Part 8:Campaigning against sexual and gender based violence in Uganda

3 December 2009

Lee Webster, from our London office, is joining women activists, all survivors of rape, who are embarking on a four-day march from their home in the conflict-affected north to the capital Kampala to meet their politicians and say enough is enough. They’ll be joined by more than 1,000 people on the streets of Kampala, including a national pop star (Mariam Ndagire), to send a strong message to the government to end sexual and gender based violence.

In Uganda hundreds of people travelled from the north of the country to the capital in Kampala to tell their politicians to take action to protect women.

Goodness, is it really my last day in Uganda? I wake up with a whole mixture of emotions. I’m so privileged to have shared this special journey with women who I now count as friends. I’m hopeful, yet aware of Ugandan women’s struggle for a violence free future. And I’m sad that I’ll be leaving the campaign in Uganda behind – although determined that when I get back to the CARE office in the UK, we will continue to support it.

The final push of the campaign is a big march through Kampala. For this CARE in Uganda has worked with a national partner organisation – the Ugandan Women’s Network. They are an umbrella body for women’s organisations, and have certainly been busy mobilising and cajoling, encouraging and supporting, because well over a thousand activists meet us on the disused airstrip on the outskirts of Kampala city, to join the march against violence.

There’s a positive mood in the air, captured by the brass band who play a marching tune at the front of the procession. We walk through Kampala, stopping traffic and taking over whole roads. Women sing and chant, and it really feels like we’re a force to be reckoned with. Our destination is parliament, where we are once again greeted by the Chairperson of the Ugandan Women Parliamentary Association, for photos and speeches.

It’s at this point that I have to leave, my plane is in a few hours, taking me home to another world. I’ll be far from the dusty streets of northern Uganda. I’ll be far from the songs and dances of the women activists who have taken an unprecedented and brave step to stand up against violence. And I’ll be far from my CARE colleagues in Uganda who have welcomed me and taught me so much, about the reality of gender based violence, and the response to it.

I slip away quietly, the sound of music ringing in my ears as the CARE car drives away from the throng of activists. I hope one day I’ll be back, but until then I’ll be doing as much as I can to support the campaign against violence for Ugandan women.

Read the rest of Lee's story here>>

Find how you can raiseyour voice agnist violence here>>

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