General Report

GENDER AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT MID2024 PROGRAMME BY AFID 

AFID uses gender sensitive approaches. Since its creation, it has been centering women in its activities and programmes. This year, 2024, AFID has initiated a programme of awareness on gender empowerment in the refugee communities. The programme targeted 2500 refugee women (Congolese, Sudanese and Rwandese) of 5 villages reputed to have the greatest number of violence based on gender cases and women with lesser economy, notably Kaihora, Mahani, Mahega and Base camp, Buguta within the Rwamwanja Refugee settlement, Kamwenge district, Uganda. 

Carried out in these villages, the topics varied from ages to villages and education backgrounds. Some key topics included Proactive/Resilient women to end SGBV, Economic inclusion, enhanced leadership women and youth, and among others.

The main goal of the programme was to make refugee women more resilient, proactive or responsive to issues related to their socio-economic empowerment, and play key role in the development of their communities.

In terms of mid-2024, AFID has increased its interventions related to the sector due to the numerous demands and pressing needs in the community. Different activities were organised to the needy people. These activities including meeting sessions gathered more than 950 ladies on specific topics and more than 50 engaged themselves in peer to peer education in order to spread the awareness.

Some of the key realizations are slated in the following report thereof.  

SGBV Campaigns and Women Leadership

Campaign 1: Proactive Women to End SGBV

The campaign took five days and was held in four villages within Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement.  It has gathered more than 240 persons (98 Mahega, 102 in Buguta and 40 in Base camp 1) of whom 155 women. The topic that was presented by our sectorial team has engaged the participants to give their views on how better to ensure the self-reliance and resilience of women, both refugees and nationals in the nearby host areas.

Campaign 2: SGBV survivors engaged in Inclusive Finance

The sectorial team called various SGBV survivors including child mothers, single mothers and other women at risk to engage in inclusive finance activities. Reaching over 170 with this campaign, the team was able to form groups in their respective village, with between 20 and 25 members.

Three activities were initiated in each group. That included financial literacy, VSLA and business coaching. And these activities are being implemented in collaboration with the livelihoods and financial inclusion sector.

Campaign 3: Unlocking success with daily self-discipline

During the first series of meeting workshops, it has been recalled to youth that two conditions are indispensable to embody self-discipline in daily activities: Know thy-self and Self-discipline.

The participants 160 (45 Base camp, 55 Buguta and actively participated in debates according to raised questions, and came to one point “self-discipline is key in all success, aspects of life and all ways”

Campaign 4: Self-reliant lady in the heart of community development and integrated financial solutions

The facilitators brought the participants (97 young ladies from various villages that were Base camp 1, 2 and 3 as well as Mahani A and Buguta A) to understand why it is important to invest in ladies to re-launch the community development slowed down by current economic and health crisis. They demonstrated how to build resilience as the prerequisite key to start, and then what to do to become self-reliant.

It came to conclusion that ladies’ nature is the strong and the resilience characterized the way ladies decide to recover from numerous crisis. Build a support system around for change stories, and share souvenir of hard times with peers and social workers. She then evoked that self-reliance can only be obtained by unlocking themselves from barriers mentioned by participants themselves such as barriers in language, lack of professional or vocational skills and lack of income generating activities and finance skills. 

While carrying interventions in the refugee settlement, it is better to consider the categorization: that is to say, ladies of the same age can have some problems identic, others different depending on the sectors and circumstances. For example: Ladies of Buguta request for development of their agricultural activities while those of Base camp said to be supported in retail trade, boutique etc.

The ladies are the most engaged in community project when only they are involved. After this series of campaigns, the beneficiaries took action to form VSLA groups where they encouraged their peers (non-beneficiaries) to take part. They even took initiative of sensitizing their peers to attend literacy and numeracy classes run by AFID in their respective villages.