Uganda

/Tag: Uganda

 

15 01, 2024

EACOP in Uganda – How a heated oil pipeline leaves women and children in despair

2025-04-09T15:35:45-04:00Tags: |

In a podcast hosted by the German Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Onke Ngcuka reports on her research into the impact of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) on local communities—particularly women and children. Ngcuka, a climate and environmental journalist for the Daily Maverick, found that the pipeline, which runs from Uganda to Tanzania and spans approximately 1,500 km (932 miles), has led to the displacement of communities both at its extraction point in Uganda and along its entire route. Among those displaced, women are bearing the brunt of the impact, as they are often not the official titleholders of the land they cultivate. As caretakers of land, families, and communities, the women interviewed shared that they frequently received little to none of the compensation paid to their families. For many, their ancestral lands are all they’ve ever known. Concerns are growing around food security, as local food systems—already strained by colonial legacies—face additional disruption. There is also fear that Indigenous, climate-resilient crops could be lost or replaced. Ngcuka warns that what’s happening now may be a microcosm of the region’s future, and she praises the campaign against EACOP for its efforts. While some movement leaders have had to relocate to neighboring countries for their safety, the campaign’s significance and momentum continue to grow. It was recently recognized with the Copenhagen Conference People’s Award and highlighted by 350 Africa, helping to draw more young people into the movement.

2 11, 2023

HRW: activists in Uganda subject to harassment and arrest over oil pipeline protests

2025-04-09T15:30:49-04:00Tags: |

Sarah Ferguson from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law discusses the current fight against fossil fuels in Uganda. Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns about the arrests and repression of protests against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The EACOP spans a total length of 1,500 km (932 miles) from Uganda to Tanzania and is projected to produce nearly 400 million tonnes of CO₂ over the course of its 25-year operation. Often referred to as a “carbon bomb,” the pipeline poses serious threats to surrounding communities and ecosystems. HRW has already documented the inadequate compensation given to farmers for their land, as the construction of EACOP has required widespread land acquisition across East Africa. Protesters raised concerns with HRW about harassment and threats targeting affected communities, as well as arbitrary arrests and detentions without charge in undisclosed locations. Following Uganda’s 2016 NGO Law, 54 organizations have been suspended. In 2021, police raided the offices of organizations working on EACOP, leading to the confiscation of materials, threats against staff, and forced closures. Ongoing protests against EACOP outside of Uganda have further contributed to uncertainty around the pipeline’s future.

13 09, 2023

How science can help feed the future

2025-04-18T20:17:23-04:00Tags: |

Professor Eugénie Kayitesi’s career was shaped by personal experiences with food insecurity. Born into a family fleeing Uganda's civil war, she spent her early years in refugee camps where hunger and malnutrition were devastating realities. Today, as an Associate Professor at the University of Pretoria, Kayitesi’s research revolves around enhancing the nutritional value of traditional African crops through techniques such as combining crops and fermentation. Kayitesi intends to expand her project throughout Africa and worldwide, adapting ingredients to locally grown crops. Believing in the power of open access publishing, Kayitesi wants to help communities become self-reliant, as she sees sustainable food solutions as key to feeding the future with a growing population.

14 04, 2022

How Vanessa Nakate Mobilizes the Masses

2025-04-18T11:05:40-04:00Tags: |

Vanessa Nakate, a formidable force in the realm of climate justice activism, hails from Uganda with a fervent mission: to hold the Global North accountable for the climate crisis. Starting with personal realization of climate change impacts in her country, Nakate initiated climate strikes inspired by Greta Thunberg. Despite initial solitary strikes, she gradually formed the Rise Up movement, aiming to amplify African voices in the climate movement. Central to Nakate's advocacy is the urgent call for global solidarity in addressing climate change, particularly in light of the disproportionate burden borne by African communities. With Africa historically responsible for less than 4% of global emissions, yet disproportionately impacted by climate change, Nakate stresses the imperative for equitable climate finance, cessation of emissions exportation by Global North countries, and genuine commitment to green initiatives. In Nakate's message, hope resonates as a beacon of resilience amidst adversity. She envisions a future where collective action drives meaningful change towards a climate-friendly world, underpinned by justice and equity for all.

24 10, 2017

Ugandan Women Didn’t Cause Climate Change, But They’re Adapting to It

2018-01-24T11:19:42-05:00Tags: |

Constance Okollet is among the first women of Uganda taking bold action to fight climate change impact, through the formation of the Osukuru United Women Network. Over time, the network has evolved into an education platform about climate change, mitigation and adaptation strategies. Irene Barbara Amayo, another powerful woman, is the chairperson of a group in the Network which has taken action including creating a sustainable poultry operation and a small tree nursery. Even though the Network faces multiple infrastructural challenges which constitute barriers and challenges, the women involved in the project continue to be optimistic and stand for their beliefs. This article highlights that even though these women are not the ones responsible for climate change and massive global pollution, they are nonetheless rising as heroes to build solutions.  Photo credit: Edward Echwalu

26 08, 2017

Where Are Women’s Voices In Uganda’s Dam Planning?

2017-08-26T12:26:43-04:00Tags: |

Betty Obbo of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists writes about how top-down hydroelectric dam projects, such as the Bujagali dam in Uganda, displace vulnerable communities and create more problems than they solve for local women. One such woman is Rukia Kauma, now living in Naminya resettlement village, who explains how the lack of basic amenities, roads, schools and fertile soil in her new home impact her daily life as her family’s principal breadwinner. She now walks hours a day to fetch water and firewood in the forest, which often exposes her to the risk of sexual violence. The Ugandan government, African Development Bank and the World Bank did not adequately consult women when designing the dam project, further reinforcing patriarchal relations around their access and control over land and water sources, and the continued lack of social services provision to displaced people is staggering. The National Association of Professional Environmentalists is teaming up with community members to fight these and other dams. Photo credit: World Bank

27 07, 2017

Study Reveals The Gender Gap In Tanzania, Uganda Climate Policies

2017-10-27T11:13:36-04:00Tags: |

Although Uganda and Tanzania have seen visible changes in the lives of women via legal and constitutional means, their current climate policy fails to acknowledge gender and social glass ceilings faced by women in social matrices where their roles, priorities, opportunities are different from men’s. Ignoring the gender gap in fields like agriculture impacts the economy of country negatively. This study reveals that closing the gender gap in agriculture would increase Tanzania’s GDP by $105 million and Uganda’s by $67 million. Though the governments of Uganda and Tanzania are trying to close this gender gap, a lot still needs to be done at the local, national and international levels in regard to better allocation of resources and including women not as beneficiaries, but rather as an equal partners in the development process.

16 06, 2017

Bringing Clean Water To Kids In Uganda

2017-09-03T20:55:15-04:00Tags: |

When the lack of access to clean drinking water was adversely impacting the health of children in the village of Gomba, two women came to the rescue. Godliver Businge and Comfort Harja, of the Uganda Women’s Water Initiative, started a project that installed water purification systems in schools and trained local women to build their own biosand filters, which in return increased school attendance rates and decreased medical expenses. The project has also helped women, such as Betty Birungi, build their confidence and run for offices. Photo credit: Joel Lukhovi/Survival Media Agency

27 10, 2016

Women Are Leading Climate Change Adaptation Efforts In Uganda

2017-10-27T11:15:20-04:00Tags: |

The Policy Action and Climate Change Action (PACCA) project, coordinated by Dr. Edidah Ampaire, creates policy shifts to help communities better adapt to climate change. Similarly, the African Climate Change Resilience Alliance (ACCRA), coordinated by Tracy Kajumba, works to better climate change responsiveness in sub-Saharan Africa. Recently they conducted a gender analysis together to highlight the ways in which women farmers are contributing to climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. Photo credit: FoEI/ATI – Jason Taylor

26 05, 2016

How One Women’s Group Is Fighting Climate Change In Uganda

2017-07-11T16:27:35-04:00Tags: |

As Uganda faces deforestation and climatic variability, the Kwatansia Women's Group supports women to plant fruit trees. Not only do the trees provide a source of livelihood and food security, they also serve as powerful carbon sinks to curb climate change. Photo credit: Africa Times  

30 04, 2016

Constance Okollet Of Osukuru United Women’s Network At COP22

2017-10-30T21:08:00-04:00Tags: |

In this interview from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP20 meeting in Lima, Peru, Earth Island Institute’s Constance Okollet discusses her work as a peasant farmer in Uganda and as the chairperson of the Osukuru United Women’s Network, mobilizing women farmers affected by flooding and health impacts from climate change. Photo credit: UNFCCC Climate Action Studio

17 12, 2015

Empowering Ugandan Girls As Environmental Change Agents

2017-10-08T22:36:43-04:00Tags: |

In Uganda and throughout the Global South, the toxic fumes that firewood stoves emit are resulting in respiratory diseases that take the lives of up to 4 million people a year. Since women are primarily responsible for cooking, they are most impacted. In addition, rainforests are being chopped down for firewood without any reforestations efforts. In response, the Girl Up Initiative Uganda is guiding a project that tackles this problem by providing clay cookstoves that are less harmful for women’s health and the environment. The project is also also providing women the possibility to earn an income through producing charcoal briquettes. Photo credit: GUIU

29 10, 2015

Helping Women Take Up Urban Agriculture In Uganda

2017-10-29T00:43:58-04:00Tags: |

Dr. Diana is a Ugandan women farmer who has swapped mowing her lawn for growing fruits and vegetables in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala. She also raises chickens and cows in her backyard garden. Dr. Diana is also assisting other local women to start their own urban gardens through training sessions and chicken and seeds grants that start aspiring women urban farmers off on the right foot. Not only does Dr. Diana’s urban farm provide vegetables for the women, but good business and economic independence is also being established for Kampala’s women urban farmers by selling their produce to their surrounding communities. Photo credit: GGTN Africa Youtube

31 10, 2014

With Women Empowered Change Is Poo-sible!

2017-10-31T22:49:28-04:00Tags: |

Josephine Auma is the leader of Uganda-based organization Action for Women and Awakening in Rural Environment. As a participant in the Global Women's Water Initiative three-year  "Women and Water Training Program" she is learning to build water and sanitation technologies and promote local economic development in doing so. Her work has led to the adaptation of community toilets, which is preventing the spread of bacteria and illness in her community. Photo credit: Global Women's Water Initiative

31 10, 2014

[H2opeful Women] Water Champions Are Ageless!

2017-10-31T22:47:45-04:00Tags: |

Secretary for Water and Works in the Moyo District of Uganda, Angella Tassas is a former refugee who is bringing women's voices to the table regarding water management. After attending a training with the Global Women's Water Initiative about clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, she is now sharing her knowledge as a community educator and leader. Photo credit: Global Women's Water Initiative

27 11, 2012

The Gender Dimensions Of Food And Nutrition Security In The Context Of Climate Change

2017-11-01T12:46:53-04:00Tags: |

Scovia Nambeiza and Rose Namuddu are among the many women farmers in Uganda who have to achieve a daily balance of household work, crop and livestock farming, and feeding their families. Because of their exhaustive roles, women are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts on food security and often limited in their access to tools and resources. Gender mainstreaming is important to engage both men and women in community climate solutions to account for inequities in social dynamics. Photo credit: Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice

1 01, 2011

Solar Sister, Uganda: A Green Energy Revolution Powered By Women

2017-09-22T15:20:45-04:00Tags: |

About 130 female entrepreneurs in Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan have fought to close the gender gap in their communities by providing solar-powered lighting to rural areas. As the primary consumers of household energy, women are key players in the shift to clean energy, which improves air quality and lowers CO2 emissions. Furthermore, many households in rural parts of Africa spend up to 30% of their monthly income on kerosene. Renewable electricity is lightening this economic burden, which often falls on women’s shoulders. Photo credit: Solar Sister

30 10, 2009

Constance Okollet Of Uganda: Climate Change Is Killing Our People

2017-10-30T20:55:05-04:00Tags: |

Constance Okollet, Chairperson of the Osukuru United Women's Network in Eastern Uganda, writes about how increasing temperatures are eroding the consistent pattern of seasons in Uganda. Natural disasters like floods are destroying villages at unprecedented rate, making Ugandans vulnerable to diseases like malaria and diarrhea. She notes that with the help of Oxfam, she is now part of women’s group where she can advocate for swift action on climate change to global leaders.