CO-Uganda Women's Leadership Project

General

The proposed project builds on the concluded 5-year Raising Her Voice Project (RHVP) which was conceived and designed to influence the Uganda Government to ratify and domesticate the Africa Union Protocol on Women#s Rights without harmful reservations; and to contribute to promoting the role of women in the decision-making processes affecting their lives. The five-year Project was launched in2008 and ended in March 2013. This project will be part of the 2nd phase of the RHV with started march 2014. Although the 2nd phaseof the project focuses on fostering Local women#s activism and leadership to advance Women#s land rights and fight against VAW, the3rd year of the 2nd phase of RHV will only focus on Women#s Land rights. This project aims to build onthis momentum by specifically building capacity of rural women and women leaders to be at the forefront of advocating for the issues impinging on their rights especially the right to Land especially land inheritance and succession rights. The project will building women#s capacity to engage with the governance framework and cultural institutions at different levels so that functional land management structures are put in place and responsive to the needs of women. It#s envisaged that the engagement ofwomen with cultural institutions and Legal framework will increase land accessibility for women as well and control. The voices of women At local level, the project will be implemented in 3 sub regions of the Greater north , in the districts of Lamwo, Kitgum( Acholi region) Kabong and Kotido( Karamoja region)and Nebbi and Arua (Westnile region). Given the situation of women in northern Uganda with regard to high land ownership injustices and other injustices against women, domestication and implementation of the Maputo Protocol is important to address gaps in policy, laws and implementation of programmes to address women#s rights. The project will focus on pushing for the implementation of the recently passed land policy.