Gulu, 17^th January 2012: iCON successfully mobilized members of Civil Society, informal and formal women’s groups, individuals and the

Some of the iCON Fellows from Northern Uganda

Private Sector in northern Uganda to discuss the findings of the theme of the 56 session of the commission on the status of women (CSW) “The Role of Rural Women in Poverty and Hunger Eradication Development and Current Challenges”. The forum enabled over ten organizations to assess the status of rural women in terms of their role in poverty eradication in the areas of education, health and social- economic well-being.

It also created an interactive platform for stakeholders and partners to discuss the current findings of the ongoing research, critique and give recommendations for improvement. The overall report will be submitted to the government in preparation for the 56^th session of the CSW in New York in February 2012.

Among the many issues addressed by the participants was the challenge of a high level of dependency on handouts in northern Uganda, which was caused by the 20 year long civil war. The war that was led by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) forced families and individuals to depend on handouts from charity organizations while living in Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps. According to the participants, this negative attitude had made it difficult for the Ugandan government and civil society organizations to effectively empower rural women.

The Uganda CSW working group was conceived on 30^th April 2009 in Kampala, Uganda to help in linking grassroots women in Uganda to the CSW as a major policy advocacy space for women. The working group currently has over 100 members across the country, including CSO’s, Private Sector, informal institutions and education institutions among others.

The Uganda CSW working group mainly exists to build the leadership capacities of women to influence social transformation in participatory policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and review processes nationally, regionally and globally.

Written by Nancy Nandudu

Communication and Advocacy Program (CAP)

Program Assistant