FDC Women

Leaders of the women's movement in Uganda have raised governance issues on behalf of Ugandan women and the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has addressed each one of them seriously in the 2006 election manifesto.

Women are looking for real and meaningful democracy where all citizens, specifically women, participate at all levels of decision making. FDC has contitutionalised the requirement for 40% participation of women at all levels of decision making and women activists within FDC will remain the vanguard of ensuring adherence to this principle from the grassroots to national level.

FDC will work towards the attainment of an egalitarian society where women will have equal opportunities as men. FDC is specifically committed to improving staff training, pay and terms of public service to ensure equal opportunity, motivation and transparent procedures for promotion.

My sisters, FDC has borne the hardships that come with erosion of democratic values and we place great emphasis on ensuring a return to democratic governance. FDC promises to restore trust in government through policies designed to re-establish true democracy and freedom.

FDC has a policy of zero-tolerance for corruption and will revert to the two-term limit for the President upon assuming power, in order to guarantee orderly succession and political stability. FDC will uphold and actively promote clear separation of powers between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary.

We have listened to your demand for integrating affirmative action for historically disadvantaged groups in all policy making. Moreover, you are interested in effective and strategic partners for the advancement of women's causes, not just tokenism and patronage. FDC will abide by the constitutional principles of affirmative action for women, youths, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

Affirmative action will be pursued in government contracting, credit schemes and other programmes to benefit these groups. To ease access to credit, FDC will support the rights of women to own land and hold titles.

Our people-centered policies put women at the very centre of our promises in social services. FDC will design and implement priority programmes aimed at reducing the time burden on poor girls and women to enable them go to school and engage in productive activities.

FDC believes that high quality education, greater investment in healthcare and reliable social security support for disadvantaged groups like the elderly, widows, orphans and people with disability, will unleash the full potential of Ugandans and provide security for the future.

FDC will provide quality compulsory primary education for all, and in turn commit parents to ensuring that their children attend school. We will ensure that our primary education policy takes into account the particular needs of orphans, the girl-child, children with disabilities, and other vulnerable children, and those from conflict areas.

We will drastically reduce the high drop-out rates among girls. Unlike government's populist approach to free secondary education, FDC will implement well-planned, phased, free, quality secondary education for all starting with free secondary education for girls to stem high dropouts in primary school.

For vocational training, FDC is committed to affirmative action for girls, women and people with disabilities to increase their opportunities for training.

FDC recognises that the HIV/AIDS pandemic presents unique challenges to women and proposes its management with a holistic A-Z approach that will go beyond government's ABC strategy. FDC's strategy will pay special attention to protecting the rights of widows and children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The women's movement has flagged human rights and fundamental freedoms as a birth right of all. FDC is your partner in this pursuit of unhindered enjoyment of freedoms and rights. In this endeavor, FDC promises to vigorously support the growth of a strong civil society as an essential component of building a stable democracy.

FDC recognises the concern and priority that the women's movement places on restoring peace throughout the country. In making promises, FDC treats Uganda as one entity and promises to protect the lives and properties of all Ugandans as well as to promote their human rights and freedoms.

FDC promises to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and to pursue peacebuilding initiatives and establish a culture of reconciliation, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

Specifically, FDC will rapidly end, through dialogue and negotiations, the LRA conflict in northern Uganda and cattle rustling within Karamoja and across the neighbouring districts. Within the first six months of an FDC government, we shall establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to reconcile the country and bring all internal conflicts to an end.

FDC will ensure that within one year, all people now displaced by conflicts will be able to return to their homes and live normal lives again. These are FDC's promises to Ugandan women. Now we ask for your votes so that we can have the opportunity to implement these promises.

Anne Mugisha, Special Envoy, Office of the President, FDC.
anne@fdc.org