BURUNDI: Using men to empower women
MUTIMBUZI, 2 December 2010 (IRIN): For a long time, Merthus Ntahobakuriye, 53, did not think much of being drunk daily or refusing to help out with household chores (pligter). He sold the little they had to maintain his drinking habit.
– Whenever my wife went to work in the field, she would come back to find that I had sold everything I could lay my hands on. One day she got a goat from her family; I could not resist selling even this one,” Ntahobakuriye told a meeting of women leaders in the commune of Mutimbuzi, Bujumbura-Rurale Province, which surrounds the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.
Ntahobakuriye is one of dozens of men known in Kirundi as `Abatangamuco’ (“those who shed light”).
They are identified by the community and, with the help of international NGO CARE, help empower women by raising men’s awareness of gender-based violence and other practices which denigrate women.
Michelle Carter, head of CARE Burundi, told IRIN:
– One of our biggest successes in Burundi has been the Abatangamuco – these men are revolutionaries, going against tradition and supporting women. It starts off with stopping the beating at home, and now some of these women are in political office. The challenge is the country needs more Abantagamuco and empowered women.
CARE runs women empowerment programmes in several provinces, focusing on psycho-social wellbeing; legal as well as cultural empowerment; and maternal health.
The `Abatangamuco’ programme, according to Nicedore Nkurunziza, a capacity-building officer for CARE Burundi, was established two years ago to empower women by getting “reformed” men to testify before the community, and in the process get more men to emulate their changed behaviour.
– This approach is interesting because it gets men to know that they can change their ways, she said, adding:
– Even the government has found this approach useful and sometimes calls on the Abatangamuco to testify on social issues such as marriage and what it entails.
A turn for the better
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