Following Uganda’s independence in 1962, governance in the East African country was dominated by a prolonged violent conflict. This led to the decline of the economy, high levels of youth unemployment (78%), and imbalanced representation in parliament. Although the new constitution in 1995 brought a new era of democratisation, challenges such the exclusion of youth and women from political leadership and processes remain. To create more opportunities for equality, growth, innovation, and creative advancement, it is important that policy development focuses on the inclusion of young people and women. This is especially important since over three-quarters of Uganda’s population is under 35 years (83%), and more than half of the same population (51%) comprises of women.

Through the FCDO-funded Inclusive and Accountable Politics (IAP) programme, WFD is working with the Parliament of Uganda to promote quality representation and inclusion of both youth and women. The programme offers technical support to strengthen the capacity of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs (UPFYA) and the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA). This leads to the promotion of pro-women and pro-youth policies, bills, and motions. The programme further creates space for youth and women to engage and demand accountability from their national leadership and influence the national youth and women legislative agenda.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. To mitigate this challenge, huge changes at all levels of society, politics and businesses are required. Ahead of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), WFD and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) implemented a programme to inform parliamentarians in five Sub-Saharan African countries, including Uganda, of COP26 issues. The January to June 2021 programme supported Ugandan parliamentarians in examining their national progress in delivering Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The programme also helped the MPs in scrutinising Uganda’s climate policies and legislations.

Funded by the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), the purpose of the project was to create an enabling environment for women and youth resulting from gender and youth-sensitive policies and laws. WFD supported the creation of responsive and better coordinated policy and legal frameworks at the national level. We did this by helping to increase the participation and representation of youth and women in the policy-making process, and facilitating pro youth, women, and gender-sensitive legislation.

WFD delivered a European Union funded programme. The programme aimed at: 1) building the capacity and systems in the regions to monitor implementation of CEDAW legislation; 2) strengthening parliament and local councils’ ability to conduct effective regional enquiries on CEDAW implementation; and 3) supporting the Parliament of Uganda to host a Women’s Parliament to provide representation and debate for CEDAW. As a result of the programme, all four districts involved developed action plans to monitor the implementation of CEDAW legislation. For instance, councillors in Gulu district developed a council women’s caucus to discuss and monitor gender issues in the district. As a result, women’s representation in the council increased from 36% to 68%. The training consequently led to improved women councillors’ contributions to district council deliberation in the target districts. One of the participants in the Women’s Parliament event was empowered to seek election and won. 61 journalists trained under the programme developed three action plans (print, radio, and television) to sensitise/educate communities on the CEDAW-related legislation.