Women's Environmental Storytelling and Media Engagement
Training women in community reporting, radio, film, and digital media to tell their own stories.
What We Do
Building Women's Power Across Six Program Areas
Explore WISE's six programs: women's environmental storytelling, grassroots leadership, natural resource governance, climate justice, GBV prevention, and organizational capacity strengthening in Uganda.
Program Overview
Six Program Areas
Each WISE program connects storytelling, advocacy, and community organizing to create lasting change for women and the environment.
Grassroots Women's Leadership, Advocacy and Movement-Building
Building women's confidence and skills to lead advocacy and organize communities.
Gender-Responsive Natural Resource Governance and Accountability
Strengthening women's participation in land governance and holding duty bearers accountable.
Climate Justice and Resilience
Supporting women-led climate adaptation, agroecology, food security, and sustainable livelihoods.
Safety, Dignity and GBV Prevention
Ensuring safe, ethical, survivor-centered storytelling and GBV prevention across all programs.
Organizational Capacity Strengthening
Building WISE's institutional capacity in governance, fundraising, staff development, and learning.
PROGRAM 01
Women's Environmental Storytelling and Media Engagement
This program trains grassroots women and girls in community reporting, digital storytelling, radio production, documentary filmmaking, and ethical media engagement. We believe that when women tell their own stories, they shift narratives and influence policy.
WISE supports women to produce radio programs, short documentaries, podcasts, and digital content that highlight environmental challenges, climate impacts, land rights violations, and community resilience from a woman's perspective.
We work with community radio stations, online platforms, and national media houses to amplify women's voices and ensure ethical, survivor-centered storytelling.
Focus Areas
- Community reporting and citizen journalism
- Radio programs and audio documentaries
- Short documentary filmmaking
- Podcasts and digital storytelling
- Women's media visibility campaigns
- Ethical storytelling and consent protocols
PROGRAM 02
Grassroots Women's Leadership, Advocacy and Movement-Building
This program builds the confidence, skills, and networks of grassroots women to lead advocacy, organize communities, and influence decisions at local and national levels.
WISE runs leadership and advocacy training, movement-building schools, women's action groups, community dialogues, and petition campaigns that put women at the center of environmental and climate decision-making.
We support women to form and sustain advocacy groups, engage with local government, participate in policy consultations, and build alliances across communities and sectors.
Focus Areas
- Women's leadership and confidence-building
- Advocacy training and skills development
- Movement-building schools and workshops
- Women's action groups and collectives
- Community dialogues and town halls
- Petitions and community-led campaigns
PROGRAM 03
Gender-Responsive Natural Resource Governance and Accountability
This program strengthens women's participation in natural resource governance and holds duty bearers accountable for environmental and land rights violations.
WISE supports women to understand and claim their land rights, document land conflicts and compensation claims, engage with extractive industry accountability processes, and participate in community land committees and environmental assessments.
We work with women in mining-affected, oil-affected, and large-scale agricultural investment areas to ensure their voices are heard in negotiations, environmental impact assessments, and benefit-sharing agreements.
Focus Areas
- Women's land rights and property rights
- Inheritance rights and succession
- Natural resource governance participation
- Extractive industry accountability
- Community compensation documentation
- Land conflict monitoring and referral
PROGRAM 04
Climate Justice and Resilience
This program supports women-led climate adaptation, agroecology, food security initiatives, biodiversity protection, and sustainable livelihoods in communities affected by climate change.
WISE recognizes that women in Uganda and East Africa are disproportionately affected by climate change — from droughts and floods to shifting growing seasons and water scarcity. We support women to lead adaptation efforts, share climate knowledge, and advocate for gender-responsive climate policy.
We promote agroecological practices, seed sovereignty, water harvesting, and community-based natural resource management led by women.
Focus Areas
- Women-led climate adaptation
- Agroecology and sustainable farming
- Food security and nutrition
- Biodiversity protection
- Sustainable livelihoods
- Community resilience planning
PROGRAM 05
Safety, Dignity and GBV Prevention
This program ensures that WISE's storytelling and media work is safe, ethical, and survivor-centered. We integrate gender-based violence prevention, digital safety, and safeguarding into all our programs.
WISE provides safe spaces for women and girls to share their experiences without fear. We train staff and community reporters in ethical storytelling, informed consent, confidentiality, and trauma-sensitive approaches.
We recognize the links between environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and gender-based violence — and we work to address these interconnected challenges through community awareness, referral pathways, and advocacy.
Focus Areas
- Safe storytelling protocols
- Informed consent and confidentiality
- Digital safety for women journalists
- Survivor-centered storytelling
- Ethical reporting guidelines
- GBV prevention and referral pathways
PROGRAM 06
Organizational Capacity Strengthening
This program strengthens WISE's own institutional capacity to deliver effective, accountable, and sustainable programs. We invest in governance, fundraising, resource mobilization, staff development, policy systems, and monitoring and evaluation.
WISE is committed to transparency, learning, and continuous improvement. We document our work, evaluate our impact, and share our learning with partners and the wider civil society sector.
We also support other women-led and grassroots organizations to strengthen their capacity through peer learning, mentoring, and joint initiatives.
Focus Areas
- NGO governance and leadership
- Fundraising and resource mobilization
- Staff development and well-being
- Policy and systems strengthening
- Monitoring, evaluation, and learning
- Institutional growth and sustainability
Partner With WISE Programs
We welcome donors, partners, media houses, universities, and civil society networks interested in women-led environmental justice work.