To date, there is a need for more published, evidence-based research on violent extremism (VE) in Uganda. Much existing research relies primarily on secondary sources or on key informant interviews (KIIs) often conducted in Kampala or regional centres. This research study helps to additionally fill these gaps by supplementing KIIs with interviews of at-risk individuals living in local communities with connections to VE, with the objectives of better understanding:
a) who and why certain individuals or communities are at risk of VE;
b) the radicalisation and recruitment process; and
c) which preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) interventions may
be most effective.
URI-GL is implementing a project in Jinja and Mayuge districts on “Promoting Women’s Property Rights in Eastern Uganda” and it’s aimed at promoting gender equality for women’s property rights so that their implementation is supported in the project target districts of Jinja and Mayuge in Busoga region in Eastern Uganda.
The project is among others attempting to address the oppressive cultural and traditional practices that deny women and girls equal human value to men or boys and to both genders as eligible property owners in Uganda. This was evident in a study that we conducted in the project districts where we discovered that women are in most cases recognized as mere witnesses to family land and other property while the men are able to control and benefit from the property even when such property was achieved through the hard work of women.
Religion is playing a larger and larger role in national and global politics in today’s world. Many governments have awakened to the importance of faith in the lives of their citizens and also to the consequences of
ignoring or dismissing religion as a vital — and potentially destructive — force in human affairs.
Today, people of faith from all over the world are stepping out boldly, courageously, to put their teachings and practices to work for the greater good — in building understanding across lines of division that tear our societies apart, in advocating for social justice, and in building peace. Faith-based peace workers are creatively finding ways to deal with complex problems by using and further developing the resources for peace found in their religious and spiritual traditions. They are greatly enriching the selection of approaches and methods available for peace building by both religious and non-religious practitioners alike.
This report is the final result of the Rapid Assessment survey commissioned by the United Religions Initiative – Great Lakes (URI-GL) to assess the needs and the impact of sugarcane production on the governance and livelihoods support in the 6 major sugarcane growing districts in the Busoga Sub Region in eastern Uganda namely Jinja, Luuka, Mayuge, Iganga, Kaliro, and Kamuli. The respondents who participated in the assessment included farmers, traders, and suppliers while the Qualitative study carried out 4 focus group discussions (FGDs) in each of the districts with a sugarcane mill. Each group comprised of both men and women respectively.
key informants were interviewed who included the District technical officers such as the District Agriculture Engineer, The District Production Officer, The Resident District Commissioner, LC 3 Chairpersons, the Community development officers, the gender officer, the chairperson 5 and some councilors. The survey respondents were 108 and these were all sugarcane farmers.
URI, together with our partners, the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA), believe that access to the basic needs of life and social services is a right to every Ugandan, and an obligation to government. Government at both local and national level owes this to Ugandans through their elected leaders. This is the bond established between citizens and their leaders when the former vote the latter into office.
We are grateful to the respondents who participated in the various dialogue meetings at constituency and district level whose findings informed the creation of this handbook. This was at two levels, namely focus group discussions with the citizens as well as the technical personnel heading the sectors of health, education, production, security, infrastructure, environment and natural resources, and social development at the district administration. Civic and religious leaders in the district were also consulted. We also conducted a desk review of the relevant government policy, legal and regulatory frameworks. The full report of the survey is available for deeper construction by any stakeholder.
I’m delighted to present to you this handbook, which is a summation of citizen’s voices of Nakeseke district thereby referred to as the community voice. The overall goal of this community voice is to keep the leaders and citizens within the district alert about leadership accountability and citizen responsibilities respectively.
URI, with other partners, The Open Society initiative for East Africa(OSIEA), believe that access to the basic needs of life and social services is a right to every Ugandan, and an obligation to the government. Government at both local and national level owes this to Ugandans through their elected leaders. This the bond established between citizens and their leaders when the former vote the latter into the office.
T his report presents key findings from a study of Uganda’s Islamic education system conductedby
the United Religions Initiative-Great Lakes (URI-GL) in partnership with the International Center
for Religion & Diplomacy (ICRD). The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) & the Office
of the Supreme Mufti (OSM)-Kibuli collaborated in the design of this study. The findings are based
on a survey of 1626 Madrasas across Uganda, 29 Key Respondent Interviews (KRIs), and 11 Focus
Group Discussions (FGDs) which were conducted between June and September of 2021. The study
aimed to facilitate greater understanding of the structures, strengths, and needs of these schools to
inform subsequent educational enhancement initiatives.