Forum for Women in Democracy Uganda

The health center which caters for more than 38,000 residents has only one ward and six beds which are used for admission of expectant mothers in delivery and other patients including males and children with various health conditions Expectant Mothers and male patients are sharing one small ward at Butuntumula Heath Center 111 raising issues of breach of privacy at delivery. The in charge of Butuntumula Health Center  Harriet Nanyanzi says the health center which caters for more than 38,000 residents has only one ward and six beds which are used for admission of expectant mothers in delivery and other patients including males and children with various health conditions. Nanyanzi says that due to lack of privacy in the ward, the number of mothers delivering from the center has dwindled as women now prefer private health units where they feel secure and privacy is respected. Nanyanzi adds that the Health Center receives 875,000 shillings per quarter from Centr...

African women leaders are claiming their leadership positions not only in Africa but at an international level; a good case in point is the appointment of former South African Vice President, Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as the new Executive Director UN Women, the organization leading UN's work on advancing gender equality and women's rights in July 2013. For Uganda’s case, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament of Uganda Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga was in September 2013 elected chairperson the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians-International (CWP), a seat she will hold for the next three years.   Kadaga was before then chairing the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians-Africa branch and is the first Woman Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda. Serving as the Speaker, Kadaga has overtime distinguished herself and partially redeemed the credibility of the Office of the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda and portrayed herself as potential leader and for many ‘President Materi...

Government might have set out to help rural famers in various schemes, but there is a lot still wanting. In a National Dialogue organized by the Civil Society Budget Group and Forum for Women in Democracy at Hotel Africana on Tuesday 8 October, farmers expressed their dissatisfaction on the way the NAADs and extension services were being carried out.  The dialogue that drew local women farmers from Amuru, Amuria, Napak, Iganga Masaka, Luwero, Mukono and other districts was organized under Farm Power 2013 with the theme “Financing Inclusive extension services in Uganda.” Sophie Kyagulanyi the Program Manager from Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) in her opening remarks called for integration of the traditional extension service system with the existing extension services in NAADs and urged civil society organizations to effectively engage in the ongoing reforms of the extension service systems by ministry of agriculture. In her presentation on the status of...

At 77, she radiates the amount of energy and passion that none of her contemporaries can easily show off. Meet Frances Akello, a single mother of two sons, who is also a farmer and an educationist. Although she has retired from her lifelong career of teaching, she is certainly not exhausted. “I dig for myself. I rarely take boda-boda for short distance movements and walking is my best form of exercise,” Ms Akello said. She was among the first four black women to sit in the pre-independence Parliament of Uganda on the Democratic Party ticket, a position she took up at the age of 24 in 1958. Referred to as the Legislative Council (Legco), the convention was predecessor of the National Assembly whose first members were all Europeans.  It comprised the colonial Governor as its president, four officials namely the chief secretary, attorney general, treasurer, the principal medical officer and two ot...

I have learnt to love my country Uganda more. This event has reminded me that we may belong to different tribes or speak different languages but we are all Ugandans and Uganda belongs to all of us. Annet Kanyarutokye from Rwakirungura FOWODE group As Uganda marked her 51st Independence in Rukungiri district, the grassroots women that FOWODE works with in Buyanja Sub-county in Rukungiri participated in the highly anticipated parade which allows individuals, prominent companies, schools and different groups of people to showcase their work to the nation on this day. Being residents of the host district for this year’s Independence, these women felt this was an opportunity they couldn’t miss. They diligently participated in the week-long rehearsals alongside the Police, Army and Prisons forces as was required by the organizers. Their hard work paid off on Independence Day, clad in their blue T-shirts, the women marched on with confidence and pride as they wave...