BACKGROUND
Over the past three decades, UWONET has played a pivotal role in promoting women's participation in leadership and civic processes.
Since young women’s active participation in leadership and civic processes is critical to the advancement of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) in Uganda and the promotion of a more inclusive and equitable society. This is recognized in the country’s commitment through the adoption of national, regional and international legal frameworks that advocate for equal participation and rights. These include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Beijing Declaration and the Maputo Protocol. Uganda’s 1995 Constitution mandates equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities. These frameworks and commitments provide a strong foundation for enhancing women’s active participation in elective leadership and civic processes.
Furthermore, young people represent approximately 78% of the country’s total population of Uganda with the female youth at (23,591,128) outnumbering males (22,314,289) providing a key opportunity to foster leadership among young women who have the potential to become transformational leaders. Promoting their effective and meaningful participation is essential to address their human rights and gender inequality through legislation, planning, monitoring and budgeting which have a direct bearing on the lives of citizens especially young people who constitute the majority of Uganda’s population.
Therefore, identifying the challenges that young women face as leaders, candidates, voters is essential to inform effective planning for women’s participation in leadership and civic processes in the country. This is paramount to advancing GEWE.