By Hussein Kiganda
The United Nations marked the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence (GBV) from November 25 to last Friday, under the theme Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now. And who other than singer Chozen Blood, real name Patrick Musasizi, got deeply involved in the campaign.
“I know everyone has that special female figure in your life you treasure so much. It could be your mother, your daughter or a sister. I call upon us all to end gender-based violence now,” he stated on his social media pages.
On his social media platforms, Chozen often wore orange in line with the theme of the initiative.
In a radio interview recently, the Sharp Shooter singer stated that he joined the initiative because he has a daughter, Christabel, aged one. He said she changed his life.
“I want my daughter to grow up in the orange future, where there is no sexual violence.”
The singer went further and started an organisation called Mary-Mary Foundation to focus on women rights and protection of young girls. He told The Kampala Sun that he is financing the foundation alone, but hopes to get funding from other organisations.
“I felt the urge to support the cause because of what’s happening in my environment. Stories from fans, the news. It’s a serious issue. The primary beneficiaries are women and girls, while secondary beneficiaries are men. Currently, I am funding this campaign, but I have mobilised partner organisations and communities to volunteer,” he said.
He hopes that the campaign will stretch to other parts of Uganda and the rest of Africa as he plans to draw more artistes into it.
“Currently, we are focusing on the Ignite campaign. It will involve different activities like empowerment of women and girls in different parts of the country, documentaries on GBV, a virtual show on GBV, skits and training for local artistes to inspire them to write content about GBV. We hope to widen the scope of the Ignite campaign to different parts of Uganda and East Africa and create more platforms for dialogue about GBV,” Chozen said.
