A new pressure group to support women's participation in politics and decision-making has been launched in Uganda with the help of the Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the advancement of women (EASSI) and supported by Isis Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE).

The group under the name the Coalition for Political Accountability to Women (COPAW) is a loose coalition of non-partisan women activists and academicians interested in supporting women's entry and participation into politics both as voters and as elected members. Formed at a meeting on 23rd March 2001, that was the culmination of several formal and informal gatherings, COPAW supports the view that will be most beneficial to the women constituents of the country. Its goal is to increase women's participation in politics and decision making. It has as its aims:

1. To begin the process of setting national priorities on issues that affect women that should be addressed in the next parliament.
2. To decide on appropriate ways to support engendered women and men in parliament.
3. To brainstorm on ways and means of developing a local Emily's list (fundraising base) to support women seeking elective positions.

1. Raise women's political awareness through education and training and the use of all forms of media.
2. Train potential candidates and their campaign teams on how to manage a good campaign through workshops.
3. Create gender-sensitive training centres for women leaders (short and medium term).
4. Establish a network for sharing information at all levels, from the grassroots to the national and international levels.
5. Establish a database on women and their qualifications to act as a "political pool" for appointing women to senior decision-making and advisory positions in government.
6. Creating strong networks between grassroots women, women's organisations, and women in the academe and women in public offices, especially for sharing information and training.

On April 20, 2001, COPAW organised a breakfast meeting with women legislators to discuss ways of working together. Both the launch and April meeting which came exactly a month later received widespread media coverage.

For more information, contact Jane Gitau, Program Officer, Communications & Networking, EASSI at eassi@eassi.org

News Update: SNV Supports Uganda Women's Advance in Politics
Kampala, Friday 8 February, 2002

THE Ugandan Coalition for Political Accountability to Women (COPAW) and the Dutch development Organisation SNV yesterday signed a three-year cooperation agreement in which SNV pledges to support COPAW strengthen her institutional capacity. This is in light of the fact that "COPAW is a young Organisation driven by ambitious but noble aspirations" to make politics gender responsive through increasing women's participation.

Other aspects of the cooperation include using existing SNV local governance experiences to enhance the networking and linkages amongst civil society organizations, contributing to the development of a joint agenda between the women in leadership and the civil society organizations and strategic fund raising for long-term activities.

COPAW was launched in March 2001, as a loose coalition of non-partisan women activists, activists and academics interested in supporting women's entry and participation into politics both as voters and as elected members.

COPAW's principle objectives include increasing women's participation in politics at both parliamentary and civic levels and to strengthen gender awareness capacities among both women and men politicians and civil servants. Others are to deliver services that address the specific needs and interests of women and men in the community which requires engendered economic development, development planning and resources allocation and to create awareness of women's rights.

The biggest challenge for COPAW in achieving its goal lies in the structure. As a coalition of several organizations and individual members, it aims at equal participation of of all members in decision-making activities so all members can feel they belong. This democratic principle is greatly undermined by the need to harness each members strength for the benefit of the coalition and it is this institutionalizing that SNV will help to achieve.

SNV has worked for many years at local council levels in West Nile District and will bring this experience to COPAW.

COPAW is currently run by a committee of five from the Association of Uganda Women Lawyers (FIDA-U), the Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE), Action for development (ACFODE) and the Uganda Women's Network (UWONET).

Mr Gerard Nieuwe Weme, SNV Country Director and Ms Irene Ovonji Odida (COPAW) signed the agreement. Ms Ovonji-Odida is also chair of FIDA-U. Among those who witnessed the occasion was Ms Margaret Akello, SNV- Flexible Gender Advisor and Ms Maude Mugisha, EASSI co-ordinator.

For more information, contact Jane Gitau, Program Officer, Communication & Networking, EASSI at eassi@eassi.org