Still striving for gender equality

by Karla Juced

As a woman living in the 21^st century, I understand that despite differences between men and women, we are granted equal rights.  I can appreciate how the feminist movement which originated in the late nineteenth century struggled to acheive this. Feminism, as an important women’s rights movement, has had different variations over time, including stages of extreme activism in society. It is certain that without the efforts and proposals made by some very strong women throughout history, many of these achievements may not have taken place.

However, what I can not understand is how, in different regions of the world, females are  still devalued when compared to men. I cannot comprehend how even today a woman would concede (because they do not have many options ...) to less pay for equal work or how murders are committed as a result of domestic violence (most of these victims being women). What kind of world are we living in where women accept to be covered from head to toe and need be escorted to wherever they go. Even worse, something I will never comprehend is why mutilation of female genitalia occurs.

All over the world for decades women have spoken out for female rights, some even perishing in the fight. The female struggle continues today where we are still trying to get not only recognition and equal rights, but disseminate these rights worldwide.

There are numerous organisations which fight for gender equality. They originate with intellectuals who spread their ideologies, visions and beliefs for equal rights. HRAW is seeking these such NGOs who advocate equal rights and gender equality. We strive to build a network of such organizations to proliferate their work, visions and achievements.

One such organisation – ACFODE. (Action for Development) exists in this network. They are a group of voluntary, non-government indigenous women who formed as a result of the Conference of Women in Third World Nations held in Nairobi in July 1985.

The group was originally denied involvement in the conference, due to the fact they were not controlled by the state or a political party, only later to be granted access. The group consists of scholars led by Dr. Hilda Tadria Dr. Joy Kwesiga, Dr. Ruth Mukama and Dr. Maxine Ankrah. Ever since their involvement in the conference, the group has become an effective platform for discussion and action regarding issues of womens empowerment in Uganda. This has been consolidated through the development of policies, research, training, coalition building, mobilization and awareness of their core strategies which are aimed at improving the capacity of Ugandans to advocate for women and gender equality in the national agenda.

ACFODEs’ work is focused among other things in the education and training of leaders in areas of gender equality. In their experience they have found that most local leaders have a limited knowledge of gender needs in their communities.

Among its various activities to support the leadership of women, the group organized a community meeting in 2010 to raise awareness about the role of women's participation in representation and also leadership training for women candidates.

Some of the training provided to participants was:

* Ways to incorporate gender in all aspects of their work.
*  Analytical tools of gender. Action plans to mainstream gender in their plans and budgets.

ACFODE says: "The workshop was very successful and attended by a total of 13 women and 14 men."

The organisation have many different partners and a wide network including; the ICRW (International Center for Research about Women), Diakonia (People Changing the World), KAS (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung), EIRENE (International Christlicher Friedensdienst), IDF (Inependant Development Fund), UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), Danida (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark), NDI (National Democracy Institute) just to name a few.

The important point here is to note how ACFODE has managed to work together with these organizations from many different areas adopting various necessary structural changes in the advocation of women rights.

The collaboration of different disciplines here is very important. Sharing information between developed countries and developing countries (being the right of the latter and obligation of the former) is essential in these organisations and allows them to work together for sustainable development of world societies.

This is another example of why HRAW wants to share and disseminate the work and strategies adopted by various NGOs. If you know of another organization that has inspired you with work in these areas please contact us and let us know! Every story helps to spread the word. Help is needed and extremely valued!