LOCAL PARTNER: United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU)
Background and objective:
The Batwa in Uganda are former inhabitants of the Bwindi, Mgahinga and Echuya forests, where they lived since time immemorial and in full reliance on the forest for their sustenance, herbal medicines, religious rites and socio-economic activities. Recently, however, they have been evicted and excluded from their forests primarily for the creation of protected areas that were established without their participation or their free, prior and informed consent impacting on the social and economic wellebing.The Batwa say, the future is for the children and we need to make sure there is sufficient space for the Batwa children to learn from what has happened before so they can make informed decisions in the future. This project seeks to set up an inter-generational platform that will produce indigenous knowledge, key messages and innovative ideas of the Batwa. It will ensure the stories, knowledge and practices of the Batwa elders are shared among the youth to revive and strengthen their culture for a sustainable use and management of natural resources. The platform will take the shape of two workshops where selected youth and the elders will come together to learn from each other and identify which parts of their culture are relevant to climate change and which ones they wish to prioritize and share amongst the wider Batwa community.
Local partner information: The United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda is a Batwa-directed, community-based organisation headquartered in Kisoro, Uganda. UOBDU was created in the year 2000. An important aspect of UOBDU’s efforts is its emphasis on ensuring that Batwa communities participate fully in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of new initiatives meant to benefit them. A key component of this is to empower the Batwa to directly advocate for their own rights at the local, regional, national, and international levels through capacity building, and information sharing.
