Women's Rights

The Women Won’t Wait campaign was launched by ActionAid Uganda in March 2007 to address the distinct link between violence against women and HIV/AIDS .  Many programmes currently tend to apply gender-neutral approaches to the fight against HIV/AIDS while not focusing on women’s and girls’ rights and vulnerabilities. The reality is that gender based violence further exposes women and girls to HIV infection and makes them more vulnerable to the virus than men.

Statistics show that the prevalence of HIV among men in Uganda is 5% while the rate of women stands at 7.5% 

By recognizing the link between gender based violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS the Women Won’t Wait project presents a new approach to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support and treatment specifically designed to promote and protect women’s and girls’ rights. Achievements so far include:

• The establishment of Uganda’s first ever Women’s Reception Centres in Mubende, Nebbi and Pallisa Districts to report and document cases of violence and to provide legal counselling and referral services for abused women and girls.

• Out of 2,236 cases, 1,107 were resolved through alternative justice, 555 pending and 574 referred through Police to Courts of law.

• The UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) has taken interest in expanding the One-Stop Women's Rights Centres from three to eight by supporting the opening of 6 new centres to fight violence against women and girls as well as support the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act passed in 2009 across the country.

• The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has invited ActionAid Uganda to share its experiences from the Women Reception Centres with the National Gender Based Violence Work Group to address intersectional issues between HIV infection and violence against girls and women. 

Women’s Rights is at the core of all areas of work of ActionAid Uganda. Our work on Women’s Rights strives to enable women and girls to secure and exercise their rights through improved leadership, organisation and action for social and economic justice.

Our work on HIV and AIDS focuses on advocating for the Right to a Life of Dignity in the Face of HIV/AIDS. Our objective under our HIV/AIDS programmes is to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and support the development of care as well as effective policies for scaling up the national response to the disease.