Kotido Gender Principles

Among the Jie of Kotido district, Karamoja sub-region, the Elders yield enormous power to either entrench existing cultural norms, or to spearhead transformation of these norms in order to reflect standards for the protection of women’s rights that have been adopted by the formal justice system. FIDA Uganda has worked with Elders from the Jie in order to reconsider cultural practices and norms in light of their effect on women and girls and the duty on the Elders to protect women and girls from violence. Through our consultations and interactions, a set of agreed Kotido Gender Principles have been developed. This publication sets out the agreed Kotido Gender Principles. Additional recommendations are also made about how the cultural norms can further be transformed in order to provide a greater measure of protection to women and girls. These Principles and recommendations create a blueprint for the creation of safer and non-discriminatory environments for women and girls within the Jie community

As an annex to the Kotido Gender Principles, there is a compendium intended to document the customary norms as practiced by the Jie community, which describes how customary norms have been transformed over time and contrasts the traditional practice with the current practice. The documentation of these norms is envisioned as a decisive step toward the further transformation of these customary laws, norms and practices in order to bring them in alignment with the constitutional standard of equality between men and women

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