The Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion has called on men to actively participate in the ‘Umugoroba w’Umuryango’ (loosely to mean ‘a family evening’) forum, a community-based initiative that seeks to promote harmonious and stable families. The forum was previously known as ‘Umugoroba w’Ababyeyi’, or parents’ evening, before it was renamed ‘Umugoroba w’Umuryango’ last year as the government sought to push back against false beliefs that the initiative was only meant for women. Yet, the change of name has hardly banished the misconception nearly a year later, with most men still shunning the grassroots forums, which defeats the essence of the initiative. Indeed, the absence of men in discussions that seek to promote the welfare of the family and generally foster a healthy, open citizen conversation around household matters and other issues at the grassroots level can only render these noble initiatives ineffective and help sustain the very challenges they sought to address. There is a need to come up with remedial action as soon as possible and this can only be possible if there is full ownership of the initiative at the household level. In fact, besides both parents, children too are encouraged to actively participate in these forums to make them as inclusive as possible and help ensure that their benefits transcend their parents’ generation. ‘Umugoroba w’Umuryango’ is a home-grown platform that allows for experience sharing with exemplary couples often invited to talk about their own experience with a view to inspiring their peers to take appropriate measures to address whatever challenges they may be facing. If fully embraced, the programme could go a long way in helping address issues of domestic violence and other crimes such as defilement and forms of gender based violence that tend to feed off unstable households. In addition, families mired in conflict are unlikely to provide the best possible care to their children, including meeting their nutrition, education and healthcare needs, and likely to be trapped in a perpetual cycle of poverty. The consequences are far-reaching and multifaceted, with long-term knock-on effects even on the economy. Therefore, there is a need to come up with more creative and effective ways to get the buy-in of men and other community members if this important forum is to succeed and achieve intended objectives.
