Uganda Consultation, May 2009

From May 27 to June 2, 2009, the Institute for Inclusive Security traveled to Kampala to help Ugandan women leaders develop a coordinated strategy for holding the government and international donors accountable for transparent, participatory recovery from civil war in Northern Uganda. Inclusive Security’s consultation brought together 26 female members of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association and all members of the Women’s Taskforce for Gender Responsive Peace and Recovery Development Plan (PRDP) for Northern Uganda, a coalition of 18 women’s organizations from the North and Kampala.

Additionally, we advocated to international development partners and senior officials from the Office of the Prime Minister for increased participation of women at all levels of PRDP implementation and monitoring. As a result of our advocacy, a women’s civil society representative was included in the PRDP Monitoring Committee (PMC)—the most high-level oversight mechanism. Female parliamentarians at the PMC presented to the Ugandan Prime Minister the gender-sensitive indicators developed at our workshop.

The Uganda Women Parliamentary Association organized a press conference, attended by 30 journalists, at which key parliamentarians and Taskforce members spoke about the importance of women’s leadership in PRDP implementation and released a lengthy press statement. UWOPA and the Women’s Taskforce collaborated to advance women’s participation in recovery through the release of a joint communiqué on the Uganda government’s national budget.

Consultation
The May 28 to May 30 consultation with the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association and the Women’s Taskforce for a Gender Responsive Peace and Recovery Development Plan brought together key female leaders from government and civil society. Over the course of the three days, participants created gender-sensitive indicators for PRDP implementation and strategic plans for UWOPA and the Taskforce to influence PRDP implementation and monitoring. All consultation participants recognized the value of coordinating their strategies across sectors.

Presenters at the consultation included high-level speakers from the government, international agencies, and civil society, including Randy Harris, team leader for governance at USAID and chairperson of the Northern Uganda Recovery and Development Group; Flavia Waduwa, under-secretary for pacification and development in the Office of the Prime Minister; and Rukia Isanga, the minister of state for gender. In addition, we welcomed the constructive participation of donors and PRDP experts including Robert Opio, chief of party at CARE; Jebbeh Forster, country director for Uganda at UNIFEM; and representatives from the UNDP and the UN Resident Coordinator’s office.