Thousands turn out for funeral of murdered Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei | BBC News

thousands of people have turned out for the funeral of the Ugandan Olympic Athlete Rebecca chepte who was killed by a former boyfriend this month the service is at her family's Hometown booko she will receive full military honors having been a member of the Ugandan Armed Forces 33-year-old marathon runner who competed in the Paris games last month died after being DED with petrol and satellite Rebecca Chap's body was brought in from Kenya where she lived and trained to death has renewed concerned about the level of violence against women in Kenya her former partner has since died of his injuries our senior Africa correspondent an soy has more Rebecca chip was a much loved member of this community and you can see that from the turnout today there are easily thousands of people here coming to pay their last respects to somebody they describe as humble who was willing uh to help members of the community and who inspired many children to take up Athletics earlier in the day local counselors met here at buo district and passed a motion to name a street and a sports venue after her um ear we heard from Paris which is the city she ran her last marathon uh that they also planning to to name a sports venue after her her death at just 33 has shocked me many members of this Comm Community she's the third athlete uh to die as a result of domestic violence in Kenya where she lived in just 3 years and therefore this death has cast um the spotlight on an endemic issue in the country and those conversations are going on here today fellow athletes are wearing black t-shirts with the inscription say no to gender based violence thanks to an for that well earlier I spoke to Sita Kamia the un's ending violence against against women policy specialist in East and Southern Africa it's a really it's a horrible day and it's a reminder that Rebecca's story is All Too common and we have a public emergency of violence against women and girls that is not being adequately addressed um we really we need to learn that Rebecca's experience could have been prevented and without more urgent and Collective action we will continue to fail many women and girls just like Rebecca you you talked there about urgent Collective action what does that mean what kind of action well what we know is that we need violence against women and girls is preventable and everyone needs to be involved through comprehensive approaches that engage all members of society we know that by increasing long-term funding to women's and support to women's rights organizations we can play a more critical role because they're developing the solutions to end to prevent and respond to violence against women by promoting the leadership and participation of women and girls in decision-making and policy spaces that can also help ensure that the policies and programs meet the realities of their of their lives and strengthening Pro protection mechanisms to prevent and eliminate violence before it begins addressing different forms of discrimination including again women women's human rights Defenders and investing in adequate research and data so that we can better understand what is driving femicide in certain contexts and how to better prevent it and ultimate really stepping up our investments in prevention because we know that there are various strategies that can that have been proven effective to prevent violence and reach that critical mass to break the cycle of violence against women and girls and we've been hearing voices raising their concerns specifically in East Africa in this region is there a particular issue here we know that the intentional killing of women or femicides and all forms of violence against women happen all over the world that is not unique to East Africa but we do know that there are factors that can either protect women and girls from violence or increase their risk so for example recognizing violence against women as a violation of Human Rights grounded in dis discrimination and gender inequality rather than an individual isolated case is an important starting point when we know when we can support relationships being Equitable not based on power over or control over one another it's also less likely that violence can take uh will take place and when women's socioeconomic empowerment is celebrated and recognized as a benefit to everyone regardless of their gender identity women in public positions or successful will not be targeted for going against stereotypes for example and of course we know that when laws and policies are enforced violence against women will be recognized as a crime and perpetrators of violence will be held to account for their actions and so so these are some of the factors that can contribute to making um the region and and you know the world safer for women and girls and what kind of you you listed there some of the things that need to change and and the difference is I appreciate that what kind of time frames are we talking about though to try and Implement that well we know that violence against women is a complex issue but that doesn't mean that action can't be taken so there are immediate actions that can be taken right like upholding the laws right ensuring that the laws that are in place are enforced they're resourced annually in state budgets that the institutions who are responsible for uh protecting rights to live free of violence are actually staffed adequately and have mechanisms to monitor progress against against um their commitments and ensuring that there is also support for wider Society to be looking at this issue from a lens of it's something that can be prevented violence is not normal it's not justified and everyone has a role to play in in taking action and these Investments also need to be made over time in our education systems in our health systems so really trying working to to transform um society that is grounded currently in gender inequality to one that is based on tolerance nonviolence and equality for all thanks to Sita Kamia for that just want to take you straight to Uganda these are the live pictures we have just seen the coffin be transported for what seems like the burial let's listen in a come up cut up up up up up up up okay let's Our Father blus Christ was on we pray that you bless Lord in you as we continue serving you special Lord we shall meet Paradise Christ father we thank you we pray that bless Inus spe and just to explain here that Rebecca chap was as well as a marathon runner a former Soldier and that explains there the military elements to the funeral that we're seeing right now I didn't spe so there you can see the numbers that have turned out for the funeral of Rebecca Jeb guy who was set on fire by her former boyfriend that was in Kenya where she lived and trained her body brought back here to Uganda to where she's from and you can see MERS her family there fellow athletes there as well as soldiers there as a former Soldier herself the military component of this funeral explained by we will leave the coverage there of the funeral taking place in in Uganda