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iCON Events in February 2012

February 2, 2012 in Africa Women's Decade, Blog, building leadership, CSW, Empowerment, Icon, iCON, Women empowerment

iCON reminds you to confirm your attendance to the Uganda CSW working group meeting with the Director, Ministry of Gender, to be held on Friday February 3rd 2012.

 

iCON will be taking the debate on the 56th theme of the CSW live on air. So tune in to the talk show “Manya Eddembe Lyo” on CBS FM on Sunday, February 5th 2012 from 9pm-10pm to be part of this advocacy platform.

 

iCON shall be convening the CSW Working group for a planning meeting for working group representatives to the 56th CSW meeting.

 

iCON shall be bringing daily updates from the 56th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting from 27th February to 7th March 2012 to the mailing lists.

 

Join the Metro NY Chapter of the US National Committee for UN Women at their Annual Luncheon at the United Nations March 2, 2012, noon to 2:30 PM Delegates’ Dining Room at United Nations Headquarters United Nations Plaza, New York City on the theme: “Peace and Equality”

Keynote Speaker: Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury

Honorary Speaker: Jeni Klugman, World Bank

Early Bird Ticket Prices $130 (Members), $150 (General Admission), $300 (VIP). ) Early bird discount expires 1/31/12).

RSVP http://unluncheon.eventbrite.com.
Please note you can pay by credit card or check

Sessions

“Women’s Role in Advancing the Culture of Peace” by Anwarul K. Chowdhury: Ambassador at Large for Women, Peace and Development.

In a long and distinguished diplomatic career, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury of Bangladesh has been a tireless advocate for the culture of peace, women, children, and the most vulnerable countries of the world. His initiative in March 2000 as the President of the Security Council achieved the political and conceptual breakthrough that led to the adoption of the ground breaking *UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women and peace and security. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Under-Secretary-General and High representative of the UN.

 

“Getting Equal” by Jeni Klugman Director, Gender and Development for the World Bank.

Worldwide, women make up the majority of unpaid workers. Only 15% of landowners and one in five lawmakers n the world are women. One out of every 10 births are by mothers ages 15-19, almost all of them in developing countries. Violence against women is still widespread. Jeni Klugman will discuss the World Bank’s “Think Equal” initiative to increase
women’s economic opportunity and their voice in decision making. It’s time to think EQUAL.

RSVP http://unluncheon.eventbrite.com. Please note you can pay by credit card or check .

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Creativity for Peace Building in Gulu

February 1, 2012 in Africa Women's Decade, Blog, Empowerment, Icon, iCON, social enterpreneur, Women empowerment, YLN

The Creative Youth Entrepreneurial Development Group was developed by Claudia Kakanyero, an iCON Fellow, at the end of 2011. The group aims to eradicate poverty among the youth in Gulu through the creation of projects that engage idle youth in capacity building activities for the positive use of their youthful energy .

The 30-strong team, which is in the early stages of its development, focuses on promotion of creative activities such as crafts, bakery and bee keeping in communities, in order to ensure that the youth spend their hours making peace, and fighting war.

 

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CSW (56) Updates: Civil Society Statement on the role of rural women in poverty eradication, development and challenges

January 19, 2012 in Africa Women's Decade, BPfA, CSW, Empowerment, Featured, WLN

Some of the iCON Fellows from Northern Uganda

CSW Updates: iCON invites you to a meeting with government on Friday 03-02-2012 at 9:30am at the offices of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development offices to present the Civil Society Statement on the role of rural women in poverty eradication, development and challenges

Some of the iCON Fellows from Northern Uganda

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Northern Uganda CSOs Review Rural Women’s Role in Poverty eradication

January 19, 2012 in Africa Women's Decade, BPfA, CSW, Featured, Icon, iCON, Policy advocacy, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment

Gulu, 17th 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 56th 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 30th 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

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A Woman Before Her Time

December 15, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Beijing +15 review, Blog, building leadership, Icon, iCON, Policy advocacy, social enterpreneur, UNWE, Women empowerment

Maama Theresa Mbire has always been described as a woman beyond her time! Trained as teacher and then widowed early in life, she applied her energies to raising six children. In an era when many women would have looked to re-marrying as an easy way out, Theresa started a string of business enterprises, which was predominantly a male domain of action.

In 1973, she established the first modern bakery that could produce sliced bread in Uganda. Eager to empower others, she applied her teaching background and additional training in hotel management to pursue her passion of working with women to facilitate their economic empowerment.

Some of the women focused initiatives she has helped to initiate include the Uganda Women’s Entrepreneurs Association Ltd. Maama Mbire is a serial business entrepreneur who oversees a business empire and believes that “the sky is just the beginning!”

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Do Not Lament, Just Do It!

December 15, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Beijing +15 review, building leadership, Icon, iCON, social enterpreneur, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment

Noerine Kaleeba is the founder of ‘The Aids Support Organization’ (TASO), a household name in Uganda and the region in as far as treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS is concerned.

TASO exists because of the dedication of 15 individuals who, led by Noerine, boldly set out to contain the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s. Since 1987 when the institution was opened, Noerine has tirelessly dedicated her strength to building the institution, which has become a center of excellence and dedication to changing mindsets about people living with HIV/AIDS and bringing a sense of purpose back to victims of the disease.

Noerine is an inspiration to us all.

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Against All Odds

December 15, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Blog, building leadership, Icon, iCON, social enterpreneur, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment

Nightingale Ruth Kalinda Kitogo is the second  born in a family of ten children, and the first girl child in the home.  At nine months old, she was diagnosed with polio. During a time when polio victims were stigmatized, Nightingale’s childhood and teen age were almost unbearable. Nightingale was denied  a place in Makerere Medical School because she was lame.

As fate would have it, she qualified as the first ever East African Physiotherapist, after years of persistence. She went on to become a qualified Occupational therapist before resigning from her active role in the hospital.

Soon after her resignation, Nightingale spear-headed a campaign for Community Based Rehabilitation, a new approach to health intervention in Uganda. This saw health care interventions being becoming more available within Communities. However, at the heart of Nightingale’s campaign was support for people living with disabilities. She strongly advocated for visibility, fairness and equal access for disabled people to opportunities, especially in education, health and community.

Nightingale fought through thick and thin to make the voices of countless others heard, and she is an inspiration to all of us to live lives of service and justice.

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Hope Okeny: On Call for a Generation at Risk

December 14, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Beijing +15 review, Blog, building leadership, Icon, iCON, social enterpreneur, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment

Gulu, Uganda

Hope Okeny is the proprietor of Karin Children’s Medical Center in Agonga Parish, Gulu. She started up this medical facility in 2005 in answer to the great need for medical services by vulnerable families in this area. After the war in northern Uganda subsided, medical care and other facilities were availed to several areas, excluding this little Parish.

Over the years, Karin Medical Center has successfully provided qualitative health facilities for residents in Agonga parish, including antenatal healthcare, child immunization against preventable diseases and easy accessibility to clinical drugs.

During a, iCON Leadership Enhancement Seminar that she attended in Gulu, Hope Read the rest of this entry →

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Gulu Business Women Lead Social Transformation in Northern Uganda

December 14, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Beijing +15 review, Blog, building leadership, Icon, iCON, Policy advocacy, social enterpreneur, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment

After the 20 year long war in northern Uganda, Gulu was devastated by the conflict, and its people, even worse. The condition of Women, who for long had been trampled underfoot by society worsened as the economy struggled to get back on its feet.

However, iCON, through its Women Leader’s Network launched the “Women in Business Fellowship”, a forum that aims to empower female leaders in northern Uganda with skills to spearhead the process of economic and social transformation in their communities.  The Fellowship, which was launched on the 14th – 18th November, saw a cross section of young women in universities in Gulu interacting with successful business women in the Gulu community in a bid to motivate them to come up with creative, tangible solutions to the problems in their areas of influence.

Through interactive activities, such as field visits, participants gained insights Read the rest of this entry →

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Gulu Vocation Student Spearheads Community Development Project

December 14, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Beijing +15 review, Blog, building leadership, Icon, iCON, social enterpreneur, Women empowerment, YLN

Gulu, Uganda

During a seminar arranged by the iCON Young Leader’s Network from 15th to 19th August, the organization reached out to a group of young women in GYDA vocation school in Gulu, with the aim of helping them to rediscover and commit their individual entrepreneurial and transformational leadership potential to champion the cause of peace building and social transformation.

Linda Lawino is a student in tailoring at GYDA Vocation School. Whereas students like her in other practical learning institutions might wait for graduation before pioneering any innovations Read the rest of this entry →

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