Human Rights In Uganda

We visited The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative in Kampala, Uganda, on May 27, 2019. During our meeting the NGO expressed their self-stated initiative to, "advocate for peace, stability, democracy, social justice and sustainable development in Uganda." Such a cause immediately engaged our group as they identified a direct connection between their work in human rights and sustainable development in their country. But, how? Within such an initiative the NGO has three focuses: social accountability, equality and democratic governance. While they have such universal goals, they identified that a major challenge faced is that Ugandans have become dormant due to feeling powerless against large bodies, such as various organizations and the government regime. They have lost hope, yet, HRI aspires to re-instill it. Such a challenge encouraged them to pursue an active citizenship campaign, among others such as legal support and human rights educational endeavors, to aggravate their constituents to enable more effective change. They conduct research on their community to develop such advocacy strategies. HRI's support extends beyond protecting the dignity of basic citizens, reaching judicial reform, reaching the accused and sentenced. Because human rights is heavily entwined in many aspects of livelihood, their work affects ubiquitous sections of society. Overall, such work contributes to sustainable development because if people are respected, dignified, and are granted their rights (Universal Human Rights and those stated constitutionally), they have the opportunity to pursue their full potential in society. Such an opportunity enables the best contributions and structure to develop sustainably.

It was said that cultural tiredness played a large role in the education, defense, and implementation of Human Rights. How does one combat the cultural attitude of being tired?

Health Care in Uganda

The health care system in Uganda, as we saw, is not up to par with that of many other countries. Overall the system as a whole is lacking. The facilities, the access, and the quality could each use some updating. While we were at the Mukono Hospital, we saw how little the hospital was able to do for the patients. Especially considering they receive many trauma patients and aren’t equipped to handle them. There are only 2 referral hospitals in Uganda, which is not enough to handle all the people in need of attention. The cost is also a barrier for many, including the patients and the hospitals themselves. They are relying on donations and charity not only to pay for treatment, but also to update facilities. This is clearly not helping the country, specifically the health care system, to be sustainable. The one agenda in which they are succeeding would be the fight to end HIV/AIDS. Throughout each of the health care visits, I noticed the emphasis in free access to not only testing, but medication as well.

Discussion Question: How can Uganda provide quality care to people suffering from poverty in a more sustainable way?

Tourism In Uganda

            While in Uganda we visited tourist locations such as the Equator, the Nile, and Murchison Falls. The streets on some of these spots were scattered with craft shops selling clothing, art, bracelets, hats, and many other small hand-crafted items. The shops sold very similar items causing perfect competition, this made it a lot easier to barter with owners resulting in cheap prices of goods. These shop owners make a living off tourism, do you think they could make more profits if each owner specialized in a certain product? Safari and boat tours up the Nile attract many tourists too, these companies need tourism to make a living, but have little guarantee of it. Do you think that selling a good or service to tourist’s is more profitable than selling it to locals?

Prison Systems and Rehabilitation

When we entered Luzira prison, I along with many of colleagues were intimidated by the lack of security we were given. We waited, anticipating aggression and accusatory gazes, but only found curious eyes. Sharon later noted that we were obviously safe: we were visiting the reformed. Sharon's statement brings to light the difference between the American justice system in which the legal process is more through and standardized and the Ugandan system in which many of the inmates were innocent and were judged as guilty due to lack of legal resources. Keeping the difference in proportion for those guilty and innocent, the judgement on such a large group of people becomes more complex.

The inmates are given an opportunity to educate themselves within Luzira prison so they can become their own employers. They encourage business management skills on an entrepreneurship level as well as that of an employer. The reason may be to prevent discrimination when they are looking for jobs by way of being self-employed.

Many of the former inmates do not have the resources to pursue a college degree due to family commitments. What are more optimal careers for those former inmates?

Would the stigma be reduced if former inmates were more open with their identity and shown in positions of power?

Gender Issues with Judge Batema

In his address to us, Judge "Sister" Batema discusses his beliefs on gender issues and the roles that they play in Uganda. By categorizing males and females differently, females in Uganda typically are losing power, status, privilege, and opportunity. He used these key words to describe the categories of discrimination and limitations that are places on women.For example, stereotypes about women working while pregnant, men continuously are the head of finances and the home, and girls are skipped over in passing inheritance.  I was very impacted as to how many ways women in Uganda were suppressed and restricted; it inspired me to want to learn more on the topic. But, with the passing of the 1995 Ugandan Constitution, women's rights are more clearly identified, the first clause being "women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the person with men." But I was shocked to see how much culture is hindering this development as women are still being taught to be submissive and in a lesser role in comparison to men.

Questions:

How can Uganda effectively move towards sustainable development by addressing gender issues without infringing on cultural traditions?

How much of gender issues are dependent on culture? Do you think that with time the idea and practice of gender equality will progressively develop to match the standards in the US? Why or why not?

Culture: Ndere Centre (Emma Williams)

During my time at the Ndere centre I was exposed to all of the different cultural traditions, dances, and music that are throughout Uganda. The most important thing that I noticed during the performances and the time I spent behind the scenes with the performers was the appreciation and respect that they had for all of the other cultures. Although this was a mainly fun event, it showed how important culture is with sustainable development. Culture remains stable overtime, but sustainable development involves changing and improving many parts of everyday lives. How will culture change, or will it change at all as the nation strives towards sustainable development?

Entrepreneurship and Microfinance in Uganda

While in Uganda I noticed the prevalence of entrepreneurship suddenly. There are so many independently owned shops that sell the same product or do the exact same service. Also, even at the equator the shops placed right next to each other sold the same products and tried to comparatively price their products. The business strategy used by these entrepreneurs in Uganda is to set everything at a “tourist price,” meaning a price in which only tourists would pay. These entrepreneurs know that the standard Ugandan would always bargain, and if we were not partnered with the MUB students we would be overpaying. Microfinance plays a role because to start business- a shop in this case- these individuals could take out a loan. Microfinance is like banking for people who do not have a lot of money. Question: How could entrepreneurs of individual shops make their businesses more original in a sustainable way while still continuing competitive prices?