NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN

NAWOU’s foundation is linked to the struggles by the Women’s Movement, which started with individual activists before independence.The first ‘local’ formal civil society organization to promote ‘women’s concerns’ and social change was the multi-racial Uganda Council of Women, formed in 1946 (Tripp 2000, Kwesiga 1995, Snyder 1995). But this was preceded by a number of other civil society organizations that were racial in nature. For example, the British missionary wives formed their own association in 1906 and also the Mothers Union, which later opened up to Ugandan women in 1908. Then there was the Indian Women’s Association. Many women are remembered for working to establish linkages between the local Ugandan women and the foreign women. Sugra Visram, a Ugandan woman of Indiandecent was one such woman who embodies the efforts of trying to link women from different backgrounds. The most notable efforts was the formation of a civil society organization the (Young Women’s Christian Association) YWCA and the Uganda Council of Women (Tripp 2000). These organizations that had started early before Independence were able to live through the test of time working to improve the lot of women through various initiatives. Yet, as Kwesiga (1995) notes, after independence in 1962 there was very little support for women’s organizing. Karungi (1995) argues that when Amin came to power in 1971, he initially promoted women’s rights in a populist move but then subsequently banned women’s organizations.

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