Women's Global Empowerment Fund
Women’s Assembly Hour Update 2017
The year 2017 saw WGEF launching the Women’s Assembly Hour radio program to enable rural and urban women to speak out about their needs, experiences and opinions about key issues affecting their communities. The Women’s Assembly hour (Dwon Lwak) is implemented as a forum in which community members (both women and men) come together to discuss their problems and find shared solutions. The program has provided the citizens of northern Uganda in both urban and rural areas an opportunity to discuss social and Political topics in a group. Supported with a team of moderators and technical staff from Radio Rupiny who travels to the most remote communities of Gulu, Amuru, Nwoya and Omoro Districts, to participate and record the debates. The program has been broadcast every Friday of 1 hour since February 2017 and attended by local leaders in all communities.
WGEF hosted 36 community debates that were broadcast live on radio. Each community debate consisted of 80+ participants both men and women, in total 3,560 women and men have directly participated in the radio debate. The program attracted 520 calls in (people who calls in the radio during the program to ask questions), in total 1.2 million listened in the program especially during prime time.
A quick evaluation of the programs shows that the program is very popular. Local leaders take community view and complaints raised in the program seriously. Women’s Assembly has helped the community to hold local leaders and Civil Society Originations leaders to account. Through the community debates and broad cast, communities have organized themselves to engage on key issues that affects them Including insecurity, land related conflicts and domestic violence. The women’s assembly is filling in the communication and accountability gap related to government and democracy in the district, specifically it is providing access to relevant, accurate and comprehensive information which is a fundamental human rights.
Key Achievement’s of the program
- Local leaders take community view and complaints raised in the program seriously.
- Women’s Assembly has helped the community to hold local leaders and Civil Society Originations leaders to account
- Through the community debates and broad cast, communities have organized themselves to engage on key issues that affects them Including insecurity, land related conflicts and domestic violence.
- 36 women’s assemblies consisting of 3,560 Participants conducted
- 520 listeners called in the program majority of them were men
- The program has been listened to by over 1.2million listeners
Key Issues Discussed During the Radio Program Included
Land ownership and widow inheritance- Family planning and women’s reproductive rights
- Rampant murder of women in the country Insecurity Suicide
- Is local’s competition for investment helping the process of recovery
- Accountability for Recovery Development projects
- Domestic violence and suicide
- Drug abuse and unemployment
Moving Forward
Our plan is to double our reach by extending the program to 3 new districts targeting 1.3m listeners. In total we intend to reach to 2.5 million new listenership with massages and engagement.
Think Globally On Colorado Gives Day!
Community First Foundation and FirstBank are presenting Colorado Gives Day on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. This annual statewide movement celebrates and increases philanthropy in Colorado through online giving. The $1 Million Incentive Fund created by the partners is one of the largest giving-day incentive funds in the country.
WGEF Annual Fund 2017
“I feel like I matter, from today instead of focusing on just survival, being given the opportunity to access credit for the first time then I have a new beginning and confidence begin to looking for ways to thrive in my life.”
Jennifer – WGEF Client, Omoro District
Greetings!
For over 25 years, I have been committed to understanding the complexities around poverty, inequality and justice. It is through this in-depth examination I founded WGEF and created the Credit Plus Model. What I discovered is that there are more than a few things you cannot learn in books, board rooms or well-constructed data: the resiliency of the human spirit, the tenacious desire to create, and the true meaning of sisterhood.
Working in a post-conflict region in Africa, with people who have experienced brutality, injustice and voicelessness, taught me more than I could have ever learned in the halls of academia, online, house of worship or a Ted Talk. It is a great gift, to truly know the capacity of human beings when treated with dignity and respect; supported through programs that amplify their voices and reclaim their communities. Every day WGEF works hard to ensure every woman in our program is supported to access resources, make choices and determine life outcomes – the definition of empowerment.
At the heart of our program is the most amazing and ‘least sexist’ man I have ever known, Bukneya Muusa. Make no mistake, this transformative and relevant program would not exist without my colleague, who has worked tirelessly every day for the last 10 years. His leadership has enabled WGEF to have assembled a most amazing staff; committed young Ugandans working in their communities to create change, fighting for equality, justice and families every day.
As I write this, it is seemingly a time of great upheaval in our world; live, give and work in your local and global community. We are all connected and together we can continue to work towards equality and justice. Thank you for your ongoing support of WGEF.
Women’s Global Named Top-Rated Nonprofit in 2017 by GreatNonprofits
Women’s Global announced today we have been named a “2017 Top-Rated Nonprofit” by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews of charities and nonprofits.
We are honored to be named a 2017 Top-Rated Nonprofit. We are proud of our accomplishments already this year, including the opening of Gulu Women’s Resource Center, expanding our Healthy Periods Initiative, launching the Women’s Bakery Project in Haiti and more!
The Top-Rated Nonprofit Award is the based on the rating and number of reviews that Women’s Global received from volunteers, donors and aid recipients. You can view our page and leave a review here.
One reviewer said: “After five years of watching and supporting WGEF, I can say without hesitation that there is no better example on how a NGO should operate; by putting the clients in a position to improve their lives on their own terms. For anyone that is thinking of supporting WGEF through their labor or financial input, know that you are taking part in an organization that is changing lives through a small operating budget, a selfless, passionate and dedicated staff and in a community ripe for advancement and innovation.”
GreatNonprofits is the leading website where people share stories about their personal experiences on more than 1.2 million charities and nonprofits. The GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Awards are the only awards for nonprofits determined by those who have direct experience with the charities – as donors, volunteers and recipients of aid.
The complete list of 2017 Top Rated Nonprofits can be found here.
