More than 2,500 delegates from all over the world attended the 8th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, Gendered Worlds: Gains and Challenges, which was held in Kampala, Uganda July 21st-26th this year. While many were academics, the participants also included women politicians, civil servants, lawyers and grassroots activists. Keynote speakers included Professors Amina Mama, Director of the Gender Institute in Cape Town and Lin Chun from the London School of Economics UK as well as number of eminent Ugandan academics and political figures, for example, the Vice President Specioza Kazibwe and the Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, Miria Matembe. An estimated 1,500 papers were presented under a number of different themes, ranging from Women, Peace and Conflict to Gendering Agriculture and Environment. Although contributors came from different backgrounds, their analyses were remarkably similar. As one participant said: "There is nothing more important than international exchange of experiences and ideas and there is no doubt it has been achieved here."
The conference was organised by the Department of Women and Gender Studies of Makerere University, the first such set up in Africa, which celebrated its 10th Anniversary during the conference with the opening of its own building. The department now has 200 undergraduate students, around 80 of them male, and a healthy postgraduate programme. Student dissertations and theses are practically based around gender issues in Uganda and are interdisciplinary in nature: for example, titles from the published Occasional Papers series include Commercialisation of milk production in households: a gender perspective and Breaking into the Male Domain: a case of Police Women in Kampala. Students acted as officials for the conference and some presented their research work in one of the seminars.
This was the first time the conference had been held in Africa and was an important event for Uganda itself, widely covered in the national media and actively supported by President Museveni. It provided a platform particularly for African women, and especially Ugandans, to highlight current issues of concern around government policies, political participation and women's rights. Under the theme Gender, Law and Human Rights there was a focus on the continuing problem of culturally sanctioned violence (sex trafficking, domestic violence, punishment for women under Sharia law, FGM) as a major impediment to women's empowerment. This can be exemplified by the situation in Uganda. While women's rights are recognised within the national legal system, customary laws (traditional practice) prevail at the grassroots in areas such as marriage agreements (bride price), widowhood (if there is no will, the widow is disinherited by her husband's family and thrown out on the streets with the children), child sexual abuse (incest) and the acceptance of husband on wife violence. These issues were entertainingly and informatively demonstrated in a dramatic performance arranged by the Federation of Ugandan Women Lawyers (FIDA), which plays an important advocacy role in raising awareness of legal protection for women.
Land and Property Rights were also seen as a crucial aspect in African women's empowerment. "The government's failure to pass the co-ownership of land amendment has robbed Ugandan women of another chance to own land," Miria Matembe claimed during the conference. This refers to the 1998 Land Bill. Joint property ownership by spouses (wives) is now proposed under the Domestic Relations Bill, also drafted in 1998, by the Minister of Gender and Social Development, which is still being delayed by Parliament. This bill also intends to reform and consolidate laws relating to marriage, separation and divorce. One problem with the bill is the question over whether customary wives (not legally or 'officially' married) will also have joint property rights, in what is still a polygamous society. Advocacy for land rights is a focus among several local NGOs and a new book Land, Gender and Development was launched during the conference by the Uganda Land Alliance.
Other books launched included Women's Access to Higher Education in Africa by the Director of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, Professor Joy Kwesiga, and The Women's Movement in Uganda: History, Challenges and Perspectives which is co-written by Kwesiga and Prof. Aili Mari Tripp from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA (both published by Fountains, Kampala). Matembe's autobiographical work Gender, Politics and Constitution Making in Uganda, also by Fountains, is a fascinating and illuminating read.
While there are many Ugandan women in prominent positions in the government, there are still limited opportunities for a majority of women to become actively involved in political participation at other levels. Similarly, the national gender mainstreaming machinery, established through the Ministry for Gender, Labour and Social Development, has not necessarily had a great impact on local government policy and practice. There is a current move to direct government and donor funding into other Ministries for Sector-Wide Approaches (SWAPS). In her presentation, Jane Mpagi, Director of the Division for Gender, explained how she has had serious cutbacks in staffing - and so no longer has the resources to adequately service other government departments in their policy-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development plans according to gender-sensitivity.
Despite the continuing problems for women both nationally and internationally, the event was a source of inspiration to all who attended. One delegate from South Africa said: "My level of enthusiasm has been increased. The struggle continues!" There were a number of social and cultural activities, including a bus trip to see the source of the Nile, performances of African dance and music - and an African fashion show. My personal favourite session of the conference particularly gave me optimism for the future. This was a forum for young men and women school students, members of GEM (Girls Empowerment Movement, a UNICEF initiative run in Uganda by FAWE, the Forum for African Women Educationalists). Here they presented their strategies for sensitising and supporting pupils, teachers and parents around the necessity for girls to be educated to the highest level. The conference anthem, also performed by young people, ran: "Don't treat me like a toy / Just because I'm not a boy!"
More information can be obtained from www.makerere.ac.ug/womenstudies/
For a copy of my own paper on Mainstreaming Gender into NGO Work: A Case Study from Nigeria, contact me at P.Daniel@wlv.ac.uk