Beyond Borders
Overview
FOWODE’s impact has extended far beyond the communities of Uganda in the last 3 decades. We are a formidable voice in the global push for gender equality, leveraging our expertise to challenge systemic inequities and reimagine pathways for women’s leadership and economic justice.
For over a decade, FOWODE has had consultative status and participates, and contributes to the work of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Through strategically engaging with regional and international bodies, we ensure that the voices of Ugandan and African women are heard where critical decisions are made, translating local realities into global policy change.
Local Action for Global Goals: The Uganda Gender Consortium on SDGs (UGCS)
FOWODE understands that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires a concerted, gender-focused effort. This is why we spearheaded a multi-stakeholder process dubbed: “Voice to Action, Advancing Gender Equality in the SDGs,” which resulted into the formation of the Uganda Gender Consortium on SDGs (UGCS).
The UGCS is a dynamic coalition of over 40 civil society organizations that monitor the components of gender equality in the SDGs at the local and national levels. It is our engine for ensuring Agenda 2030 delivers on its promise for women and girls. The consortium is actively shaping the global agenda progress by:
- Localizing Gender Indicators: Translating global targets into measurable local actions.
- Shadow Reporting: Producing alternative reports that challenge state-centric narratives at regional and global forums, holding governments accountable.
- Grassroots Empowerment: Training community actors to use the SDG framework to advocate for their rights.
Through the UGCS, FOWODE is redefining how gender equality is measured, advocated for, and institutionalized within the global development agenda.
See the Voice to Action Publication here: https://fowode.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VOICE-TO-ACTION-ABRIDGED-VERSION.pdf
Championing Women's Rights at the UN and African Commission
FOWODE carves out a space for women’s rights at the most critical international forums, evolving her role from participant to influential advocate. Our strategic engagements include:
- Commission on the Status of Women (CSW): Co-convening side events to shape global norms on gender equality.
- Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD): FOWODE actively contributes to the continental agenda on the SDGs. We co-convene a side events with the UGCS to present WRO reports on Uganda's progress. This direct engagement challenges official narratives and ensures that grassroots perspectives on gender equality are integrated into Africa’s official recommendations to the UN’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF).
- High-Level Political Forum (HLPF): Partnering with the Women’s Major Group to bring diverse feminist voices together to advance gender equality within the SDGs. FOWODE’s advocacy is informed by the UGCS alternative reports, joint CSO position papers and continental declarations on the global agenda.
- African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR): Leading consortium delegations to present joint statements, urging nations to ratify and implement vital protocols like the Maputo Protocol and the African Disability Protocol.
- Conference of the Parties (COP): FOWODE is leveraging this critical space to advocate for gender-just climate action. Recognizing that women are disproportionately affected by climate change yet systematically excluded from decision-making, we are integrating climate action across all our interventions.
We are leveraging our movement-building prowess to amplify women’s voices at COP, ensuring climate policies are gender-responsive and that women leaders are central to crafting solutions for a sustainable future.
At each event, we co-create knowledge, build powerful alliances, and speak truth to power, guaranteeing that women’s rights are non-negotiable on the world stage.
Pioneering Women's Voices in the Non-Aligned Movement
FOWODE has been instrumental in pioneering women’s civil society engagement within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a significant multilateral body representing 120 member countries. In a landmark achievement in 2023, we partnered with the Institute for Young Democrats to organize the first-ever women’s CSO side event at the NAM International Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Our advocacy provided pivotal recommendations that directly influenced the Baku Declaration, including the key proposal to establish a permanent NAM women’s platform to institutionalize women’s participation.
This success set the stage for our continued influence, paving the way for the first women’s side event at the 2024 NAM Summit in Kampala, which successfully integrated gender into the Summit Declaration.
Through initiating this engagement, FOWODE has effectively opened a new, critical channel for advancing women’s rights within Global South diplomacy to ensure that the collective power of NAM is harnessed for gender equality.