As we closed out Independent October, our wellness journal reinforced the themes of independence, self-acceptance and mental resilience, encouraging daily practices hence fostering a sense of inner peace and self-belonging among our womxn community, as we also celebrated the LGBTIQ History month, with emphasis on the LGBTIQ movement serving as a vital reminder of the continue fighting against the community’s past and ongoing violence and discrimination, especially in the challenging environment. However in this Article, we are thrilled to share with you yet another milestone on our journey.
Our Big Story; UGALEF 2025: Resisting, Reimaging, and organizing; Building Autonomous Resourcing and Sustaining Our struggles on our own Terms’
The UGALEF is a biennial, autonomous, and strategic space convened by FARUG to bring together womxn activists, leaders, and allies across Uganda. Since its inception, UGALEF has created vital space for dialogue, reflection, solidarity, and action. It is an autonomous space that facilitates diverse womxn from across the region, providing a safe space for diverse womxn to meet, reflect, heal and strategize for their movement. Every UGALEF holds a theme and this year’s UGALEF theme; Resisting, Reimagining, and organizing; Building Autonomous Resourcing and Sustaining Our Struggles on our own Terms; directly addresses the current challenges faced by the community, particularly in the context of the Anti-gender and Anti Rights movements and Aid cuts. This year’s theme also reflected the dual challenges facing womxn organizing in Uganda today. An increasingly repressive legal and cultural environment and diminishing international solidarity and funding support, speaking to the urgent need for creative, sustainable, and courageous strategies to advance womxn rights and community wellbeing.
The objective of this UGALEF IV was to Interrogate the current anti-rights and anti-gender environment and its impacts on womxn organizing in Uganda and the region, analyse the implications of shrinking donor support, especially ODA cuts, on womxn movements, explore sustainable models of feminist organizing and resource mobilization that prioritize self-reliance and collective care as well as space for healing, reflection, and resistance, reaffirming collective commitment to dignity, justice, and liberation for womxn movement and community. We convened together womxn activists and leaders from across Uganda, Feminists, Legal and human rights experts, Regional allies and solidarity partners, Grassroots community organizers Artists, healers, and storytellers.
As we concluded the three days, a renewed strategic framework for womxn organizing under repression, strengthened networks and alliances for movement resilience, Documented testimonies and strategies for collective care and resistance, developed practical tools and resources for safer, sustainable organizing as some of our key outcomes. As a shared declaration of political intent and solidarity, UGALEF stands as a bold act of resistance, community, and imagination.
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Happy New Month!
