The SOS Children’s Villages officials and environmental conservationists have urged the public to adopt a green economy to conserve the environment.
This was during the media training held at the organization’s offices in Entebbe with the aim of orienting media houses on different programms undertaken by SOS, projects implemented by SOS childrens’ villages as well as to create awareness gender equality and inclusion in green economy.
According to Tom Kakooza, the SOS Program Officer in charge of Livelihood, the organisation have been implementing the Grow Equal project with a component of engaging the caregivers in green economic activities where they are preserving the environment while earning from it.
“We are supporting the caregivers in having clean energy. They are using energy-saving stoves, and on top of that, we are also training them on how to preserve the environment and to know the green economic activities they can engage in even at the village here,” he said.
In addition, Kakooza highlighted that in such measures, they are saving on the money that would be used to buy charcoal, and also, health wise, it is helping them to prevent on the diseases which could come as a result of using the charcoal.
He also revealed that when the women engage in economic activities which are green for example in making briquettes, they earn money which helps them to support and buy items at home, or even providing requirement for the children, not waiting for the husband to provide hence reducing on domestic violence in families where they have been quarreling.
Kakooza, therefore urged the public to adopt at least one green practice at their household level, which will help them to save either on the environment or on the money they are spending at their respective homes.
Benon Webale, the SOS Area Programs Manager, emphasised that several integrations have been done, including educating young ones, their mothers and different stakeholders, all the issues around gender, parenting, economic empowerment, and sustainability of the projects through climate intervention.
“We are now partnering with different media houses so that those messages reach a wider public, because the few people we have targeted and work with on a daily basis, appreciate these messages. So we would want these messages to reach a wider public, since the population is much bigger than we can reach,” he said.
Webale further explained that the impact of the initiative is to reach out to those many other actors that can then also benefit from these messages and be able to transform their lives accordingly.
On the other hand, he notified that traditionally, the organization has been hosting children and stay in it’s homes basically for as long as 20 years until they finish university, however the policy of the government has changed, and one of the issues coming through is the fact that when children stay wrong in these institutions, they get disoriented.
“There is a kind of mismatch between the reality they have in the village here and the reality that you find in the communities where they come from and ordinarily, a child should be able to grow in the hands of his or her parents, with the biological relatives around enjoying that love and guidance and help from parents. But when they find themselves in a situation where parenting is at stake. Then they come into this institution, but now we are saying we shouldn’t keep them here for a long time, if that reality has come their way. Yes, we can bring them on board.”
In the presence was the Katabi and Kajjansi Town Council’s Environmental Officer, Nicholas Mugabe who appreciated both the training and the organisation’s commitment towards conserving the environment.
The Grow Equal project, implemented by SOS Children’s Villages, aims to promote equal opportunities and access to resources for women and girls, particularly in green economic opportunities and social protection. This project, funded by the Austrian Development Agency and operational until December 2027, is focused on fostering gender-sensitive communities in Wakiso, Kabarole, and Kamwenge districts.
About SOS Children’s Villages
SOS Children’s Villages is a global, independent, non-profit organization dedicated to providing a loving, family-like environment for children without parental care or at risk of losing it. It focuses on nurturing lasting relationships and providing holistic care, including family-like care, education, and support for vulnerable families.
SOS Children’s Villages in Uganda creates an environment where previously solitary children find a community to belong to, enabling them to engage in the joys of childhood: playing, laughing, learning, forging friendships, and experiencing all the activities that define a happy, healthy childhood.
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