Women's Rights
WISE works to advance women's rights in Uganda and East Africa through storytelling, advocacy, and movement-building. We recognize that women's rights are inseparable from environmental justice, land rights, and climate action.
Issues We Work On
Women's Rights, Climate Justice, Land Rights, and Environmental Accountability
WISE works across connected issues affecting grassroots women and girls in Uganda and East Africa.
Issue Overview
Connected Issues, Shared Justice
Use this overview as a quick guide to the issue areas WISE addresses through storytelling, advocacy, and community action.
Girls' Empowerment
WISE supports girls' empowerment by creating safe spaces for young women and girls to learn, lead, and speak. We engage girls in environmental education, media skills, leadership development, and community action.
Environmental Justice
WISE works for environmental justice — the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, especially women and marginalized communities, in environmental decision-making.
Climate Change
Climate change is not gender-neutral. In Uganda and East Africa, women bear a disproportionate burden of climate impacts — from droughts and floods to food insecurity and displacement.
Land Rights
Land is central to women's livelihoods, identity, and security in Uganda. Yet women continue to face discrimination in land ownership, inheritance, and decision-making.
Natural Resource Governance
Natural resources — land, water, forests, minerals — are central to community survival and women's livelihoods.
Gender-Based Violence Prevention
WISE integrates gender-based violence prevention into all our programs. We recognize the links between environmental stress, resource scarcity, displacement, and gender-based violence.
Mental Health and Community Wellbeing
WISE recognizes that environmental degradation, climate stress, land conflicts, and displacement affect community mental health and wellbeing.
Children, Girls, and Safe Communities
WISE works to create safer, more supportive communities for children and girls through environmental advocacy, girls' empowerment, and community awareness.
Media Freedom and Women's Voices
Women's voices are underrepresented in media and policy spaces across Uganda and East Africa.
Community Development
WISE supports community development that is gender-responsive, environmentally sustainable, and led by local women.
Food Security and Agroecology
Climate change and land degradation threaten food security for women and communities across Uganda.
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Protection
Uganda is home to extraordinary biodiversity, but ecosystems are under pressure from deforestation, mining, agriculture, and climate change.
Extractive Industries and Community Rights
Extractive industries — mining, oil, and large-scale agriculture — affect communities across Uganda and East Africa.
ISSUE 01
Women's Rights
WISE works to advance women's rights in Uganda and East Africa through storytelling, advocacy, and movement-building. We recognize that women's rights are inseparable from environmental justice, land rights, and climate action.
We support women to claim their voices, participate in decision-making, and challenge the structural barriers that limit their agency and power.
What WISE Does
- Women's leadership and advocacy training
- Media platforms for women's voices
- Policy engagement on gender equality
- Community awareness on women's rights
- Movement-building with women's groups
ISSUE 02
Girls' Empowerment
WISE supports girls' empowerment by creating safe spaces for young women and girls to learn, lead, and speak. We engage girls in environmental education, media skills, leadership development, and community action.
We believe that investing in girls is investing in the future of environmental justice and climate resilience.
What WISE Does
- Training for girls in leadership and media skills
- Safe spaces for learning and expression
- Mentorship and peer support networks
- Environmental education and climate awareness
- Community action and civic engagement
ISSUE 03
Environmental Justice
WISE works for environmental justice — the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, especially women and marginalized communities, in environmental decision-making.
We support communities affected by pollution, deforestation, water scarcity, and environmental degradation to document harm, advocate for accountability, and secure their rights to a healthy environment.
What WISE Does
- Community environmental reporting and documentation
- Environmental monitoring with women's groups
- Advocacy for policy change and accountability
- Awareness campaigns on environmental rights
ISSUE 04
Climate Change
Climate change is not gender-neutral. In Uganda and East Africa, women bear a disproportionate burden of climate impacts — from droughts and floods to food insecurity and displacement.
WISE supports women-led climate adaptation, agroecology, and resilience strategies. We advocate for gender-responsive climate policies that recognize women's knowledge and leadership.
What WISE Does
- Climate adaptation training for women farmers
- Agroecology and sustainable farming support
- Community resilience planning
- Gender-responsive climate policy advocacy
ISSUE 05
Land Rights
Land is central to women's livelihoods, identity, and security in Uganda. Yet women continue to face discrimination in land ownership, inheritance, and decision-making.
WISE supports women to understand, claim, and defend their land rights through documentation, legal referrals, community dialogues, and advocacy. We document land conflicts and amplify women's voices in land governance processes.
What WISE Does
- Land rights education and awareness
- Documentation support for land claims
- Legal referral pathway connections
- Community dialogues on land governance
- Policy advocacy for women's land rights
ISSUE 06
Natural Resource Governance
Natural resources — land, water, forests, minerals — are central to community survival and women's livelihoods.
WISE works to ensure that women have a meaningful seat at the table in decisions about natural resource management, extraction, and benefit-sharing. We monitor extractive industry impacts, document community harm, and advocate for accountable governance.
What WISE Does
- Governance participation training for women
- Extractive industry monitoring and documentation
- Community compensation case tracking
- Accountability and transparency advocacy
ISSUE 07
Gender-Based Violence Prevention
WISE integrates gender-based violence prevention into all our programs. We recognize the links between environmental stress, resource scarcity, displacement, and gender-based violence.
We create safe spaces for women and girls, promote ethical and survivor-centered storytelling, and support community awareness and referral pathways. We do not provide medical or legal services directly, but we connect survivors to relevant support.
What WISE Does
- Safe spaces for women and girls
- Survivor-centered storytelling protocols
- Community awareness and education
- Referral pathway development
- Ethical reporting and documentation training
ISSUE 08
Mental Health and Community Wellbeing
WISE recognizes that environmental degradation, climate stress, land conflicts, and displacement affect community mental health and wellbeing.
We create supportive spaces where women can share experiences, build solidarity, and access information about wellbeing. We do not provide clinical mental health services, but we integrate wellbeing into our programs and connect women to professional support when needed.
What WISE Does
- Supportive safe spaces for women
- Solidarity and peer support building
- Wellbeing information and resources
- Referral to professional mental health services
ISSUE 09
Children, Girls, and Safe Communities
WISE works to create safer, more supportive communities for children and girls through environmental advocacy, girls' empowerment, and community awareness.
We engage girls in environmental education and leadership, and we advocate for community practices that protect children and promote their wellbeing. WISE is not a child protection agency, but we support community-led efforts to keep girls safe and engaged.
What WISE Does
- Girls' empowerment programs and safe spaces
- Environmental education and leadership for girls
- Community awareness on child safety
- Safe storytelling and media engagement
ISSUE 10
Media Freedom and Women's Voices
Women's voices are underrepresented in media and policy spaces across Uganda and East Africa.
WISE works to change this by training women in community reporting, documentary filmmaking, radio production, and digital storytelling. We create platforms for women to tell their own stories and we advocate for ethical, inclusive media practices that center women's experiences.
What WISE Does
- Community reporting and media training
- Radio programs produced by women
- Documentary production support
- Digital storytelling platforms
- Ethical storytelling advocacy
ISSUE 11
Community Development
WISE supports community development that is gender-responsive, environmentally sustainable, and led by local women.
We believe that communities thrive when women's voices are central to development planning and implementation. We support community dialogues, women's action groups, and participatory approaches that put grassroots women in leadership.
What WISE Does
- Community dialogues and participatory planning
- Women's action groups and networks
- Leadership development and support
- Gender-responsive development advocacy
ISSUE 12
Food Security and Agroecology
Climate change and land degradation threaten food security for women and communities across Uganda.
WISE supports women-led agroecology — sustainable farming practices that restore soil, protect biodiversity, and ensure nutritious food for families. We promote seed sovereignty, water harvesting, and climate-resilient agriculture led by women farmers.
What WISE Does
- Agroecology training for women farmers
- Seed sovereignty and local seed support
- Water harvesting and conservation training
- Sustainable farming practice promotion
- Food security advocacy
ISSUE 13
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Protection
Uganda is home to extraordinary biodiversity, but ecosystems are under pressure from deforestation, mining, agriculture, and climate change.
WISE supports women-led efforts to protect forests, wetlands, and wildlife corridors. We document environmental harm, advocate for conservation policies that respect community rights, and promote women's knowledge in ecosystem management.
What WISE Does
- Community ecosystem monitoring
- Advocacy for conservation policies
- Women's traditional knowledge documentation
- Policy engagement on biodiversity protection
ISSUE 14
Extractive Industries and Community Rights
Extractive industries — mining, oil, and large-scale agriculture — affect communities across Uganda and East Africa.
Women often bear the disproportionate impacts of displacement, water contamination, and loss of livelihoods, while being excluded from benefit-sharing and decision-making. WISE supports women to document these impacts, engage in environmental assessments, and advocate for fair compensation and accountable governance.
What WISE Does
- Impact documentation and community reporting
- Community engagement in environmental assessments
- Compensation monitoring and advocacy
- Policy advocacy for accountable governance
- Awareness campaigns on community rights
Support Issue-Based Advocacy
Help WISE document harm, amplify community voices, and advocate for accountable decisions on land, environment, and climate.