Welcome to the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) website.

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) is a non-partisan women’s organization operating in Uganda with its head office in Kampala. FOWODE grew out of the women’s caucus of the 1994 – 1995 constituent assembly (CA) that debated and passed the 1995 constitution.

During the assembly, the women delegates used the caucus to increase their political influence, broaden the base for support of women’s issues and advocate for a gender-sensitive constitution in all aspects. The success of the women’s caucus paved the way for the formation of FOWODE as a non governmental organization to offer a platform for Ugandan women’s learning, networking, sharing experiences and advocating for gender equality and equality in decision making process

FOWODE strongly believes that if women were empowered to participate at various political levels in the country, then the resulting policies, laws, plans and budgets would favour and strengthen women’s empowerment process in Uganda.

LATEST PUBLICATIONS

Forum for Women in Democracy Annual Report 2010

During 2010, Forum for Women in Democracy continued to consolidate her work, build strategic partnerships and to search for fresh ground in a bid to make herself a more highly effective and strategic women’s organisation. This narrative report for the period January 2010-December 2010 provides an overview of the achievements made by FOWODE and contextualizes them in the operating environment.

FOWODE focused most of her efforts on encouraging and supporting women’s participation in the elections and lobbying for increased prioritization of women’s needs in national and local plans and budgets.

The Budget Speech and Gender Equality; Promises versus Action

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) has been implementing a Gender Budget Program (GBP) since 1999. The aim of the GBP is to advocate for gender equitable distribution and utilization of national resources. It is from this background that FOWODE has done the analysis of the budget speech from a gender perspective. The publication highlights key budget speech proposals and how they will impact on women's socio-economic being over this fiscal period 2011/12

Civil Society Alternative Proposals on the National Budget Framework Paper FY 2011/12 - 2015/16

This paper is prepared by the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), to ensure that the views and concerns of the poor people and gender concerns are incorporated into the national budget priorities for the FY 2011//12 in the up-coming three Financial years

ADVOCATING FOR EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES

Government budgets reflect the priorities of a state and they are the largest single source of financing through which government promises are translated into policies and plans that are meant to benefit men and women equitably

In order to advance her advocacy for gender budgeting and stimulate the discussion on the plight of women, FOWODE has developed this illustrative booklet which draws from local experiences of budgetary allocations in the key sectors of Health, Education, Water and their effect on the women and men of this country

EQUAL BY RIGHT: The Uganda Women's Agenda

"Once again we make our voices heard, once again we emphasize that we are equal by right"

"Once again we claim our position at the center, and refuse to be kept at the side lines"

The women of Uganda are making their demands clear to political parties and other stakeholders impressing it upon Ugandans, that real development can only be realized when women's issues are recognized as Uganda's development issues.

More Publications