Young people Celebrating International Youth Day in Gulu

The government of Uganda shared similar sentiments during this year’s celebrations of International Youth Day which were held in Arua, in the West Nile region of Uganda. Under this year’s national theme, “Accelerating Youth Empowerment through Skills Development,” Skills development was emphasised as crucial in assisting youth in the transition to work, equiping them with the skills to become job creators, rather than seekers, and to allowing them greater participation in the social and economic transformation of Uganda.

The celebrations included cultural performances from youth across the country who filled the stadium with color, dancing, and singing. Youth delegations came from far and wide and were joined by fellow youth, politicians, senior civil servants, foreign diplomats, donors, NGO staff, and members of civil society. Also present local celebrities Dorcus Inzikuru (aka the “Golden Gazelle,” Uganda’s fastest runner) and Bobbi Wine (aka the “Ghetto President,” a popular singer) whose un conventional professions serve as an inspiration the young people to think outside the box when planning for their futures.

some of the fellows during Day 1 of the Seminar

Today marked day 1 of the first Leadership Enhancement Seminar for the iCON Peace Building and Social Transformational Leadership Fellowship for Northern Uganda.

This 5 day seminar will build the capacities of 30 young women from across the Acholi sub region in aspects of peace building and social transformation as well as entrepreneurship.

Fellows refecting during Day 1 of the seminar

These young women will each be given an opportunity to reflect on their individual leadership potential and their roles as peace building and social transformation champions, they will envision the possibilities of their own contribution to peace and achieving social transformation within their communities, they will also explore ways of addressing possible barriers to the realization of their leadership potential as peace building and social transformation champions in Acholi,  they will identify the nature of their individual and collective leadership commitment to innovative solutions for peace building and social transformation in Acholi.

Please join us on this amazing journey by following our daily updates on our blog and facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/iCON/225648787467943

compiled by: Sheila Kinaheirwe, Program Assistant Communication and Advocacy Program (CAP)

A poster calling for the need to emphasis reproductive health issues as the population hits 7 Million

The United Nations’ (UN) World Population Day was instituted in 1989 as a result of the Day of Five Billion which was marked on July 11, 1987. Since then, it has been annually observed on July 11 to reaffirm the human right to plan for a family. It encourages activities, events and information to help make this right a reality throughout the world.

 This year, as the world population is expected to surpass 7 billion, United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners are launching a campaign called 7 Billion Actions which aims to engage people, encourage commitment and spark actions related to the opportunities and challenges presented by a world of 7 billion people.

Currently in Uganda, the population stands at 33 million people with a growth rate of 3.2% per annum. It is because of this rapid population growth rate that Uganda commemorated the World Population Day under the theme “Uganda at 33 million: Time to act.” This theme calls on both the government of Uganda and its citizens to take steps to control the rapidly growing population.

The United Nations’ (UN) World Population Day was instituted in 1989 as a result of the Day of Five Billion which was marked on July 11, 1987. Since then, it has been annually observed on July 11 to reaffirm the human right to plan for a family. It encourages activities, events and information to help make this right a reality throughout the world.

 This year, as the world population is expected to surpass 7 billion, United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners are launching a campaign called 7 Billion Actions which aims to engage people, encourage commitment and spark actions related to the opportunities and challenges presented by a world of 7 billion people.

Currently in Uganda, the population stands at 33 million people with a growth rate of 3.2% per annum. It is because of this rapid population growth rate that Uganda commemorated the World Population Day under the theme “Uganda at 33 million: Time to act.” This theme calls on both the government of Uganda and its citizens to take steps to control the rapidly growing population.

With Uganda’s high population growth rate and the fact that over 50% of the population consists of young people, the majority of people have attributed the low levels of development to the high population.

Dr Jotham Musinguzi

The Regional Director of Partners in Population and Development, Dr. Jotham Musinguzi however believes that the already existing population is not the problem, but poor planning is. A head of celebrations to mark World Population day he called upon leaders in Uganda to put more efforts in promoting and financing family planning in order for Uganda to achieve economic development.

Dr. Angela Akol, the Project Director of Family Health International, also called on Uganda and other countries should invest more in family planning in order to achieve the millennium development goals. “Family planning will help improve maternal health, child health, economic growth and development and thus meet some of the MDG targets set by the UN to halve global poverty by 2015. Governments and other partners should therefore give family planning programmes new energy and employ new innovative ways of delivering family planning services to the poor who have a lot of misconceptions about family planning methods.”

iCON partners with Global Women’s Water Initiative
for the 2011 East Africa Women And Water Training Program, Kampala, 8^th-16^th July 2011 Uganda

A great leadership celebration was registered in the month of July as iCON in partnership with International organizations–Women’s Earth Alliance and Crabgrass hosted the third annual African Women and Water Training from 8^th-16^th July 2011, in Kampala, Uganda.  This training brought together 55 women community leaders from East Africa and the United States to launch appropriate water projects across East Africa.

 The two previous trainings were held in Kokrobite, Ghana (2010) and Nairobi, Kenya (2008) at the training center of Wangari Maathai. In addition to highly skilled African women trainers and training participants, ten international women with expertise in environmental engineering, public health, international development, and appropriate water technology also attended.

Participants building a Bio sand Filter during the training

During the week, participants were trained to construct various household-level water technologies that can create sustainable and easily managed solutions to address community water and sanitation challenges. These technologies consisted of rainwater harvesting and storage, solar pasteurization, household water filtration through the BioSand water filter, and sanitation through the ventilated pit latrine (VIP). Women also attended courses in WASH education, simple and affordable water testing, gender and climate change, resource mobilization, and action planning. The trainers were highly-skilled African women who have successfully implemented these technologies and applied these skills in communities across the continent.

Participants Constructing the water harvestor at Katuso Community Secondary School, Kampala, Uganda

This program equips selected women participants with knowledge of appropriate water technologies, action-planning tools, leadership skills and seed funding to launch water projects in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

After completing the first stage of the year-long training program, participants will now enter the implementation phase where they will be invited to apply for a $1,500 grant to implement their newly acquired skills and launch water service projects in their communities. Teams will also be supported through site visits, refresher trainings, resource mobilization and leadership coaching and information exchange through a unique network of regional and international peers.

iCON convenes the first in country review meeting for the 2012 Commision on the Satus of Women (CSW) theme

On Thursday July 28^th 2011, members of the Uganda CSW Working Group convened at Shine Hotel Kansanga to review the 2012 CSW theme. Among the members present were several representatives of Grassroots organisation based in a number of rural areas across the country. The members of the working group were eager to engage in discussions on the 2012 theme which is “The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.”

Reviewing the 2012 CSW theme will involve discussing the role which the government of Uganda, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non Government Organisations as well as Private Sector has played in empowering rural women socially, economically as well as politically. The role rural women have played in poverty and hunger eradication will also be looked at specifically with regard to the contributions these women have made to agriculture both on the small scale and commercially, their role in food security and environmental sustainability will also be included in the discussions. The group will also be looking at what role rural women have played in development in terms of their social, economic and political contributions.

The challenges rural women face will also be included. The group will look at the challenges these women face in the social, political, economic and cultural spheres.

Discussions will also include recommendations from the group on what can be done to empower rural women and ensure that they further contribute to poverty and hunger eradication as well as over come some of the challenges they may face.

iCON would like to invite you to be part of the CSW review process. To do so please email sheila at sheilajeaniekinaheirwe@gmail.com. You can also check out our blog for updates on the review process.

Compiled by Sheila Kinaheirwe, Program Assistant Communication and Advocacy Program (CAP) iCON

Global Women’s Water Initiative’s Trainers

Elizabeth Akinyi Obiero,Kisumu, Kenya

Elizabeth Akinyi Obiero

Elizabeth is a GWWI Technology Trainer and a 2008 Grassroots Training Graduate. She is a professional nurse and counselor who has participated in a wide variety of community health workshops. In 2005, Elizabeth traveled to Zambia to receive basic WASH Training. In 2006, she attended an advanced training in United States of America. Now a certified WASH Trainer, Elizabeth works for Lifewater International as a WASH Facilitator and Trainer in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda and Kenya. When she isnt traveling with Lifewater International, Elizabeth is busy training women’s groups, churches and youth groups on proper water and sanitation techniques. Elizabeth is a graduate of GWWI’s 2008 Women and Water Training in Nairobi. During the training she learned different RWH techniques and has since become a stronger trainer and full time consultatn in WASH education in rural communities. These are her excerpts:

Question: What have you learnt from the training so far?

Elizabeth: We have learnt leadership skills and tips, about water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) technologies.

Question: What have you been doing in your community with regards to water and sanitation?

Elizabeth: In my community am a WASH Trainer and I have been training communities, schools and pupils. Pupils are mostly trained when schools are closed like in April, August and December. The reason why we do them during the holidays is to keep the pupils busy. We involve the teachers so that they can train and we initiate health clubs within the schools so these health club members ensure that WASH programs are running well. We also train the community members for continuity and even if the trained teachers are transferred we still have that continuity since the community members are also trained.

Question: What’s the whole idea behind WASH in your community?

Elizabeth: It is to make sure that the girl child attends school. In lower classes, the ratio of boys to girls attending school is 1:1. But as you move to upper classes, the number of girl children in school drops drastically because girls stay home to do household chores like fetching water, cleaning etc. So the aim is to improve girl child education, prolong their health, improve the lives of those living positively by providing clean water, good sanitation and hygiene.

Question: Going forward, how do you think this is going to impact on your work? What are you going to do differently?

Elizabeth: I am going to make sure communities know the different options of water treatment for example solar disinfection, use of chemicals, boiling etc. It will depend on what one can afford. When it comes to latrines, there is simple latrines, Ventilated Improved Pit latrines (VIP) and so on and this training has helped us appreciate the fact that everyone can have a latrine depending on the type they can afford.

“Am a serious wash trainer and a change maker”

Assertive Zeinab Adams, Kenya

Zeinab Adams

Zeinab is a trained Biology and chemisty teacher, champion for promoting environmental conservation and education, sustainable development and is a passionate gender activist and visionary GWLN global leader. Until her resignation in Febuary 2011, Zeinab worked for the largest global conservation organisation, World Wide Fund for Nature (World Wildlife Fund) where she spent the better part of her years of employment with grassroots communities to promote sustainable environmental conservation, environmental education, formal education, gender equality, girls and women empowerment and leadership in the marginalized communities. Zeinab’s work is a calling and an emotionally compelling cause ..nothing gratifies her more than to see that she has contributed immensily towards making a difference in the lives of women and girls in alliviation of poverty and social injustices as they are the root cause es of environmental degredation and many other social problems experienced in the world.

These are her exerpts:

Question: Why did you choose Assertive as your leadership name?

Assertive Zeinab: Am very assertive and not scared to defend the rights of women, am very vocal to the point that sometimes people think it’s a weakness.

Question: What is your interest in WASH?

Assertive Zeinab: I am a leader who is passionate about women empowerment. I realize that they have been left out in a number of things and WASH is an important component for women since they are involved a lot with water. I felt I should come here to understand elements of WASH so that when I go out there I help  to empower women.

Question: What have you learnt from the training so far?

It is very important to involve women in every aspect of WASH initiatives because they are the drivers and are the ones who are most vulnerable. They must have a voice at the decision making level in the community and higher level including policy making level.

Question: What are you committed to doing differently?

Assertive Zeinab: Am committed to involving women in every aspect of WASH initiatives, they shouldn’t be left out.

Question: Are you planning to build networks to mentor others or as a leader are you doing it already?

Assertive Zeinab: I am part of so many networks. My vision is to have an African Network which  will  address issues of women from politics to economic empowerment and development and social security including environmental conservation.

Question: Is there any thing else you want to share about the training?

Assertive Zeinab: It has been a very interactive training. I am also here as a trainer who will be facilitating sessions on action planning. At the end of it all we have all these ideas but if we are not able to organize our thoughts and put them together for us to spear head wash programs from community to policy making level then we won’t be able to achieve much

Trainers in training:

Mindful Matilda Nabukonde, Uganda

Matilda lives in Kumi, Uganda and is a part of the Uganda community Based Association for Child welfare (UCOBAC). She shares her concerns about the lack of water and the challenge of children missing school to stand in line at wells for water. As a community volunteer and secretary of the local council, Matilda visits women in their homes and teaches them general hygiene. She has taught them tree planting and protected wells against all types of contaminants. She was also able to advocate for two by laws to govern the protected and unprotected wells in her community and the neighbouring areas. She is a graduate of the GWWI 2008 Women and Water in Nairobi. During th training she learned rain water harvesting and started a WASH Program for UCOBAC. Since then she has implemented RWH systems for thatched roofs for gradmothers taking care of orpharned children. Last year she learned the BSF Technology under the GWWI partner A Single Drop and has added UCOBAC’s WASH pool of services. These are her experts.

Question: Why did you choose mindful as your leadership name?

Mindful Matilda: Because she always minds about others

Question: For how long have you been involved in WASH?

Mindful Matilda: Since 2008, we started with courses which took place in Nairobi in July 2008.

Question: What made you get interested in this?

Mindful Matilda: The major idea is that water is life there is no alternative to water if it’s a water issue it s always there and a priority in everyone’s life.

Question: What have you learnt from this training?

Mindful Matilda: I have learnt how to access clean safe water by testing, purification and different methods of purification like using disinfectants, biosand filters. I have learnt about water harvesting. I have implemented two projects on rain water harvesting in western Uganda in Mityana with Grand mothers, because am a grand mother myself.

Question: Is there anything you are going to change going forward after this training?

Mindful Matilda: Unfortunately we haven’t had sufficient funding for this water program but my vision is to have a big project for my organization on water so from here my fellow participants and I want to make a network and continue conversations on how we can push or programmes forward with the help of the organizers of this training. We want to grow our projects by fundraising and therefore reduce on the vulnerabilities as far as water is concerned in Uganda and other countries.

Godliving Busingye

Godliving Busingye

Godliving has been a student of the Uganda Rural Development and Training (URDT) Program for four  years and has experience in brick laying and concrete practice. She is also at the African Rural University working as a research student in the field and has been involved in projects like fabrication of irrigation pumps locally, water turbans etc. these are her exerpts.

Question: How did you get to be nominated for this training?

Godliving: Mwalimu Museshe, the CEO of the Organisation nominated me to train in building VIP latrines.

Question: Tell us about the training so far?
Godliving: The training is really nice and has made me more confident since I was meeting women from different countries and of different ages. It has really helped me and opened me up. I feel I can talk to different people. I have learnt leadership skills and learnt about different technologies such as bio sand and solar

Question: What is your commitment going forward after this training?

Godliving: I am going to make sure I implement WASH programs, I feel my community needs much of this. I am also going to emphasis use of VIPs. I want to train women to build their own latrines.

Question: Is there anything else you want to share?

Godliving: As leaders we have to have a vision and a clear picture of what we want.

Question: What advise can you give other young leaders who over look certain skills thinking they are too hard?

Godliving: Young leaders should know that the world is changing and roles are changing. We need to demystify things and show men that women can also do these things. Women must all say we can be able to do any thing a man can do.

Question: What challenges have you faced as a young woman working in a male dominated field?

Godliving: Men of course make comments and say you cant do this and that and say that the man who will marry me will have problems. But I am strong hearted and don’t take such things to heart. The more people make these comments the stronger I feel I am becoming.

Global Fellows:

Silent Samantha Winter, Colorado, USA

Samantha Winters

Is a woman of incredible passion in a multitude of disciplines. She grew up in the small town of Steamboat Springs tucked in the Rocky Mpuntains of Colorado. She graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Civil Engineering in 2008. Although Samatha has a deep love for research and academia, some of her most valuable and lasting life lessons came from living, working and traveling in countries around the world. Samantha has worked on a diverse array of projects in a variety of fields including corporate engineering, energy conservation, youth development and advocacy, technical writing, workshop facilitation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Samantha has been passionate about, studied and worked on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)projects through travel, volunteer work,professional projects and academia. She is currently a graduate at the Stanford University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her graduate research is centered on women’s relationship to WASH practices and development in Eastern Africa thus the GWWI Fellowship is a dream come true for her. These are her exerpts:

Question: Tell us about the training and what you have learnt so far

Silent Samantha: I think the training is really unique not like anything I have ever been to before where you have women not only talking about things but actually acting on them, building actual structures. It’s a very technical training. I so far learnt leadership skills that empower women, appropriate technologies and the differences between what is happening in America and Africa as well as bridging the differences and getting a better cultural understanding of what is going on. It’s been really helpful to have people on the ground implementing things because their experience is very different from mine. I am in the research field in academia so I read a lot and deal with policy lot and deal with people who analyse things day in and out so to actually deal grassroots people who do the real work is really good.

Question: What are you committed to doing differently after this?

Silent Samantha: I would like to carry back the message of the women that I meet here and do more research. I am tired of people repeating the same research that serves one story which doesn’t serve the stories of African women. I am trying to change the direction of my research and my path. What am fighting for is that these women get the resources to do what they are needed to do because they are doing wonderful work. I also want to be more involved on a practical scale and be more involved in these initiatives.

Question: As a researcher are there things you had to unlearn, or you discovered were different from what you knew?

Silent Samantha: Yes. Behavior is hard to change in academia, but people here on the ground change behaviors very day although it is a slow process. There is so much hope and optimism here.  Just because some thing may not have worked before does not mean it will never work.

Question: What has been your biggest take away as a young leader, going forward?

Silent Samantha: Mostly to network with everyone and to believe that there other people out there fighting for the same cause and that its best to have a united vision.

Compiled by: Esther Nasikye and Sheila Kinaheirwe

Icon Women and Young People’s Leadership Academy (iCON) under its Northern Uganda Entrepreneurial and Transformation Leadership Fellowship Programme invites applications from women aged 25 years above for 2011 fellowship.

Applicants should be persons working in any field of life in Acholi Sub-region (formal and informal sector) with a demonstrated interest and experience and commitment to mentor others in peace building and social transformation.

Application forms may be picked from iCON Gulu office on Onono Road, Tel. 0701375130, 0782926719, iCON Kampala office at Nakasenda House, Kasanga, Tel. 0701361190, 0314261190.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 19TH AUGUST 2011

Please see flyer and Application form attached for more details.

Call for applications flyer – Women Leadership

Northern Uganda women leadership enhancement-Application form

Sheila Kinaheirwe
Program Assistant
Communication and Advocacy Program
Icon Women & Young People’s Leadership Academy

No 3 Nakasenda House, Plot 337,

 Block 254 Kansanga Nabutiti Zone

PO Box 5388, Kampala, Uganda.
Tel: +256-3120261190/414348780 (Office)
Mobile: +256 79 2 73 76 25
Email:sheila@iconwypla.org
www.iconwypla.org
Northern Uganda Office: Plot No 7 Onona Road
Gulu Town, Gulu District
Tel: +256 (0)372-275130