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Women, Peace and Security Initiatives: Uganda
In-country | International

In-country

Housing & Education for AIDS Orphaned Girls
UMOP Uganda (Self-sponsored)
September 2004
Orphaned girls are especially vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Girls are often forced into relationships with older men, sometimes as second or third wives. Others become sex workers, having no other source of income with which to care for younger siblings. Practices such as female genital mutilation, polygamy, and early marriage are prevalent in Uganda. UMOP takes in three girls to every two boys believing that to educate and empower a girl will empower the nation. The goal of this 2-year project which costs $15,473 is to build a girls dormitory. Currently, the girls are vulnerable due to the location of the school near an industrial site. Safe & healthy living conditions such as this dormitory will help girls to resist sexual exploitation, stay in school, build healthier families & communities and have access to reproductive education, contraception, & AIDS education. To learn more about this project and/or contribute financially, please click here, or contact Father Centurio Olaboro, Director, PO Box 714 Tororo, Uganda. Tel: +256 4545199.

Mifumi Girls and Women Initiative
Mifumi, a Ugandan women's rights and development organization, aims to work with rural people of Mifumi to secure basic rights through education, health care services, economic self sufficiency, the protection of women from domestic violence and abuse. The women and girls initiative works to promote four major themes: rural women in business, violence against women, preventative approaches against domestic violence by young people, and strengthening local partnerships. Click here for more information Mufimi's campaign.

The Hunger Project
2004
Using The Hunger Project's methodology of Strategic Planning-in-Action, it works to empower local people to create their own vision of a future free from hunger, and carry out catalytic projects to achieve that future. It works in partnership with government, the media and civil society in a common front for the end of hunger. Empowering women food farmers is our highest priority. Click Here for more information on the Hunger Project.

Women of Uganda Network
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) is a non-governmental organisation established in May 2000 by several women organisations in Uganda to develop the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among women as tools to share information and address issues collectively. WOUGNET's emphasis is directed towards email and the web, and how these technologies can be integrated with the traditional means of information exchange and dissemination for maximum outreach. WOUGNET's vision is to improve the living conditions of Ugandan women by enhancing their capacities and opportunities to exchange and share information, and to collaborate. Click Here for more information.

Women demand law to weed out domestic violence
October, 2003
A coalition of women groups, including the Uganda Gender Resource Center and the AIDS Information Center, launched a campaign demanding a law to protect women from domestic violence, which has been blamed for the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among them. The coalition maintain that the proposed Domestic Relations Bill, which is supposed to tackle the domestic violence, is too general and contains components which are controversial, and therefore, is not the right tool to weed out domestic violence. Women demand to pull domestic violence out of the Bill and let it stand alone as a separate law to reduce the risk of contracting the HIV/AIDS among them. To read the full text of the article Click Here. For more information visit AIDS Information Center Uganda.

The Dilemma of Women in Northern Uganda Silent Tears
October, 2003
On a special report, the National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda, analyzed the evolution of the conflict and the role of women and children in the peace-building process. Among other initiatives, the report highlights the work of Mrs. Betty Bigombe in 1993-94, who tried her best and had gone very far in the peace building process to the extent of meeting some rebel commanders. However, due to the negative attitude towards women in Uganda, Betty’s attempt was aborted. NAWOU have created different centers for women and children. The Women in Peace Building Network, a member of NAWOU, distributed 235 blankets to St. Monica Gulu Center, where children spend nights to avoid abduction. Click here to see photos of women and children victims of conflict in Uganda. To read the full report prepared by the National Association of Women Organizations in Ugnada Click Here. For more information visit the National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda.

International Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament
May 24, 2003
On the International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament, ISIS-WICCE called for reflection rather than celebration in Uganda, the Great Lakes Region, Africa, and the world as a whole. They urged the Government of Uganda for the continued commitment to disarming internal groups that pose a threat to others, to make an effort to invest more energy in engaging in dialogue with neighboring countries, which are corridors for the illicit arms trade, and to play its parts in sincerely finding solutions that will lead to sustainable peace and disarmament in our region. For more information visit Isis- Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange.

Women's Community Radio
August 24, 2001
The Uganda Media Women's Association launched a community radio station with the aim to create a forum for debating gender issues. The station, 101.7 Mama FM, will cover women's issues as well as news of importance to other marginalized groups. It covers a radius of 400km and targets particularly women between the active age of 15-45 and the general public. Mama FM seeks to promote developmental interactive communication. It aims at broadcasting gender sensitive educational programs and offering training/practical experience for female journalists. For more information visit the Uganda Media Women's Association.

Internet Café
2000
Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchanged launched in 2000 an Internet Café initiative to enable women and girls have access to the information technology. The Internet Café offers women and girls training as well as a space through which they can be communicated with the world. For more information visit Isis- Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange.

Kacoke Madit
1996
The Kacoke Madit initiative aims to raise awareness about the conflict in Northern Uganda, and find viable means of bringing it to and end. Kacoke Madit (KM) means “big meeting. Kacoke Madit has organized international conferences bringing together the affected Northern Uganda community, the Government of Uganda, the Government of Sudan, representatives of the international community and other stakeholdres. KM has organized three major conferences in London in 1997 and 1998, and in Kenya in 2000. Also, in August 2000, KM launched a nation-wide appeal for peace and reconciliation through negotiation rather tahn violence. For more information visit Kacoke Madit.

Women Peaceful Demonstration
1989
The Gulu District Women’s Development Commitee organized a peaceful march through Gulu town calling to end the violence. Women participated on the peaceful demonstration wearing reags and singing funeral songs. Unfortunately, we do not have more information about this initiative. We will keep updating it.

International

Help Promote Peace and the Return of Abducted Children in Northern Uganda
This initiative calls individuals world-wide to take action for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in northern Uganda by sending a letter statement to Mr. Walter Kansteiner, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Department of State, urging the US government diplomatic support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The letter petitions the US government to address immediately the humanitarian disaster, to support the emergency assistance for displaced persons, and to end the abductions and use of child soldiers in northern Uganda. To send the letter Click Here. For more information visit the Women Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

Encourage President Bush to Focus Attention on the Situation of young People in Uganda
Women Comisssion for Refugee Women and Children calls individuals world-wide to send a letter statement to urge President Bush to use diplomatic pressure and international support to promote a peaceful resolution of the conflict and to address the humanitarian crisis in Northern Uganda. To send the letter Click Here. For more information visit the Women Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

Domestic Violence and Women’s Vulnerability to HIV-Infection in Uganda
Send a letter to urge Uganda’s president, its minister of justice and constitutional affairs, its minister of health, and its minister responsible for gender issues to transform Uganda’s laws and customs to protect women from domestic violence and the transmission of HIV. In addition, urge members of your country’s parliament and other officials to condemn domestic violence and to ensure that donor assistance is targeted to end these violations, and finally, urge the World Bank and other donor agencies to make domestic violence and women’s vulnerability to HIV a central part of their plans as they mobilize to help African countries combat HIV/AIDS and promote development. For contact information and sign-up the petitions click here. For a report about Domestic Violence and Women’s Vulnerability to HIV-Infection in Uganda Click Here. For more information visit Human Rights Watch.