The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, signed a Partnership Agreement with the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), Monday April 23, alongside Mr. Wim Stoffers, Head of the DGF. The partnership is for the implementation of a Gender Equality Project (GEP) implemented by the School of Women and Gender Studies (SWGS).

Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe promised to keep to the terms of agreement, to ensure the project delivers to the standard of DGF and Makerere University.

The project aims at contributing towards upholding gender equality legislation in Uganda through (a) conducting research that informs improvement in gender equality laws and policies; (b) strengthening the capacity of civil society actors to propose and advocate for holistic gender equality laws and policies, and (c) engaging communities to participate in the discourse on gender related legislative reform.

Uganda has several local and international commitments to gender equality, however, the failure to uphold pro-gender equality legislation is manifest in the socio-economic and political landscape which is underlined by high degrees of inequality of rights, voices and opportunities among diverse social groups. Several gender equality actors still view gender as limited to the differences between women and men. This has resulted in less inclusive gender equality laws and policies. Through a combination of research, knowledge transfer, capacity building and community engagement measures, the GEP will impact on Uganda’s gender equality landscape through: a) research outputs that provide information on what works and what is not working in existing gender equality laws and policies b) strengthened capacity of civil society actors to propose and advocate for holistic gender equality laws and policies and to track results and c) an aggregation of the voices of marginalised groups and presenting them in the gender equality legislative reform discourse.

The GEP will further Makerere University strategy through:

1. Enabling Makerere University to research and foster a holistic appreciation of gender among stakeholders;
2. Generating knowledge from research to inform continuous revision and update of gender curricula within the university;
3. Enabling Makerere University to contribute towards capacity building for gender equality stakeholders and network with them as part of the university’s commitment to community outreach and knowledge transfer partnerships.

The project will be implemented in all 4 major regions of Uganda. 20 districts: Central region: Masaka, Kiboga, Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono; Eastern region: Bugiri, Jinja, Mbale, Soroti, Busia; Northern Region: Arua, Gulu, Lira, Apac, Adjumani; Western region: Hoima, Kabalore, Kasese, Rubanda, Mbarara.