Uganda

Langue Anglais

Uganda has made much progress in reducing poverty and promoting stability in past years, particularly through improvements on several justice-related indicators. Despite these gains, the justice sector still faces significant challenges relating to funding and capacity, public perceptions of pervasive corruption, inaccessibility of services for the poor sections of the population, low quality and sustainability of the legal aid and information services, costliness and slow speeds of dispute resolution, among others. These challenges have negatively affected citizens’ confidence in the formal system leading people to resort to other means to seek recourse and may also increase the likelihood of violence and further corruption. There is a therefore a need for effective interventions to enhance the reach, quality and sustainability of access to justice in Uganda.

UGANDA: Enhanced Access to Justice for Poor, Vulnerable Women, Children and Marginalized Communities – Phase II

This sub-project aims to enhance access to justice for poor and vulnerable women and children in the Iganga, Kampala, Lamwo, Lira, Nebbi and Wakiso districts in Uganda. Building on the results achieved during the first phase of the sub-projectt, the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Uganda) is implementing a series of awareness-raising activities, including community barazas and dialogues, on women’s rights, gender equality and gender-related laws to community members.

UGANDA: Enhancing Access to Justice for the Marginalized and Vulnerable Communities in Uganda – Phase II

This sub-project aims to contribute to enhancing access to justice for marginalized and vulnerable communities in Uganda. Building on the results achieved during the first phase of the sub-project, the Uganda Law Society (ULS) is providing legal advice, counselling services and court representation and conducting mediation sessions for vulnerable persons in the communities of Gulu, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kampala, and Masindi.

UGANDA: Consolidating Efforts towards Gender-Responsive Treatment of Women Offenders in Western Uganda

This sub-project aims to improve gender-responsive treatment of women offenders in Western Uganda. Building on the results of the first phase of the sub-project, Penal Reform International (PRI) – Africa is delivering a series of capacity development activities for prosecutors, lawyers, police officers, civil society organizations, community members and local leaders on gender-sensitive non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment.

UGANDA: Ensuring Sustainable Access to Justice for Adequate Living Rights through Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability in Rural Communities in Uganda – Phase II

This sub-project aimed to enhance sustainable access to justice for adequate living rights (ALRs) for vulnerable rural communities in Buyende, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi districts in Uganda. The Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) delivered a series of capacity development and awareness-raising activities for formal justice actors and community members on the use of 2019 Human Rights Enforcement Act (HREA) and ALRs.

Opening ceremony of the High-Level Regional Conference on Land and Conflict in the East and Horn of Africa

Statement by the Director-General, Ms Jan Beagle

UGANDA: Enhancing Access to Justice for the Marginalized and Vulnerable Communities in Uganda

This sub-project aimed to enhance access to justice for marginalized and vulnerable communities of Kabale, Masindi, Kabarole, Gulu, Jinja, Kampala, in Uganda. The Uganda Law Society (ULS), through its legal aid clinics, provided the indigent, vulnerable and marginalized communities with quality legal aid services, such as legal advice, counselling, alternative dispute resolution and court representation.

UGANDA: Enhancing Leadership, Influence and Movement Building for Improved Gender Justice

This sub-project aimed to improve access to justice for poor, vulnerable and marginalized women in Uganda. The Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) enhanced the capacity of selected Parliamentary Committees on gender justice and gender-responsiveness and reviewed gender-related Bills for compliance with women’s and human rights’ standards.

UGANDA: Enhanced Access to Justice for Poor, Vulnerable Women, Children and Marginalized Communities

This sub-project sought to enhance access to justice for poor, vulnerable women, children and marginalized communities in the districts of Iganga, Lamwo, Wakiso, and Kampala in Uganda.

Key Initiatives

Strengthening the Legal Environment for Food Security and Nutrition of Vulnerable Groups as part of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant threat to the right to food for populations, and especially for marginalized groups. In many countries, COVID-19 is intertwining with pre-existing factors affecting food security and nutrition, by limiting the access to affordable and nutritious food, including lack of economic opportunities, extreme weather conditions, ongoing conflicts and more.
Global RECAP: Capacity building to prevent NCDs

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 15 million people between the ages of 30 and 69, and over 86 per cent of these "premature" deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.The economic impact, including loss of income by people harmed by NCDs, the costs of treatment, and the impacts on families threaten international development. Through regulation and fiscal reforms, countries can promote healthy diets, physical activity, and other initiatives reducing the prevalence and harms of NCDs.
Community justice in Uganda

Like other countries on the African continent, the Ugandan justice sector faces many challenges. Citizens demonstrate a widespread distrust towards formal justice institutions, which are perceived as corrupt, removed from the communities, expensive and slow to resolve disputes. This lack of confidence in the formal system leads people to resort to other means to seek recourse, and may also increase the likelihood of violence and further corruption.