A Girl's Right to Education: A PERSPECTIVE OF MALALA, The Most Famous Teenager In The World; And Lessons For Uganda

Malala Yousafzai (Photo by Phil. Reuters)

By Lydia Nabukeera,
External Coordinator IJM UCU Chapter 

Education is a very important stage in one’s life as am sure many will agree that no matter the situation, good or bad, developed or undeveloped and above all war toned or secure – the girl child needs to be educated too. Education has been effective in finding solutions to many problems in any community setting especially if all the people are educated regardless of their sexes. Education involves a process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools or colleges to improve knowledge and develop skills. A right is that which is proper under the law, moral or ethical and in Uganda, a right is to be enjoyed by everyone. On that note, it should be noted and emphasized that education is a basic right to every child. This accounts for the reason many policies on education exist today, also instilling the pressure or sense into parents to educate all children, the girls inclusive.

Education is a fundamental human right as well as a catalyst for economic growth and human development. The Ugandan supreme law, the constitution, clearly stipulates that all persons have a right to education. It stipulates that children shall have a right to know and be cared for by their parents or those entitled by law to bring them up especially through providing basic needs such as education to each child. The constitution continues to emphasize that that no child shall be deprived of education among other social or economic benefits by reason of religious or other benefits.

Now let’s take a close look to Malala`s perspective on the girl education.  Malala Yousafzai was born on 12<sup>th</sup> July, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. She was a just a normal girl, call it below average. Malala lived in Mingora, a city in the Swat valley, an area governed by the Taliban. The Taliban do not consider formal education a process for the girl child, but rather all women have a place home where they will be doing household work, whereas education was for the boys. Malala’s father was a passionate education advocate himself. He taught at a learning institution in the city and school was big part of Malala`s family. When she was 10 years old, power in the swat valley lay with the Taliban. Their rule involved the banning of the girl child education. They stopped girls from going to schools, cultural activities like watching television and dancing were prohibited.

Malala spoke out against the orders of the Taliban to keep the girls away from school. In 2009, only at the age of 11-12, she ran a blog under the name BBC Urdu where she spoke about her life in the Swat Valley under the Taliban occupation. She gained prominence in the region and started giving interviews to journalists and on TV.

On the 9^th of October, 2012, at the height of her prominence, while she was moving to school in a bus, Taliban fighters entered into the vehicle, and asked who Malala was “Who is Malala” one asked. 

Malala was identified shot on her left side of the head. She did not die by remained unconscious and in a very critical condition in hospital. She was later taken to the UK for further treatment.

During her treatment, the world was watching, hearing, and waiting for a miracle as it spoke out against this inhumane attempt on the life of Malala by the Taliban. Malala at that time became the “most famous teenager in the world.”

After her miraculous recovery, she is now a renowned activist based in Birmingham where she founded the Malala Fund that is in place to make sure girls actually go to school and accorded equal opportunity with the boys. To date, the Taliban still vow to shoot her again, to kill if she ever stepped in Pakistan. In 2014, she won a Nobel Peace Prize making her the youngest laureate ever at age 17. The Times magazine in 2013, 2014, and 2015 named her as among the most influential people in the world. She has won numerous awards since then, been hosted on many shows including speaking about the perspective of the girl child education of her country during a United Nations General Assembly in 2013. Just this year in 2017, she has been awarded honorary Canadian citizenship making her the youngest person to address the House of Commons of Canada. Her advocacy has since grown into an international movement for the girl child education.

During the Taliban`s brief rule over the Swat valley, they destroyed more than 400 schools and more of these were girls` schools. Malala still stood out and is now a voice to the voiceless for she called got the world’s attention amidst all the fears and threats that were going on in the country by then from the Taliban.

Pakistan has a record for being the country with the second largest number of children out of school with 2/3 being girls. The country also has the lowest enrollment rate of children in schools compared to other low developed countries. About 5% of the children in school currently attend MADRASSAS, Muslim religious seminaries which have been now expanded their scope to cover mainstream education.

In 2012, UNESCO showed that Pakistan had the least progress in the region about educating girls. The poorest girls in Pakistan are twice likely to be out of school as the poorest girls in India, almost three times as likely as the poorest in Bangladesh per the World Inequality Database On Education. In simple terms, a poor Pakistan girl child may or fails completely to attain education as a basic need. Even when there is a possibility of enrolling in a school, actually doing so can be downright dangerous for instance in June 2013, militants blew up a bus carrying female students in Quetta, capital city of Pakistan Balochistan province and the school has been shuttered since then.

The causes of low enrollment of girls in Pakistan are not any different from Uganda, no matter the difference in continents for we are all humans of mindset. The first challenge to access of education is Poverty. When large families can`t afford school for some of their children, daughters often lose out to sons for some family leaders feel and think that the male child will carry on their legacies. Many elders in Uganda think that male children are strong and hardworking for they will provide for the family in their old age unlike girls or females who they see as an investment through bride price and I repeat bride price ONLY yet in these modern times and developing era women and girls are more creative and hardworking if given an opportunity at the same levels of opportunity. Malala states this out loud that “if a man marries an uneducated woman or girl, who will teach the family for mothers are most often with their children and are the first teachers to the children before they are taken to school to add on what they have learnt from home” simply meaning that an educated girl is an educated nation for they will transmit the knowledge they have to their children and also benefit the family and the world at large.

This point leads me to Discrimination as our second challenge, girls are discriminated from the boys. Society has margalised the woman and made her the weaker sex. Only the boy child goes to school. In Pakistan, the Taliban prohibited girls from going to school or engaging in any cultural activities which these would improve on the lifestyle of the country. To an extent that over 400 schools, most of which were girls’ schools were burnt emphasizing their point of no girl child education. And Malala clearly states that “education is education. We should learn everything and then choose the path to follow. Education is neither eastern or western, it is human.” This means that education is for all, for both social and economic development.

Sexual violence. This in a broad term would include rape, defilement, sexual assault and harassment etc. During the Taliban reign of Malala’s province, most girls were sexually harassed on their way to and from school. And there was basically nothing that could be done to make these girls’ lives better because their leaders then were against girl child education. Similarly, in some other parts of the world, girls face rampant sexual abuse even at their schools by the teachers, other staff and also fellow students. In Uganda, girls at higher institutions of learning are coerced into sex by their lecturers and teachers in order to get better grades. This and other forms of sexual violence discourage the girl child from going to school.

Cultural practices have led to a low enrollment of the girl child in schools. In Pakistan, looking at the already mentioned statistics, it is clear the rate of enrollment of the girl child in school is very low, and it is even lower in the rural areas. Most of these people are governed by cultural practices that discourage and discriminate the girls from going to school. Such practices such as early marriage lead to fewer girls in school. Many of these are married off by their parents, usually to older men and these men do not appreciate education.

Lack of basic needs for instance healthcare, scholastic materials, sanitary wear, food, and many others hinder the girl child from being sustained in school. Many girls in rural areas move to and from school bare footed and barely no food for a whole day so a normal school child cannot concentrate in class and school since there is provision from the parent which is also as a result of poverty.

The following are some of the select few solutions to the challenges of the girl child in attaining education.

The girls do not have a voice, so “Give the girl a voice.” From Malala’s perspective, the way she approached the situation in her country she became a voice of the voiceless, this clearly shows that girls or ladies are not heard or respected to give their opinions for many reasons that is them (girls) being the weaker sex as one of them. Second solution is political representation and by this, I mean the politicians should be sensitized on how to become more gender sensitive; Increase the number of gender sensitive female teachers and administrators in education; Revise broad educational aims and goals with an intention of incorporating gender concerns in the curriculum that is to say adding gender studies as a subject at the levels of education.; government should encourage the establishment of non- governmental organizations working towards achieving greater gender party in education.

There is a lot of potential in all of us no matter one’s sex. The world is only a better place to be in if are all living happy lives. Afford the girl a right to education,  and you will be shocked at how much the world will progress in a leap.

Do Women Have A Right To Own Land In Uganda?

By Kyomugisha Lynette 
The Deputy Volunteer Coordinator IJM, UCU Chapter

Land is a very important resource in Uganda, it can be used as a basis for income, sustenance. This is because of the fact that it is used for agriculture production which is the largest income earner in Uganda and source of livelihood taking upto 80% of the country's population.

Right from the history of Africa, the African Traditional Society has always viewed women as the weaker sex, marginalizing them and making them the less privileged. This has consequently made land ownership for them a fallacy. In Buganda, which is in the central region of Uganda, there is a human face to the problem of women ownership of land. Very many stories and case scenarios in the judicial system show the plight of women in many rural areas of Uganda and indicate why women's land rights are high on the agenda in society. In Uganda, women own only 7% of the land, leaving 93% with access to land only through a male relation, usually a father, husband or son this is so because most land is held under customary tenure and is regulated by customary law and men were perceived to be the only people with the right to land ownership. 

Though statutory law does not bar women from owning property, the reality within which they live effectively denies them this right. There are many socio-cultural practices that discriminate against women, discouraging them from owning land or sanctioning them for it, among these, is the high value placed on marriage. Ugandan women are socialized to perceive marriage as a principal life goal and their ownership of land as incompatible with a happy marriage. Owning land brings power, and the fact of women having power disturbs social order, stability, and tranquility. Many Ugandans, mostly men, have argued that women who own land are "big headed" and the only way to restore them to their proper size is to take away their land. Certain customary practices, like the giving of bride price and polygamy, reduce women's security on land, which is another way in which women are effectively denied their right to land. Bride price is increasingly viewed as making a woman the husband's property, nullifying any claims she might have to land and transferring her property rights to her husband." Even gifts to the wife and property she acquires individually are viewed as belongings of the husband. Upon customary divorce," wives are usually sent away from the home with no property at all.” Quite a cruel world the women live in!

The socio-economic position of women in general and their inability to access the economy has hindered women's right to own land. More women in Uganda are illiterate than men (55.1% of women compared to 36.5% of men). The total primary school enrollment is 45% for girls and 55% for boys, and it decreases to 35% at the university level.  Attitudes such as these are often expressed in the media, see, for example, a story written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, titled, Families Must Be Built on Love Not Laws, and run in the local daily newspaper, he says that "Women are perceived as property because among the Iteso [a tribe in Uganda] once bride price is paid for a woman, she and her offspring are her husband's belongings. A constitutional law expert Okumu Wengi quotes an Itesot man in the same story saying, 'I bought her, so whatever she has is mine. She does not own anything." Most customary divorce in Uganda, especially where bride wealth is given, consists of the return of the bride wealth by the woman's family to that of the man all. 

Land in Uganda is normally passed on through inheritance, traditionally through the male line from father to son. Traditional patrilineal descent remains especially dominant in the rural areas of Uganda, and is characterized by male control of decision-making about who will inherit and administer the estate, and preference for male over female heirs. Indeed, sons or other males (e.g., male clansmen) normally inherit any substantial property. This is true even though the customary heir of a female is another female. Women inherit land only in exceptional circumstances, like in the legal dissolution of marriage. 

All the above scenarios and explanations indicate the impracticability for women to own land in Uganda however this notion can be watered down with the role International Justice Mission (IJM) is playing. IJM has recorded a number of successes in resolving such land struggles that have deprived women the right at land ownership. 

IJM is a global Non- Governmental Organization, among whose mandate is to help the indigent people mostly the marginalized groups the orphans, widows, minors and the handicapped to see to it that justice is achievable for all. The vision to rescue thousands, protect millions, prove that justice for the poor is possible drives all the activities of the organization. IJM has had a tremendous victory in the area of land and is therefore in a position to help the women in Uganda to achieve justice of land ownership. With a campus Chapter at Uganda Christian University, the student community has also advanced the mandate of the organization through engaging in outreaches.   

IJM has had partnerships with the local authorities for example right from the district level, with the help of the local council chairman, resident district personnel and Magistrates Grade One and Two who have usually formed committees and seminars on the village level to educate the women about their rights to ownership of property and the procedures to go through to own the land for instance how to acquire a land title and in case of widows how to process papers to become an administrator or executor of such property.

The organization works hand in hand with the judicial system of Uganda to educate the people about the existence of laws that guard them against deprivation of ownership of land for instance in the Constitution of Uganda holds that all people have a right to land ownership under the recognized four land tenure systems which are freehold, leasehold, Mailo and customary. This right should not exclude the woman. It also provides that that land should only be taken by the government if it is within public interest and such persons who own that property should be duly compensated therefore women need to be aware of the existence of such laws.

It also works with other responsible land departments that will help in the provision of land titles and the certification process to ensure that they secure the legal and physical property ownership of the individual victims in this case, the indigent women and the widows who suffer the risk of land grabbers. 

  

IJM has recorded successes in stopping land grabbing in Mukono by instituting criminal procedings or involving private investigators through the formal criminal justice to ensure that the preparators are brought before the courts of law and to see to it that justice is achieved to the very last bit by ensuring that they are held accountable. In 2000, a reform project was formed Mukono which aimed to prevent, deter and respond to property grabbers. It also encouraged documentation by securing an effective estate administration.

IJM can also sensitize the women about the preventative measures of land issues for instance the formalization of a marriage, the need for their spouse to make a valid will clearly indicating who land ownership and who title has been transferred to.

Furthermore, the general public should be enlightened about property grabbing and should be made to gain confidence in the justice system so that they do not take the matter into their own hands this is because most women lack legal education and face a lot of issues due to the violation of their rights.

Conclusively, the success of IJM will advance the cause of equality to make sure the women and men have the same treatment in respect to land as the law explicitly lays it down in the statute books and decided cases. Women have right to own land in Uganda and any deprivation is a violation of the law.

WHERE'S THE HELP

Poem By Tumugonze Olga Naomi
Publicity Coordinator IJM-UCU Chapter

Its the world today,

the world where a child

without a mother or a father

brother or sister,

Has to scratch the ends of this earth to survive.

They cry out from the streets,

They struggle through the slums,

They fight through the Ghettos;"Government Etuyambe"

But I say, where's the help they seek...

And then again I see,

I see these men and women

Whose souls are as pure as the driven snow,

turn into old misery guts without a know.

They wait and hope helplessly in cell corners,

with all the fears of this world drenched in their eyes.

They deny them freedom,

They deny them bail,

like they have no pain.

But I say, where's the help they seek...

The woman living next door to you struggles to survive

As she waits for her little pay to arrive

She feeds her little ones with left overs

Looking down at her belly bump,

for the one that is yet to come.

But she has nothing and feels like her life is over

She has no stars left in her eyes,

and doesn't let the struggles of life weigh her down

As she's up at the crack of dawn.

But I say, where's the help she seeks...

We are a christ driven nation,

filled with a lot of passion

But in search for the truth,

all we hear is propaganda.

But I say, for the help they seek,

we shall provide

For the law and rules, we shall abide

And for justice, we shall achieve.