During the 4th Annual Uganda Women’s Week that took place at the end of October convened by Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), we were requested by UWONET to convene a 2-hour parallel session that would provide a space for development partners and civil society organizations (CSOs) to have discussions on how best to advance an inclusive and development and gender equality agenda in Uganda.
The theme of the Women’s Week was “Crossing Barriers, Building Bridges: Unleashing Collective Power” while the Goal of the Week was “A vibrant and influential women’s movement advocating for gender equity and equality”
The theme of our session was “Strengthening Movement Building in Uganda: Experiences & Reflections from Development partners and NGO leaders”. The discussions centred on experiences, strategies and lessons learned in relation to the three key elements of a social movement i.e. Base building, Structure and Strategy.
Participants of the Session included the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Ambassador Deborah Malac; the Dutch Ambassador to Uganda, who made a key note address; H.E Ambassador Henk Bakker, also Chair of the Democratic Governance Facility; UWONET Executive Director, Rita Aciro; representatives from development partners and women NGOs among other civil society actors.
Part of our work as an independent advisory firm is to support reflective and responsive philanthropic practice by providing relevant information and technical advice for civic organizing. And this session at the National Women’s Week was important in identifying good practices as well as challenges and key lessons on building and strengthening a more inclusive Women’s Movement in the country. Our work is premised on nurturing strong, more inclusive and robust interventions to promote human rights and social justice.