The Advocacy Gap Emphasized By The WELEAD Project.

Community duty bearers of Busia and Tororo district during a workshop organised by Tunaweza Foundation under WELEAD Project

The Welead Project currently being implemented in Tororo and Busia districts has become an eye-opener to how far advocacy can go. For most people, advocacy is seen as just information dissemination but for people living with disabilities whose information tailoring started just a few decades ago, it is very important. And in Uganda which started even later, advocacy carries even more importance. After the start of the project, our Project Officer Doreen Nakibuule observed that people living with disabilities were shocked at the rights to which they are entitled. For some, the information Tunaweza shared seemed made up and unreal. Others did not believe that people are held accountable for infringing rights. This perspective was particularly directed at those groups of people that are not given enough credit in society. But with constant sharing and listening to these Rights Holders, we have learnt so much as an organization about the different mindsets and perspectives our rights holders have towards themselves.

Rightsholders of the WELEAD Project attending an SRHR workshop

The host organisation in Uganda for the WeLead project is the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Alliance Uganda. The leading statement for the We Lead Project is “Nothing for us without us”. This statement emphasises that as policy and law-making bodies make promises to be inclusive, their promises will remain wishes if they do not include these key populations in their formulation processes. How will you include someone that you have not given time, talked or even listened to and most important of all can’t relate to their situation? We aim to equip our Rights Holders with information about their rights which can inspire change in mindset and how they view themselves. After achieving this, we will be certain of overall life change for the rights holders under this project because they will understand that they matter.

Duty bearers of Busia and Tororo district

The advocacy gap is a major accelerant to other social issues that arise from lack of information in this case, rights and as we proceed with the project we shall be sure to share some of our most concerning observations.