CESCRA was founded in 2010 to contribute to realization of economic social cultural rights of women, girls and youth and marginalised communities. We tackle women’s lack of land, adequate housing, inheritance and property rights, the problem of female and male youth unemployment, early marriage, teenage pregnancies & reproductive health rights of girls, education rights of extremely marginalised children, improved & decent work environment for the women in the informal sector and women participation in decision-making processes.
We seek for a transformative change where grassroots women and girls take centre in tackling the social economic challenges in their communities and negative social cultural norms are challenged to increase gender equality in all spheres.
Our 3 years’ experience on rural women land and property rights informed our focus on early marriage and its link to low girl-child education, women lack of economic social rights, vicious cycle of poverty, vulnerability to abuse and persistent discrimination. Our inaugural work on women and youth in the informal sectors exploring the urban safety and security and the role played by youth and women in improving working and living conditions inspired us to focus on improved and decent work for the women in the informal sector.
Our Vision
A continent realising economic social cultural rights for its population while guaranteeing gender equality, social inclusion and security and sustainable use of resources for all to live in peace and dignity.
Economic Social Cultural Rights for All
We employ a bottom-up approach
Our Mission
A continent realising economic social cultural rights for its population while guaranteeing gender equality, social inclusion and security and sustainable use of resources for all to live in peace and dignity.
Our Impacts
We have rolled up a campaign against early marriage and teenage pregnancies with signs of having greater impact in making girls centre of social transformation, to enhance girl’s leadership, engaging paired up parents to engage fellow parents and mobilising communities to join the campaign against early marriage and teenage pregnancies in Uganda. To this, we have and are still empowering the voices of the primary target groups, built their capacities and have directly engaged them in taking lead in the activities of challenging negative social norms, attitude and behaviours aimed at ending early marriage and teenage pregnancies. The campaign “I Stand Up Against Early Marriage” targets girls aged 13 to 24 years both in-school and out of school, apparently within Buliisa, Kikuube and hoima districts in the Albertine oil region; it is from this bottom-up approach that our national, regional and international advocacy is informed.
We have strongly built the capacity of 8 women groups at the grassroots in Ngwedo and Kigwera in Buliisa district and Kyangwali and Kabwoya in Kikuube district. They are now empowered with knowledge, are awareness and have capacity on women’s land, inheritance and property rights. The women can now engage in oil and gas debates, educate and dialogue with communities and are using drama to tackle negative social norms for transformative change. We have also empowered men as role models to engage fellow men in debates on changing social economic norms that sustain gender inequalities in land, housing, inheritance and property rights. The men in these groups at individual level have testified to have changed the way they treat women and girls in their households. We have captured testimonies where women have united families conflicting over land, land use and products from land.
Our research into urban environment strengthened our safer city campaign. We were able to mobilise women and youth in the informal sectors to understand their role in improving safety and security in the city and tackling business and human rights challenges to realise economic social rights of women and youth in in the informal sector in Masaka, Kampala, Jinja, Arua, Gulu, Lira, and Mbale.
Our Offices
CESCRA has Regional Offices in Kampala, Uganda; you can locate us at Yosia House, Bulabira Road in Najjera 1, Kiira Munispality, Wakiso. The regional office in Kampala enables us harmonize our in-country and regional activities; CESCRA has a presence in Hoima, Buliisa and Kikuube districts, and we have also crossed to Northern Uganda districts of Yumbe, Adjumani, Lamwo, Arua and Koboko, in response to the plight of Refugees in Uganda, with the related Women and the Girl Child challenges. This structure enables us to sustain our BOTTOM – UP approach whereby, our grassroots work informs the national dabate which links CESCRA work to the Regional and International Economic Social Cultural Rights Framework