police Force Annual Crime Report 2024, domestic violence cases declined by 4 percent to 14,073 from 14,681 in 2023, while sex-related offenses fell by 2.8 percent to 14,425 from 14,846.
Women and girls account for more than three-quarters of domestic violence victims, underscoring the need for sustained prevention, reporting, and survivor-centered responses.
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