Reclaiming Stolen Livelihoods – you did it!
By Hannah Little
Earlier this year, we launched Reclaiming Stolen Livelihoods – a three-month appeal seeking to increase support to women in Uganda experiencing forced evictions from their home and land.
We are delighted to announce that, through donations from our supporters, members of the public, family trusts and foundations plus generous match-funding from the UK government, we raised over £951,396.
With funding now secured, planning is already underway for a two-year project that will support women affected by landgrabs in rural Uganda. Over 300,000 women in Uganda have been forcibly evicted, or are facing eviction. With 75% of women in Uganda relying on farming to earn an income, the effects of these sudden and often violent evictions have been devastating.
The project will be delivered in partnership with our partners in Uganda – the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) and the National Association for Women’s Action in Development (NAWAD).
Activities will include;
Legal support
- for women who have lost their homes and land in forced evictions,
Skills training
- to generate new forms of income when livelihoods have been lost,
Advocacy training
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- for local women to campaign against ongoing/future land grabbing and the
creation of a shared solidarity
- among women so they can come together, share skills and support one another.
Peninah (pictured left) benefited from NAPE’s resources and training, and now organises local women to stand up to the traditional power structures in her community, as well as challenging government on land purchases that do not adequately compensate women.
“Before NAPE helped us, women were dormant and couldn’t talk, especially if their husbands were there. But now – they talk!”
Read Peninah’s story here.
The need for support is rising every day in Uganda. Up to one million women are expected to be evicted from their homes in the next six years. But thankfully, due to our generous supporters taking action and donating what they could, we can stand even closer with women in Uganda as they reclaim their livelihoods.
Reclaiming Stolen Livelihoods is a UK Aid Match funded programme supported by the Department for International Development (DfID)
