Post-war economic opportunities in northern Uganda: Implications for Women's Empowerment and Political Participation

This document presents a women-focused study which looks at peace dividends and their nature, as well as the direction they are taking. The overall objective is to map out economic opportunities for women in post-war northern Uganda and the implications for their broader political participation and empowerment

Cutting the coat according to the cloth : decentralisation and women's agency on land rights in Uganda; final report

This paper highlights how women are interfacing with institutions of power at a local level in Uganda in terms of land claims. According to the Land Act 1998, all land is vested in the citizens who own it. Enormous resistance occurred behind the scenes against women’s efforts to include a provision on spousal co-ownership of land. The provision was passed in parliament but it did not appear in the published Land Act (2003:162). Land administration is an important factor in the constitution and enjoyment of property rights; it can convert tenure regimes into resource management and implemetation strategies

Improving Learning in Rural Lower Primary School through Provision of Informal ECD: Lessons from an NGO Model in Uganda

Despite the importance of early childhood education in improving academic achievements in subsequent years and also in social development, it remains out of reach for majority of children in developing countries. This leaves informal education as the main preparation children in rural areas receive before entry into primary schools. This paper focuses on contributions of informal early childhood education to pupils learning in lower primary schools. Data was drawn from a three-year longitudinal study of children who had benefitted from the informal early childhood education provided by a nongovernmental organization (LABE), in Uganda. Findings show that attendance of informal home based learning improves pupils’ performance in literacy and numeracy by primary three. Children who attend the informal early childhood education performed better than those who start school direct from home. Informal early childhood education also increases children readiness for schools and helps them cope better with school. The paper recommends adaptation of the LABE model in rural areas with inadequate formal ECCE provisions. In addition, for improved supervision, linking HLC and primary schools is critical

Gender and Spirituality in Anti-Colonial Struggles in Uganda: A Case of Nyabingi Movement in Kigezi Region (1900-1945)

During the anti-colonial struggles, a number of religion and political movements were formed to oppose the colonial rule. In Uganda, particularly in Kigezi region, Nyabingi movement was one of the religion-political movement that pioneered the anticolonial struggles in Africa against the colonialism. However, its success depended on the Nyabingi supernatural powers, which was believed to have only possessed or chosen women as their spiritual mediums. The Nyabingi movement leader (Muhumuza) was believed to have had tremendous powers that could heal the sick, revived infertility in barren women and could give fortune. Such powered also create fear among the colonial powers (Germany, Belgians and the British) as they could be ambushed by the Nyabingi movement followers (Abagirwa) without their knowledge. This forced the colonial government in the western province of the British directorate (The current Kabale district) to introduce the witchcraft ordinance of 1912 that was meant to suppress all the Nyabingi movement activities including all its sorcery acts. Despite, all these, Nyabingi movement, its leadership often characterized with spirituality remained a threat, and eventually led to the downfall of colonialism in Uganda. The study therefore examined the intersection of the gender and spirituality in the dynamics of the (Reasons why the spiritual mediums) Nyabingi movement in Kigezi region in Uganda, how did the mediums (with the help of spirituality) helped in the mobilization of Abagirwa against the colonial rule, how such powers shaped the political landscape in Uganda.The study employed a historical research design and qualitative approach to collect data through archival/document review and historical oral tales from key informant interviews with historians, cultural leaders and elders as well as site visits. The study findings indicated that, gender played a big role in terms of expectations, socialization and power relations. For instance, women had higher capacity to nurture, high intelligence ability and mobilizing the Abagirwa, hence it is believed that these are some of strands that favored women to be possessed by the Nyabingi spirit than men and this can be evidenced from Muhumuza’s historical narrative. For instance, despite the existence of patriarchal practices at the time, Muhumuza who was a fearless leader, managed to mobilize the followers against the colonial powers in the name of Nyabingi spirit, irrespective of some doubts about the reality of existence of such powers. Her actions were able to shape women’s identity anticolonial struggles, identity of women in leadership and paved way for Uganda’s independence.  However, despite role of women in anticolonial struggles, their recognition and contributions in various fields including to Uganda’s independence remains low. Hence, there is need to develop a robust policy responses for intervention. Keywords: Gender spirituality, Nyabingi movement, anti-colonial struggles in Uganda DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/13-18-02 Publication date:October 31st 202

Evaluation of the Strategy for Support via Swedish Civil Society Organisations 2010-2014: Final Country Report - Uganda

implemented by Swedish civil society organisations and their national partners in Uganda, as one of three country studies. The purpose of the evaluation was to find out if, how and why/why not Sweden’s support to civil society organisations has contributed to the overall objectives of the strategy. The Reality Check Approach was used to understand the realities and perspectives of people living in poverty combined with ‘mesolevel’ and organisational inquiries. The findings were used to explore the theories of change of the organisations in relation to people’s realities, in order to analyse the strategy’s relevance, alignment and feasibility

Unravelling Backlash in the Journey of Legislating Sexual Offences in Uganda

This paper interrogates the reality of gender backlash in Uganda by tracing the process of legislating on the 2019 Sexual Offences Bill (SOB). We trace the early beginnings of the Bill by highlighting the motivation that guided the framing of the Bill, the role of individual actors and alliances in pushing for the gender equity reform, and the oppositional forces against the reform. Working with participatory forms of qualitative research methods, the focus on the legislative cycle of the SOB as a policy case aimed to enable us to understand what constitutes backlash, and its drivers and manifestations. While this approach is an opportunity to contribute to and broaden conceptual debates on gender backlash in Uganda and beyond, it is also aimed at working closely with women’s rights activists to identify forms of backlash and inform feminist voice and response to the opposition dynamics and the impact on the gender equality agenda – thereby contributing to creating capacity in voice to counter backlash against gender justice.Swedish International Development Cooperation Agenc

Interrogating large-scale land acquisitions and land governance in Uganda : implications for women’s land rights

Land is a key asset for the livelihood of the majority of people and is a key ingredient in the constitution of rights, entitlement as well as identity. Land is a key economic resource for agricultural production and accumulation as well as a key signifier in the constitution of social status and citizenship. Equally so, land disputes tend to constitute the largest percentage of conflict at household and community levels. Because of the potentially volatile nature of land, its governance is a critical issue and land issues have been noted as some of those that demand careful management

Large scale land acquisitions and land governance in Uganda : implications for women’s land rights

Over 90 percent of Uganda’s population is dependent almost exclusively on agriculture for their livelihood which makes land a vital resource and in the same vein land governance then becomes a significant political question. Over the last two decades or so, there has been a relative land rush by foreign companies as well as national companies and individual investors and speculators. The phenomenon of LSLA in Uganda is quietly on the rise

Localised or localising democracy : gender and the politics of decentralisation in contemporary Uganda

The table of contents for this item can be shared with the requester. The requester may then choose one chapter, up to 10% of the item, as per the Fair Dealing provision of the Canadian Copyright Ac

Worker Struggles, the Labour Process and the Question of Control: The Case of United Garment Industry Limited

Appendices includedCBR Working Paper NO. 16List of CBR Working Papers includedThe immediate objective of this paper is to derive educational material for workers, based on the analysis of dynamics within United Garments industry Limited UGIL, a Kampala based textile factory, and subsequently within the union for textile workers, Uganda Textile and Garment workers' Union, (UT&GWU). UGIL was established during the import industrialization phase in the immediate post-independence era for making garments from imported cloth particularly from Japan. The company was incorporated in 1964 as a joint venture between UDC, two Japanese Companies Yamato International and Marubeni, and United Commercial agencies. The Uganda government had the majority shares-51%, and the Japanese Companies, 49% (UDC Corporate Plan 1988-90) hence the management has been by Ugandans only with the representative of the Japanese Companies as a production manager. UGIL was not a factory as such, because all it did was to import cloth cut it to make several types of garments such as shirts, school uniforms, trousers etc. Originally in fact it was called a 'Shirt Firm'. This probably explains why it is rarely included in publications on the textile industry particularly of the sixties and seventies. Later in 1972, knitting of (imported) yarn was introduced. Recently, spinning was introduced (installed in April1990) and almost all the yarn required is spun here from Uganda cotton. UGIL had a rather modest start with a total of 120 workers but gradually, activity increased and the labour force went up to about 1,000 in the early 1980's. None the less with the influence of wars and subsequent lay- offs the labour force has gone down to 450. The main issue in this analysis is to discern the role of workers in the creation of their own history, a history in which workers help to define change rather than merely respond to it. It is an account of what they have done and failed to do within the context of the Ugandan society. The knitting thread in this contention, is to show what labour has achieved as a result of coming together thereby establishing the rationale behind organization. The paper is divided into the following sections: First, is the background to the workers' struggle in Uganda as a whole and particularly with a note on the education they have been exposed to. The second deals with the perspective and the conceptual issues that guided the research. The third gives an account of the production process and production trends and the socio-cultural characteristics of the labour force in UGIL. Fourth is the worker struggle, a reconstruction of their history. The fifth addresses the constraints to worker power with a critical look at the nature of capital and the role of the state. The final section is the conclusion to the study