Uganda Media Women Association (UMWA)

UMWA Support ROP is responding to the long felt marginalisation for women in the political, economic and social fields. ROP focuses on the provision and dissemination of accurate information as a major tool for development. The immediate advantages are expansion of media coverage and a chance for the rural folks' views and needs published in the Ugandan media. The long term for this activity is to establish a community based media station.
The women journalists visit a district four times in a year to conduct participatory workshops on a range of issues. Family life, reproductive rights, constitutional rights, political and economic rights are represented, among others. During the workshop, observations and questions are made for the rest of the audience to consider. The issues raised most often are adapted into plays which are staged within the communities for a fee to contribute to the sustainability of the project. On every visit the women journalists carry with them recorded programs for the people in the rural areas. They in turn record the participants' (women and men) experiences, which are aired on Radio Uganda or published in the local newspapers.
UMWA operates in ten districts: Mbarara, Kasese, Luweero, Mbale, Soroti, Moroto, Apac, Arua and Masindi. In each district the association operates with three women contact groups who mobilise the rest of the community for workshops or radio listening. Each group receives a radio set(s) and each group again constitutes itself into a radio listening club. The workshops have been a tremendous success, attracting over 600 participants.