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.

destination parliament

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.

December 2nd

I called Grace from my hotel this morning, to check details of the day, and within minutes found myself being whisked off in the CARE car to a meeting in the Ugandan parliament!

We’d arrived in Kampala to find our plans of attending parliament with the 336 women activists disrupted. An MP had recently died, and the Speaker of Parliament was concerned that our ‘celebration’ would not be in the correct mood with a funeral taking place.
As much as I believe that parliaments represent the seat of democracy and should be open to the people, I’m always slightly intimidated by being inside parliamentary buildings. The Ugandan parliament is no different. It’s a large, imposing building, and as I pass my bags through the security check I feel a little bit out of place.

I needn’t worry, my CARE Uganda colleagues are completely in control, and lead the meeting with the Honourable Alsimera Jane Babiiha, a woman MP and the Chairperson of the Ugandan Women Parliamentary Association. They present a compelling case as to why the activities should go ahead, pointing out that the planned march is not a celebration in any way, rather it is a commemoration of the millions of women who have experienced violence, both during the conflict and since, a significant number of whom have died at the hands of violent men.  It’s also a call to action – the women of Uganda want laws to protect them, and they want those laws to be implemented.

A day to be remembered

The MP is won over by the case put forward, and within an hour, the activists from northern Uganda arrive in parliament, with CARE hats and T-shirts. They are strangely quiet as they file into the committee room. The women who have sung and danced their way around northern Uganda have been silenced, just like me, by the very fact of being in parliament. It’s a big day for them. Many have never left their region, so arriving at the seat of the Ugandan government is something they’ll no doubt remember forever.

We’re joined by around 15 MPs, including the Speaker of Parliament, and visiting politicians from the East African Legislative Assembly and the Pan-African parliament. It’s a great turn out, and after speeches from politicians, a woman activist and CARE staff, the Speaker, in a historic moment, signs the United Nations petition to end violence against women. There’s a big cheer, the women see this as a great step forward.

I’m totally caught up in the moment, and full of hope for Ugandan women’s struggle for protection from violence. However, when the moment has passed, I am a little more cautious. After getting to know the women over the past few days, I’ve heard their problems and the barriers to living in freedom from fear and equally with men. It is one thing to sign a petition to say you support an end to violence. It is quite another to enact and implement laws that will provide real protection for women It’s an uphill struggle, but my hopes are with the women of northern Uganda, that one day they can live in the freedom they dream of.