The situation of women workers in the horticultural sector during the pandemic
Flowers are a luxury unlike food and shelter, but to the workers around the world, who pick and prune and spray every day so that our weddings, homes, and offices have a natural pop of color; they are a necessity. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting worldwide lockdowns affected all industries but few were hit […]
Dear Akpara
Dear Akpara, I haven’t written to you because I feared my truth, Still watering the fruits, ignoring the root, The gongs got my head mute, Even the talking drum has gone mute, Sorry my prayers were no input, But our memories were cute, So cute I’m still holding strong, I found the light you […]
KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY THIGHS, SSEBO
Keep Your Hands Off My Thighs, Ssebo is a compilation of fictionalized accounts of women who have experienced abuse at the workplace, intended to provide a basic and simplified understanding and context of sexual harassment at places of work from a feminist perspective. These stories of fear, shame, blame, and silence depict how the impunity […]
Rethink! Conversation Series
With support from Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), under the auspices of The Jas Programme, Akina Mama wa Afrika is convening a reflection platform for Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) actors to critically reflect on current development theory and practice from a feminist perspective. This Re-think: Conversation series: Choice, Rights and Reproductive Freedom aims […]
30 young women graduate from the 7-week virtual Feminist and Transformational Leadership Fellowship 2020
Abiding by our mission to develop a cadre of feminist leaders through our flagship program the African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI), with support from UN Women Uganda, we successfully concluded a 7-week virtual Feminist and Transformational Leadership Fellowship from the 28th of July to the 15th of September, 2020. The ceremony held on 3rd November […]
Mentors of the Feminist and Transformational Leadership Fellowship
Akina Mama Wa Afrika’s flagship program the ‘African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI)’ provides a powerful and holistic feminist grounding for African women to enable them define, analyze and articulate their experiences of inequalities and devise solutions for sustained change. We called for mentors to support our goal of shaping a feminist future through our Feminist […]
Continuity starts with an individual: Our learnings from the 25 years of the Beijing Platform
On October 9, 2020, Uganda celebrated 58 years of Independence from her colonial masters, the British. The celebration was held under the theme, “Celebrating Uganda’s steady progress towards economic take-off and self-sustaining economic growth”. Uganda since her independence in 1962, has made great strides in achieving development but has also stumbled and failed in the same. The […]
Building a Solid Foundation for the JAS Programme Technical Working Group on Women and Gender
Akina Mama wa Afrika on 6th August, 2020, convened the first Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting on Gender under the Joint Advocacy for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Uganda (JAS) Programme. The purpose of the TWG meeting was to create a safe space for stakeholders to share information, strategize, coordinate efforts and develop […]
Activating a bold, progressive, cross-border feminist movement on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
25 years after the unanimous adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) by 189 countries, there have been enormous improvements in the lives of women and girls but also many unfulfilled promises especially in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Despite the wins, women are still faced with […]
Illicit Financial Flows: Plugging the outflow of resources for gender justice
In a groundbreaking report released in 2015, the Mbeki High Level Panel revealed that Africa loses about US$50 billion annually in Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), an amount less than the Official Development Assistance Africa collectively receives as a continent. The 2018 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) study on the global governance architecture for […]
In the shadow of the pandemic: The dark underbelly of private debt
People borrow money for a myriad of reasons; to get an education, manage medical or financial emergencies, travel, pay existing loans, start a business or expand it. Debt is one of the ways people cope but more so now, during the Covid-19 pandemic which has ushered in a major ongoing global economic crisis and caused […]
The Informal Economy in the grip of the pandemic: Sharing experiences and strategies for a resilient recovery
Over 50% of Uganda’s GDP is attributed to the informal sector and more than 80% of the labor force work is in the informal sector according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS,2014). A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) stated that women-owned businesses by 2014 had outpaced male-owned businesses by 1.5 times (236% […]
Tusikize! Listen to Us!
When the #MeToo movement dominated global discourse on sexual assault and harassment, it resonated with women worldwide because it opened up a space for them to say, “Me too. I have also suffered sexual violence”. Sexual harassment is pervasive and has infested all workplaces without exception. Many people were silent about their experiences, but as […]
We stand in solidarity with Racheal Njoroge in protesting the outrageously flimsy penalty against her abuser, Edward Kisuze
On September 29th, 2020, Edward Kisuze, a senior Administrative Assistant at Makerere University was convicted of the offence of indecent assault against Racheal Njoroge, a former student at the university. Outrageously, while the offence committed by Kisuze attracts a maximum sentence of 14 years, he was sentenced to only two years imprisonment or a fine […]
Action Research On Women’s Leadership And Participation In Political Processes In Uganda
Introduction Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) is a Pan-African Feminist Leadership Development Organization with headquarters in Kampala, Uganda. It was founded in 1985 by African women immigrants living in the United Kingdom to create space for African women to organize autonomously, network with each other, share skills and expertise, identify issues of concern and speak […]
The AWLI gave me a space to learn and understand Feminism.
In the past, every time I heard about feminism, I would imagine a rude woman who went about ridiculing men and setting things on fire. However, I have come to learn that being a feminist means being the kind of person who cares that women are treated right and given equal opportunities with men in […]
Reflecting on 25 Years of the Beijing Platform for Action
25th September 1995 was historic in the women’s movement in Africa and the world at large. Representatives of 189 governments, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, feminists, activists and organizations from all over the world convened at the Fourth World Conference on Women to recognize women’s rights as human rights; an event that laid the foundation for […]
“We need more feminist minded women in politics,” Rebecca Achom Adile
A lot of changes happened in Uganda’s political scene due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Electoral Commission announced that elections and campaigns would be held virtually; a very challenging situation for new entrants in the political scene. We also witnessed cases of violence across the country especially during the National Resistance Movement primaries; as well […]
The African Women’s Leadership Institute has shaped me into a resilient woman
Before the African Women’s Leadership Institute, I thought I had figured out who I was, where I was going, and what I wanted to be; I was wrong. I have since discovered a lot about myself. I recognized my values, strengths, goals and aspirations, as well as worked out my ambitions and what I look […]
“The African Women’s Leadership Institute has boosted my morale and indulgence to self.”
Joining the Feminist and Transformational Leadership Fellowship was a dream come true. I have always wanted to be part of the African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI) to improve my feminist leadership and access more opportunities. I am extremely pleased that Akina Mama wa Afrika made this possible. For a transgender woman to be accepted to […]