May 9, 2012 in Africa Women's Decade, Empowerment, Featured, Icon, iCON, Inspirational Quotes, MDG, Newsletter, Policy advocacy, social enterpreneur, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment, YLN
Warm greetings from iCON. It has been a while since you received our newsletter. This edition of the newsletter is bigger and better!
March 22, 2012 in Climate Chnage, Empowerment, Environmental sustainability, Featured, Icon, iCON, Policy advocacy, UNWE, WLN, Women empowerment, YLN
The reality of the changing climate and its threat on life and sustainable development of communities has become more apparent in Uganda and around the world. There is an increase in extreme weather conditions including droughts, floods, storms that needs the special attention of all people. Many people in emerging economies like Uganda are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood, because it is their source of water, food and energy for cooking and heating.
iCON recognizes the need to prevent further damage but also address effects of climate change on people and communities because it limits their potential to grow into visionary leaders as their entrepreneurial capacity is greatly affected. Under one of its core thematic areas of Gender, Environmental Sustainability and Leadership, iCON aims to build leadership capacities to address challenges and harness opportunities associated with the environment including finding lasting solutions to the climate change problem.
iCON is a member of a working group of CSOs in Uganda led by the Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (DENIVA) Read the rest of this entry →
February 28, 2012 in Africa Women's Decade, Beijing +15 review, CSW, Empowerment, Featured, Icon, iCON, Policy advocacy, WLN, Women empowerment
UN Headquarters in New York. The African Shadow report was launched at one of the Pararell events during the 54th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2/24/2012
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK – The Global Network for Global Peacebuilders (GNWP), a program partner of the International Civil society Action Network announces upcoming events – organized in conjunction with the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) – that highlight some of the important issues we strive to make a difference on! GNWP bridges the gap between policy discussions and implementation and action on the ground on women and peace and security issues.
February 28, 2:30-4pm at the UN Church Center, 2nd floor (1st Avenue and 44th street) Investing in Peace, Investing in Women, a panel discussion that will examine the impact of current financing for UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and women and peace and security programming at the national level. Co-sponsored by GNWP, Cordaid, the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations and the United Nations Development Program
March 1, 4:30-6pm at the UN Church Center Chapel (1st Avenue and 44th street) Violence against Women, Economic Empowerment and Rural Women in Conflict-Affected Situations, an event which will analyze Read the rest of this entry →
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
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!”
December 15, 2011 in building leadership, Icon, iCON, Policy advocacy, social enterpreneur
By the time he turned 25 years, Professor James Mulwana had already started a small import and export business. Since then his business empire has grown through his natural business acumen, initiative, innovation and focus.
This empire now includes manufacturing, agribusiness and commercial property development. Prof James Mulwana is at the helm of many corporate institutions and continues to influence business policy in Uganda and the region. He is also the founder of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Uganda’s apex body for the private sector. Prof James Mulwana has been recognized by many organizations in and outside Uganda. Prof Mulwana still finds time to, especially, mentor young people.
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 →
November 16, 2011 in Blog, Featured, MDG, Policy advocacy, UNWE, Women empowerment
In preparation for the 56th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) taking place in February 2012, regional women’s organizations have prepared a draft statement to be submitted to the Commission on behalf of the African Women’s Caucus. The statement will become one of the working documents for the 56th CSW.
All comments and inputs to the statement are welcome. Please review the statement within your organizations and networks and send all contributions to advocacy@femnet.or.ke by 1400GMT Thursday November 17, 2011. This will enable us to meet the submission deadline.
November 16, 2011 in Africa Women's Decade, Blog, iCON, Policy advocacy, UNWE, Women empowerment
Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL) invites you to participate in a Policy Dialogue on improving women’s access and benefit from the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS).program. UWEAL was established in 1987 to promote businesswomen in Uganda and its mandate is to empower women to create wealth through capacity building, networking and advocacy. This year, UWEAL’s advocacy efforts are geared towards enhancing women’s participation in government programs specifically NAADS.
UWEAL will officially present its policy brief to relevant stakeholders for discussion and consideration on the 17th of November, 2011. The policy brief is based on findings of a research that was conducted in Bugiri, Bushenyi, Lira and Luwero to identify specific access gaps and constraints to women’s participation and benefit from the NAADS program. Read the rest of this entry →
