Message from the President NAWJU
Hon. Lady Justice Wolayo (President - NAWJU) and other members of the association
It has been a fruitful year for NAWJU since I was elected president in May 2018 after the incumbent President, Hon. Lady Justice E. Kisaakye Kitimbo JSC resigned from office. From the outset, I must express our heartfelt gratitude to the Hon. Chief Justice, Hon. Deputy Chief Justice, Hon. Principal Judge and the Secretary to Judiciary for the moral and financial support that has enabled NAWJU to implement its programs.
I also wish to thank members for their contribution towards deepening equality jurisprudence in their day-to-day work and small but critical gestures like provision of breast feeding areas for women litigants, permitting women to stand surety for their husbands, taking evidence in sexual offences in chambers among other initiatives.
During the year under review,NAWJU continued to advance the human rights of women in tandem with the vision of the international association of women judges to which it is affiliated in a gender responsive manner. For instance, as a women judges association, we made an important input into the inquiry by the Select Parliamentary committee into sexual violence in institutions of learning. We made a number of recommendations including the need for legal protections in the Uganda Constitution and national legislations to be cascaded to the individual educational institutions through regulations; a shift in focus away from sex education to how these children can protect themselves from sexual violence and an amendment to the Penal Code Act to include a category for teachers and females who procure girls for defilement, among other recommendations.
NAWJU continues to work with development partners to deepen jurisprudence of equality through sensitization of judicial officers. To achieve this goal, NAWJU has conducted three Training of Trainers workshops in preparation to launching these workshops in the next calendar year.
Furthermore, NAWJU was privileged to participate in Masaka High Court Circuit Open Day where member surged the residents to respect human dignity of women and girls and desist from perpetuating violence against them.
On the international scene,NAWJU was honoured to be selected as the next host of the prestigious Africa region IAWJ conference in 2021, recognition of its role in advancing the human rights of women and girls.
Lastly, as we move into another electoral cycle, I urge members to turn up in large numbers and compete for all the elective posts so that we get the best to take NAWJU to the next level in the next three years. Thank you All.
Posted 15th, July 2019
