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INFO RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA

UNCLAS KAMPALA 000388 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KPAO AID UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: S/GWI PROJECT PROPOSALS 
 
REF: 09 STATE132094 
 
¶1. The U.S. Mission to Uganda submits the following two project 
proposals for consideration for the Office of Global Women's Issues 
(SGWI) Small Grants Initiative. The two projects are listed in 
priority order for funding. 
 
 
 
Definition of the Problem: 
 
 
 
¶2. Women and girls in Uganda are marginalized socially, politically 
and economically and routinely are the victims of sexual and gender 
based violence (SGBV). The defilement of young girls by family 
members, neighbors, and teachers is common, with studies estimating 
that up to 25% of girls younger than 14 have been raped. Domestic 
violence rates are high, particularly in rural areas, with up to 
30% of all women reporting physical abuse. 
 
 
 
¶3. There has been some progress in the past year to combat these 
trends, through the passage of legislation providing greater 
protections for victims of domestic violence and trafficking in 
persons. The two projects described below aim to educate and 
empower women to improve their awareness of their civic rights as 
Ugandan citizens. In addition to the direct beneficiaries, the 
programs will have a significant and enduring impact on local 
communities and help move Uganda toward greater gender equality. 
 
 
 
Project 1: Promoting Women's Legal Rights: 
 
 
 
¶4. The Ugandan Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-U) requests 
$100,000 to provide legal education and assistance to women victims 
of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) over 18 months. FIDA-U 
proposes to: provide paralegal training to 52 community health 
workers; conduct ten legal aid outreach events; produce a short 
documentary of SGBV survivor stories; and train 35 practicing 
lawyers on women's legal rights, particularly those covered under 
newly passed legislation. 
 
 
 
Para-legal Training for 52 Community Health Workers: FIDA-U will 
provide a three-day para-legal training to 52 staff members at a 
local hospital that has a client base of 600,000 people, 70% of 
whom are HIV positive. In many cases of domestic violence, rape or 
abuse, medical staff are the first and only contact the victims 
have with potential assistance. The training will underline the 
 
role and responsibility of the medical profession in curbing and 
mitigating violence, its responsibility to provide basic 
information and referrals and to explain the medical documentary 
evidence necessary for the successful prosecution of SGBV cases. 
The training will also provide basic legal information to the 
health care providers, including instruction on the recently passed 
Domestic Violence Bill. 
 
 
 
Series of 10 Human Rights Legal Clinics: These mobile legal clinics 
will take the law closer to communities to conduct basic legal 
rights training for women as a way to prevent ongoing abuses and to 
address women's legal issues. 
 
 
 
Short Documentary of SGBV Survivor Stories: The documentary will be 
used to sensitize the public to the abuses suffered by women in 
Uganda. The film will combine stories of abuse with audience 
discussion and legal professionals commentary. FIDA-U produced an 
effective anti human trafficking video that was used to sensitize 
the public and lobby for the passing of Uganda's anti-human 
trafficking bill last year. 
 
 
 
Training/Mentoring Women Lawyers on Human Rights Law: Women lawyers 
in Uganda have varying degrees of familiarity with international 
human rights standards and with Ugandan laws. FIDA-U will provide 
training to 35 women lawyers on the law, issues with enforcement 
and prosecution, and gaps that require reforms. At the lead 
University Human Rights and Gender are taught as post-graduate 
courses so many women lawyers have not even had a basic course on 
 
the issues. 
 
 
 
¶5. The FIDA-U budget for this program is $110,000 but includes a 
$10,000 cost share. The budget is broken down into the following 
components: program coordinator/legal aid: $25,485; community 
health worker training: $24,829; human rights mobile legal clinics: 
$15,249; documentary production: $6,158; training for women 
lawyers: $7,848; end of project evaluation: 15,951. The complete 
proposal including a detailed budget is attached to this cable. 
 
 
 
¶6. FIDA-U has a solid grant and program track record and the 
Mission believes the organization has the capacity to 
professionally carry out the project within the proposed 18 month 
performance period. FIDA-U's proposal and budget are attached. 
 
 
 
Project 2: Communities Against Violence and HIV/AIDS: 
 
 
 
¶7. The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council - Women's Desk (UMSC-WD) 
requests $65,534 for a train the trainer program to educate and 
empower 3,300 women over 12 months. The projects will provide 
modular training to 33 district coordinators in four topic areas: 
HIV counseling and prevention; domestic violence and women's 
rights; income generating activities; and parenting. The 33 
district coordinators will then establish/support four community 
peer support groups in their respective districts and offer 4 
sessions covering the four topic areas to the women in each 
community peer support group. The 528 community training sessions 
will be offered to women of all faiths in 33 of Uganda's 90+ 
districts. The UMSC-WD expects that the 132 community peer support 
groups will continue function as a community level group and as a 
entry point for information on women's and gender issues beyond the 
end of the 12 month period of performance. 
 
 
 
¶8. The UMSC-WD $65,534 budget contains a modest stipend request for 
the national coordinator and an administrative assistant, but 
otherwise relies on the volunteer support of the district 
coordinators and the peer support group leaders they will recruit 
within their districts. The budget has the following components: 
labor: $5,884, consultative meeting $1,309; training and workshops: 
$36,771; community mobilization: $3017; monitoring and evaluation: 
$9326. The UMSC-WD proposal and detailed budget are attached to 
this cable. 
 
 
 
¶9. The UMSC was established in 1972 and is an umbrella organization 
for all Muslim associations and organizations in Uganda, with 
representation in 33 of Uganda's 90+ districts, including more than 
8,000 village mosques. (Note: Uganda's Muslim population is 
estimated at 12%).  UMSC-WD was established in June 2009 and has 
less experience in formal project implementation and grant 
management, however Post has interviewed both its national 
coordinator and the coordinator of the overarching Human Rights 
department and believes that the organization will effectively 
carry out the proposed program.  UMSC's Human Rights desk has 
proven capable in managing grants received from the Mission.   Post 
believes this is a good opportunity to increase the capacity of the 
UMSC-WD to promote the rights of some of the most marginalized 
women in Uganda, and to promote inter-faith interaction at the 
community level. 
 
 
 
¶10. Management note: The Mission's small grants office currently 
manages $70,000 in self help grants and $350,000 in PEPFAR small 
grants.  Self help grants normally do not exceed $10,000, and 
PEPFAR grants are capped at $25,000.  If either of the two projects 
above are funded at the requested amounts, Post may need to use 
some of the funding to help manage an additional grant of this 
size.  Pol/Econ Officer Trevor Olson is the Mission's point of 
contact for this submission.  End note. 
LANIER