Pamoya Beta

Dear Friends,

On Friday 16 July, ACFODE hosted over 60 women and men from civil
society, Parliament, public and private sectors in a meeting on Women
and the Electoral Processes.
Dr. Stephen Wymer, an advisor to the US Government, public speaker and
counselor, in his presentation, challenged the participants to
question themselves and ask; Are women in Parliament representing the
needs of women? He went on to say that in the US, Hillary Clinton rose
to the top because she represented general issues which inadvertently
do affect women. The women's ticket is wearing people out. It is
almost always that the issues affecting the general populace do also
affect women.
He further went on to ask the participants the average age of majority
voters. They responded by saying from 40 and above. Dr. Wymer asked
why youth and the urban population are less interested in voting. He
said that President Obama brought a new wave of voters in the US.
While older people were more interested din voting, in 2008, Obama
interested a majority youth to vote.
Dr. Wymer said that Ugandans should change strategies in order to
include the youth in the electoral process. What are the different
ways to advance women's issues instead of the same mundane methods?

ACFODE has taken on this challenge and as part of the 25 years'
celebrations, will hold an inter-university debate including members
of MEMPROW with the theme, Is the Women's Movement Still relevant in
Uganda? The purpose of this theme is to include the integral youth
community into the issue of advocating for gender concerns while being
inclusive of men's needs as well.

Sincerely,

--
Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva
"Poetry Matters."
Blog: http://bnpoetryaward.blogspot.com