Groundwater Plays a Role in Reducing Gender-Based Violence in Eastern Uganda

By Melanie Aanyu

A section of girls and women in the Eastern Sub-region of Bugisu have revealed that the quest for water that used to expose them to rapists, defilers, and cannibals on several occasions is history.

Some of the girls and women we talked to attribute this to the presence of boreholes in the communities.

To support such communities, Nile Basin Initiative is currently implementing a project to strengthen the knowledge base, capacity, and cross-border institutional mechanisms for sustainable use and management of selected transboundary aquifers in the Nile Equatorial Lakes (NEL) and Eastern Nile sub-basins. Mt Elgon aquifer falls in the NEL region.

The project will, in particular, build and expand on understanding groundwater resources through detailed mapping and assessment of selected aquifer systems and the development of guidelines (technical and policy) on sustainable exploration and use of groundwater together with its conjunctive use with surface water.

Listen to the complete report by Melanie Aanyu by clicking on the audio player below;