(IWONET)
Indigenous Women Network
Indigenous women have always been part of their peoples’ struggles, whether local, nationally or at international level. IWONET supports indigenous women in Uganda to raise stronger voices in claiming the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The indigenous women of Uganda include ancient communities of hunters and gatherers, such as Benet and Batwa, also known as Twa.
They also include minority groups like the Ik, the Karamojong and the Basongora. The Benets, who number just over 8,500, live in the north eastern part of Uganda. The Batwa, who number about 6,700, live mainly in the southwest region in Districts of Bundibugyo, Kisoro, Kanungu, Kabale and Rubanda. They were dispossessed of their ancestral land when the Bwindi and Mgahinga forests were declared national parks in 1991. The Ik number is approximately 13,939 and lives on the edge of the Karamoja / Turkana region along the border between Uganda and Kenya. The Karamojong live in the northeast and total about 988,429. The Basongora, who number 15,897, are a livestock community that lives in the lowlands adjacent to Rwenzori Mountain in western Uganda.
Vision of IWONET
IWONET envisions a society with empowered Indigenous Women, having equal opportunities as a strategy for attaining sustainable development.
Mission of IWONET
To enhance and strengthen the capacity of Indigenous Women through participation, social, economic, political empowerment as well as protection of their rights
Objectives of IWONET
a) To address issues that affect indigenous women around areas like environmental
conservation, Reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, women’s rights, education,
women Economic empowerment and cultural preservation. We conduct research
on these areas the results of which are used to create trainings and workshops
for indigenous women
b) To enhance opportunities for empowering indigenous women through income
generation, cultural preservation and sound environmental management
c) To promote gender equality and improving community health among indigenous
communities
d) To promote networking and information sharing between the indigenous women
in Uganda and the rest of the indigenous women worldwide.
e) To promote and build solidarity among indigenous women, support indigenous
women’s groups and organizations learn from each others’ activities and
successes, and motivate each other.
f) To build capacity of indigenous women and to make their voices heard. IWONET
promotes the advancement of indigenous women journalists by training them to
cover and highlight the plight of indigenous and minority communities.
g) To promote gender equity and women’s rights through IWONET programming
areas and activities like workshops and trainings on women’s rights, income
generation and project development and management
h) To combat harmful cultural practices that affect indigenous women such as
female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage.
i) To provide education opportunities to indigenous young women and girls
through provision of scholarships, particularly for indigenous girls. IWONET
supports early childhood education as another important focus point, as it helps
introduce young children to the world of education and helps them develop the
skills that will be useful to them as they continue on through school. Early
childhood education also gives women more free time for their own personal
development. As many grandmothers are the ones responsible for raising
children who have been orphaned by AIDS or other illnesses, sending children to
school gives them a break from the child-rearing work that they should have long
left behind, and benefits the children
Indigenous women have always been part of their peoples’ struggles, whether local, nationally or at international level.