Project title: Securing land rights and ending gender exclusion (SLEGE)
Project Location: Teso Region (Katakwi and Bukedea) districts
Funder: USAID – RISE (through Trocaire)
Duration: 2020 to 2022
Status: Completed
Project Narrative: Gender-based violence (GBV) is estimated to affect more than one in three women worldwide. This widespread problem takes a variety of forms, including sexual, psychological, community, economic, institutional, and intimate partner violence, and in turn affects nearly every aspect of a person’s life, including health, education, and economic and political opportunities. At the same time, environmental degradation, loss of ecosystem benefits, and unsustainable resource use are creating complex crises worldwide. As billions of people rely on these natural resources and ecosystems to sustain themselves, the potential human impacts are dire, with disproportionate effects on women and girls.
In 2019, USAID’s Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev) designed the Resilient, Inclusive, & Sustainable Environments (RISE) Challenge to identify and fund the innovative application of promising approaches to address GBV across programs that address the access, use, control, and management of natural resources. This Challenge aims to:
● Increase awareness of the intersection between environmental conservation and GBV
● Test new environmental programming approaches that incorporate efforts to prevent and respond to GBV
● Share evidence of effective interventions and policies widely
● Elevate the issue of GBV in environmental programming and attract commitments from other organizations, including implementing partners and donors, for collaboration and co-investment
These projects work on a variety of issues across the globe, including artisanal small mining, sustainable resource management, building grievance processes that address gender-based violence, and strengthening land rights. Trocaire in partnership with LEMU and SOCADIDO were among the successful organizations selected to implement in RISE project. Teso sub-region of Eastern Uganda where poverty is currently highest and is faced with land disputes brought about by the abuse of power by those with access to power and limited knowledge of gender inclusion. Land is considered a source of wealth and a major factor of production and income. The population growth has steadily increased over the years, creating pressure on land in communities and increasing land-related conflict and poor management of land has exasperated land related conflicts in communities. It is for these reasons that the Trócaire partnered with Land and Equity Movement in Uganda and SOCADIDO to implement the SLEDGE project in Teso region. Within the two years, the project directly benefited 859 women through documentation of land rights, awareness-raising and resolution of land conflicts using a gender-sensitive Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approach to protection of customary land rights.
