West Nile SRHR Symposium 2025

• Upcoming
• Admin / 01 Apr, 2025

In the West Nile sub-region, women and girls face heightened risks of sexual violence, gender inequality, early marriages, and restricted access to sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR). In the last five years, Uganda has seen an unprecedented influx in the number of forcefully displaced persons and asylum seekers. It is now the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with over one million refugees who have fled to Uganda in the last two and a half years, with most of them concentrated in the West Nile region, in the north-west of the country. While Uganda has progressive refugee policies, this rapid influx has strained resources, making access to SRHR increasingly difficult.  

Feminature Uganda is organizing a WEST NILE SRHR Symposium 2025 to shed light on the intersection of gender equality, climate change, and sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) under the Women’s Voice and Leadership project. This event will bring together 100 diverse stakeholders and participants, including policymakers, climate experts, healthcare professionals, human rights advocates, the private sector, and local and government leaders, to discuss, share knowledge, and advocate for gender-responsive climate and SRHR policies in the West Nile Sub-region. By emphasizing SRHR, the initiative seeks to promote women's empowerment, leadership, resilience, and self-confidence. In addition, the symposium will also align with several global frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 5 (Gender equality) and SDG 13 (Climate action).  

Despite ongoing efforts to enhance access to SRH services in the West Nile region by several actors, women and girls, including the forcefully displaced persons, continue to encounter significant challenges. Addressing these issues requires a sustained commitment to transforming harmful social norms, improving service delivery, ensuring inclusivity for all, and actively advocating for improved SRHR policies to ensure comprehensive and accessible reproductive health services for all, especially marginalized groups and forcefully displaced persons.  

Objectives of the SRH Symposium;

• To advocate for the inclusion of gender and SRHR considerations in both local and national policies, as well as climate adaptation strategies.
• To identify and address climate-related barriers to SRHR services in West Nile, including disruptions to healthcare infrastructure, limited access to family planning, and increased risks of sexual and gender-based violence.
• To develop a localized action plan and concrete policy recommendations that effectively tackle the SRHR challenges faced by women and girls in West Nile communities.
• Showcase innovative solutions and best practices for promoting gender equality in climate resilience efforts.
• Panel discussions featuring diverse voices from policymakers, academia, and community-based organizations on how climate resilience and reproductive justice, gender responsive climate policies are affecting SRHR, and how these can be integrated.
• Keynote Speeches: The speakers will emphasize and discuss issues concerning gender equality, climate change, and private sector engagement with focused themes on SRHR.
• Breakout Workshops: Participants break into groups to brainstorm on emerging policy and SRHR issues and draft recommendations to improve access to and affordability to SRHR services.
• Post-Symposium action: Feminature will join stakeholders and women's rights organizations in the commemoration of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
• Exhibitions showcasing initiatives: technologies and programs addressing gender and climate change, including Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights.
• Networking: Sessions to facilitate knowledge sharing and future collaborations.

• For additional information regarding this event and to further discuss partnership or your support, please use the official event communication contact, Mrs. Avako Genevieve, via email at avako.genevieve@feminature.org or via phone at 0774 140 943.

We are optimistic for the opportunity to learn more about you and working together to support women and girls in the West Nile region to fully enjoy their SRH rights.