The Ugandan Humanist Effort to Save Women (UHESWO) was inaugurated by the former president of IHEU Levi Fragell and IHEU’s International Director Babu Gogineni on 17th June, 2006 in Kampala, Uganda.

On that day, UHESWO members focussed on Violation of Women’s Rights in Uganda. The speakers looked at how women’s rights are abused by governments, cultures and religions.

Deo Ssekitoleko, the chairperson of UHASSO, spoke on the need to cultivate all the four H’s of Humanism: Human Rights, Human Dignity, Human Reason and Human Potential. “A Humanist has her rights hence, should respect other people’s rights. She has to respect herself then others will respect her. She should always be able to reason. She has the potential to do everything.”

Babu Gogineni said that oppression of women was not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world like in the Arab countries, in India and in Nepal. The degree of discrimination varied, but at the source are the same primitive attitudes towards women. The acceptance of true democracy and genuine democratic values in a society are vital for ensuring equal rights for all women. He urged women to actively participate in social change, and to continue to fight against abuse of women’s rights themselves. Then we were grateful that Babu gave us a start-up gift of Euros 200, on behalf of the president of IHEU Sonja Eggerickx.

Levi shared with us his past experiences as a preacher and warned all against the danger of letting religion continue its control of people’s minds. As a preacher he saw that 90 percent of the congregation were women – in most cases, he found that they were victims, seeking help. The influence of western evangelists in African society is having a devastating effect on society. Today African women are being misled that faith in Jesus would cure AIDS – this has even led many innocent women to get married to men who are victims of AIDS.

Organised in a pleasant open space, the event had serious and powerful speeches by members of UHESWO, accompanied by poetry reading, song and dance.

Harriet Mugambwa, Member UHESWO