General
School of Women and Gender Studies Receives DGF Grant to Implement Gender Equality Project
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:
- Enabling Makerere University to research and foster a holistic appreciation of gender among stakeholders;
- Generating knowledge from research to inform continuous revision and update of gender curricula within the university;
- 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.
By Agnes Namaganda
On July 22nd 2022, Makerere University–Child Health and Development Centre (Mak–CHDC) launched a draft manual for the National Parenting Standards. The Centre has been working together with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) with funding from UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund), to develop standards that are agreeable to all organisations in the country that are involved in parenting work. The draft manual was being presented to members of a consortium that brings together all these organisations together, called the Parenting Agenda Consortium.
“We produce many documents and they are shelved,” Irene Ayot Chono, who was speaking on behalf of UNICEF said. “We hope that this document will not be one of them,” she emphasized.
Dr. Godfrey Siu, the Principal Investigator from Mak-CHDC who presented the draft manual to participants, emphasized that if any organization is doing parenting work, there should be a minimum package that they should offer.
Draft Manual Content
The manual which will have several modules. These modules will be delivered face-to-face in 1.5 hour sessions. Some of these include; Module 6 which will focus on “understanding responsible masculinity and fatherhood” and on “understanding the concept of head of family.”The draft manual also proposed that Module 11 focuses on Parenting in the 21st Century. Some of the sessions in this module will include Children and Technology, Contemporary Influence on Children and Modernity, Culture and Morality.Module 9 will focus on Parenting for Adolescents and some of the suggested sessions within this module are Needs for Adolescents and The Art of Communicating with Adolescents. Module 5 will focus on Preventing Violent Parenting and Promoting Alternative Discipline Strategies while Module 10 will be about Parenting to Address the Mental Health for Children and Adults.
Participants’ suggestions
After the presentation, participants raised several suggestions for discussion and consideration. These included whether there should be a module on spirituality since Uganda is a strongly religious nation. There was also the concern of how children in remand homes should be parented. Another concern raised by a participant was as to whether teachers who make an undeniable contribution to parenting, should be taken through the parenting manual.
In her closing remarks, Ms. Juliana Naumo Akoryo, the Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) said that the manual is for the parenting organisations to utilize and not for MGLSD.
Ms. Chono also adjured the team behind the manual to use picture illustrations in the manual that can be relatable by the Ugandan parents.
Contact: Agnes Namaganda – agnesvioletnamaganda@gmail.com
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