Our
Activities
Sports for Peace Program
We use sports as a tool to mobilize and engage stakeholders on the key issues affecting peace and security. This also shares as a space to deepen interventions for trust building and negotiating for female youth space in decision-making and policy influence. The event brings together participants and duty-bearers from diverse backgrounds including policymakers at the local and national levels, students, representatives from Civil Society Organizations, Youth from the private sector, actors from religious institutions, academia as well as female youth from slum communities.
Participants are often intentionally selected from conflict-affected areas and Violent Extremism hot spot communities and these participate in sporting games such as soccer, netball, short rallies, playing cards, and Ludo. The sports event. The sports event is normally anchored on 3 specific objects that is; to build trust between female Youth leaders, associations, and duty bearers, to help forge new inter-generational friendships and cooperation as well as negotiate for female youth space in decision-making and policy influence.
Promoting women’s participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation
SPI implements programs geared towards enhancing women’s participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Globally, the impacts of climate change are exacerbating conditions that threaten peace and security. For example, rising temperatures, extended droughts, or heavier, harsher storms are resulting in loss of livelihoods, increasing competition over scarce resources and fueling migration and displacement women and girls being the most affected. Moreover, the Pre-existing inequalities, gender-related roles and expectations, and unequal access to resources can deepen inequality and leaving women and girls disproportionately vulnerable.
In order to contribute to responding climate-related security risks, Sisters for Peace Initiatives under the Invisible Spaces program implements projects geared towards addressing exacerbating climate change vulnerabilities advancing gender equality, improving climate resilience, and sustaining peace. The activities include but are not limited to gender-based climate change Early Warning and Early response mechanisms, capacity building in understanding climate change dynamics, mitigation and adaptation mechanisms, planting trees, garbage disposal management, smart agriculture, advocacy, and so forth.
Kyoto/Campfire Conversations (UBUNTU Circles)
We conduct quarterly campfire conversations also known as the UBUNTU Circles and these allow participants especially women victims of violence to communicate with each other and download their grievances and feelings. The campfire conversations aim to build trust and strong relationships, build a sense of community within the diverse groups but most importantly provide solutions to the different forms of conflict affecting individuals and identity groups
In addition to community building, UBUNTU Circles are a platform to address conflict since everyone gets a chance to share their perspective, how they’re feeling, and what they need going forward. The UBUNTU Circle supports victims of violence by giving them advice, comforting them, and taking victims out for dinner or sporting activities.
Strengthening women and girls’ Health Security Program
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the staggering impact health crises have on women, girls, and vulnerable groups. Disease events constitute threats to local, national regional, and global security, where women and girls are disproportionately affected. Whereas communities depend on women for essential care, childcare, domestic work, to maintaining other essential sectors such as retail and food supply, they continue to be undervalued, systemically excluded from decision-making and exposed to multiple forms of discrimination and violence in both the public and the private space.
Sisters for Peace Initiative (SPI) focuses on implementing projects geared towards ensuring that people especially the women and girls have “low exposure to disease and high access to health services.” Health insecurity is highly multi‐dimensional and can be due to poor environmental conditions, poor sanitation and access to water, disease, lack of awareness, and inadequate healthcare. Under the ‘Strengthening Menstrual Hygiene among adolescents in slum communities” (SMeHA) project, we trained 300 girls and teenagers between 10-19 years on Menstrual Hygiene, distributed 600 packs of reusable sanitary pads and shared inspiration stories with the participants. The beneficiaries shared that menstruation periods comes with sudden shocks which affect their individual peace and affects their interaction with others, although the facilitators encouraged them to find pride in being young women.
Training young women in leadership, peace-building and conflict management
This project is implemented in conjunction with the Elite Muslims with the aim of unleashing the potential of women in SMEs in Uganda. This is one of the interventions geared towards boosting women’s economic security by ensuring “that women have the means to livelihood and in the event of their means of livelihood being destroyed, they will be assured the support of a social safety net to provide them with basic needs required to survive.” The HaWEE program is delivered through the Uganda Muslim Entrepreneurs Expo - The Uganda Muslim Entrepreneurs’ Expo is a Small and Medium Business Owners Exhibition and Ideas exchange forum for innovators in the field of business. At its climax, the Expo features a premier exhibition event that provides a unique platform for Small and Medium women-owned businesses from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to showcase their small goods and services and form linkages with big businesses at the grassroots and national levels.
The Elite Muslim Entrepreneurs Expo is an annual event organized by Elite Muslims in conjunction with Sisters for Peace Initiative (SPI) and brings together over 1000 people in one place. The event brings together Small and Medium Enterprises, manufacturers, innovators, service providers, students, Civil Society Organizations, Lawyers, academia, media, property Masters, and the general public, and often the gains together with positive feedback from sponsors and exhibitors is just overwhelming.
Harnessing Women Economic empowerment (HaWEE) Program.
This project is implemented in conjunction with the Elite Muslims with the aim of unleashing the potential of women in SMEs in Uganda. This is one of the interventions geared towards boosting women’s economic security by ensuring “that women have the means to livelihood and in the event of their means of livelihood being destroyed, they will be assured the support of a social safety net to provide them with basic needs required to survive.” The HaWEE program is delivered through the Uganda Muslim Entrepreneurs Expo - The Uganda Muslim Entrepreneurs’ Expo is a Small and Medium Business Owners Exhibition and Ideas exchange forum for innovators in the field of business. At its climax, the Expo features a premier exhibition event that provides a unique platform for Small and Medium women-owned businesses from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to showcase their small goods and services and form linkages with big businesses at the grassroots and national levels.
The Elite Muslim Entrepreneurs Expo is an annual event organized by Elite Muslims in conjunction with Sisters for Peace Initiative (SPI) and brings together over 1000 people in one place. The event brings together Small and Medium Enterprises, manufacturers, innovators, service providers, students, Civil Society Organizations, Lawyers, academia, media, property Masters, and the general public, and often the gains together with positive feedback from sponsors and exhibitors is just overwhelming.
Research indicates that in communities where Charity programs are embraced experience less violent conflict. Charity contributes to bridging the inequality gap between the privileged and underprivileged members of society. Sisters for Peace Initiative steps in to strengthen this practice which is also viewed as a Form of Worship under some religious doctrines such as the Islamic faith(Zakat). Sisters for Peace Initiative conducts periodic charity programs, where the team reaches out to the community and donate food items, clothes, shoes, words of courage, among others.
Annual National Conference on Women's Peace and Security (WPS)
SPI periodically conducts the Annual National Conference on Women Peace and Security to shine a spotlight on the various Women, Peace, and Security events occurring in the country and the region at large. The conference aims to reflect on the current strategies for enhancing women's participation and leadership in peace and security processes, strengthening and supporting women’s peace-building initiatives, and advocate for a significant transformation in the current strategies and efforts employed to promote women's involvement and leadership, as well as co-create new approaches for advancing women's inclusion and participation in peace processes. The annual event brings together experts and practitioners from Civil society, media, academia, international donors, UN agencies, INGOs, Civil Society Organizations, and women-led groups.
Discussions revolve around pivotal issues such as Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, limited participation of women in leadership and decision-making processes, addressing the barriers to women’s meaningful participation such as the capacity gap to comprehend the key national and regional frameworks and limited access to information. The discussion also hinges on the systemic challenges that have hindered women’s political participation head-on and by presenting tangible and strategic solutions.
Sister Circles
Sister circles are conducted on a quarterly basis and these are informal platforms that bring together young women from the diverse backgrounds to discuss the key pertinent issues concerning sexuality, Gender-based violence, women empowerment, marriage and relationships, and leadership among others. These also act as safe spaces where women exchange emotional support and are linked to opportunities. Since 2021, the sister circles have contributed to an increased sense of purpose and belonging, boosted happiness, and improved self-confidence/worth among participants.
During sister Circles platforms, the participants share stories and reveal their inner insecurities, disclose their deepest regrets, struggles, and fears and the team offers emotional support. 90% of the young women who have attended these Circles since 2021 report improved well-being in terms of self-confidence and positive attitude towards life events.
