21st July 2014

PRESS STATEMENT

“Once again we make our voices heard; Once again we emphasize that we are equal by right; Once again we claim our position at the centre;

and refuse to be kept at the sidelines”

As 2016 draws close, the women of Uganda with renewed determination are convening the national women in politics conference on 22nd and 23rd July 2014 to bring to the fore once again the critical issues affecting the women of this country. We would like to make our demands known to the various stakeholders including the government, political parties, and impress it upon Ugandans, that real development can only be realized when women’s issues are recognized as Uganda’s development issues.

The conference is informed by among others an assessment of the progress that has been made in implementing “Equal By Right: The Uganda Women’s Agenda” as we strive to ensure that women remain at the centre come 2016. This Agenda articulates Eleven thematic pillars with key issues prioritized as pivotal to women’s development including democracy and governance, health, education, economic empowerment, human rights and the law, peace and security, among others. The Agenda brings to the fore unique gender dimensions that need to be addressed by various actors if real and meaningful development for the total empowerment of women and girls is to be achieved. We all know that being a woman in Uganda remains perilous with women and girls languishing at the bottom of most social development indicators. For example we know that today the numbers of women dying while giving birth has grown from 16 to 19 which is unacceptably high; we know that primary school completion rate for girls is still not good being at 51% currently considering that at

enrolment there is parity; we know that female HIV/AIDS prevalence rates for 15 -19 year olds have increased from 2.6% in 2006 to 3% in 2011 and to 7.1% from 6.8% for those aged 20 – 24 years; Gender Based Violence in Uganda is among the worst in the world with 56% women between 15 – 49 years having experienced violence since the age of 15; the list goes on and on. The conference will strategize on how to move the Agenda forward through advocating on these critical issues that remain.

This conference will gather women legislators at both national and local level, women in political parties, women in public administration, womens rights defenders, women in non governmental organizations, Women in religious institutions including mothers union, women entrepreneurs and those in the mainstream private sector. Other stakeholders such as development partners, members of the diplomatic missions, the academia, technocrats, legislators, civil society, will also be taking part in it.

As a build up to the conference, FOWODE and her partners Ford Foundation ACTION AID, Women’s Democracy Network (WDN), Uganda Women Entreprenuers Association , Uganda Youth Network (UYONET) and Council for Economic Empowerment Women in Africa-Uganda(CEEWA), Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) and Regional Associates for Community Initiatives (RACI) set the pace by organizing precursor regional conferences which provided an opportunity for women across the country to discuss the region issues stifling the advancement of women and lay strategies for addressing them. The conferences provided a unique opportunity for women to re-imagine and rebuild their individual and collective power in order to challenge insubordination in their households, communities, political parties, councils, parliament and in governance generally.

Forum for Women in Democracy continues to provide a platform for Ugandan women to learn, network, and advocate for gender equity and equality in decision making through capacity development, policy engagement, community empowerment and strategic partnerships. Through this conference we will once again ensure that women’s voices remain at the centre and that we are engaging effectively in critical governance conversations in our country. As women we cannot afford to remain silent. Women’s issues are development issues, and we once again reiterate that there can be no development with a nation ignoring the concerns of 52% of its most productive population.

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For further information, contact the Patricia Munabi Babiiha, Executive Director on 0758670002 or Sophie Kyagulanyi, Program Manager on 0754670006 or Prudence Nyamishana, Communications

Officer on 0758670016