Uganda women for Water and Sanitation Factsheet

Uganda Women for Water and Sanitation Factsheet

Founded in 2008
WfWP member since 2010
Mission: to mobilize and empower women and communities at all levels by increasing access to safe water; good sanitation and hygiene practices; women and children’s rights protection; good habitant; good health practices; preservation of environment; poverty eradication; education, information generation and dissemination, promote farming and community development
Focus area: Water, sanitation, environment, gender, sustainable development, IWRM
Level: local, national
Main themes: empowered women, access to water supply systems and sanitation, health, community level, income generation

Milestones

Uganda Women for Water and Sanitation’s efforts are geared towards raising consciousness about sanitation and hygiene, gain the commitment of political, social and opinion leaders around the world and ultimately bring about structural and behavioral changes that will provide a permanent solution to this preventable international crisis.

Situation Analyses on Water
UWWS successfully carried out situation analyses, one on water, sanitation and hygiene in multiple slums in the district of the Kampala (funded by WFWP). Another situation analysis was conducted on capacity building in water, sanitation and hygiene in the Omoro District (funded by Laker Garment Limited and Lyna Enterprises Ltd).

Gender Based Violence
Furthermore, UWWS conducted a sensitization/awareness program on gender based violence (GBV) at schools and community levels in the district of Gulu to establish community needs and to identify priorities for future projects. The project started in 2016 and is funded by member organisation Melania.

In this programme local leaders are targeted, such as church leaders, teachers, leaders of women groups and clerks, to combat domestic and gender based violence. Activities of the project include A two-day meeting for religious leaders is organised to provide training how to include these issues into their religious programmes. Also a training of two days will be organised for ten male and ten female teachers and leaders of women groups, to train them in sex education which will lead to to avoid GBV. Also 25 local governmental officials are trained on GBV, they are especially included in the programme to target people who are not reached by the religious leaders, women leaders or teachers.

Films and plays will be used to stimulate discussions around GBV in the six churches and four schools involved in the project. The idea is that their campaign will be picked up by other churches and schools, so that the programme can be up scaled regionally or even nationally.

Future plans
UWWS has several plans for future projects such as (i) to construct a centre for trainings (ii) organising women and youth to form a farmer’s cooperative societies, (iii) to form girls and boys empowerment clubs, (iv) to continue to promote clean water, sanitation and hygiene, women and children’s rights and skills training and (v) to keep on promoting and protecting women’s land rights.