About – WSR – UGANDA

WSR

Uganda

Women's Situation Room

Vision
Peace before, during, and after elections in Uganda.

Mission
To advance women’s critical role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace, and security.

Strategic Goal

To promote a culture of peace and tolerance in Uganda

Core values

In its pursuit of the above goal, WSR will be guided by its core values of transparency, integrity and fairness. This is expressed in the following:

Impartiality and Non-partisanship
We are driven by love and respect for Uganda and its people
Promoting justice and ethical behaviour
Constructive dialogue and stakeholder engagement
Creating, nurturing, and strengthening partnerships and collaboration.

How WSR Uganda Works

Collaboration

The women and youth-led WSR collaborates with security organs, the Electoral Commission, political parties, the media, Uganda Human Rights Commission, religious and civil society organisations to rally Ugandans around peace, to track election violence incidents and ensure immediate responses.

Promoton of Peace

Women and Youth Peace Advocates promote peace and de-escalate tensions among their peers and within their communities. Women and Youth Election Peace Monitors observe elections and report threats or violence in real-time using the WSR toll-free line or the WSR election-violence reporting app. Eminent Women receive, analyse and forward election-violence reports to the relevant authorities for immediate action.

Infrustructure

Physical Situation Rooms located in Northern, Central, Eastern and Western regions host the 24 hour WSR call centre receiving incident reports; the Youth and the Eminent Women’s rooms to coordinate responses with the advice of Political, Legal, Gender and Security Analysts; Special Desks for the Electoral Commission, Uganda Police Force and Uganda People’s Defence Force to resolve issues; and a Peace Cloth for pledges of peace by key election actors.

The WSR Structure

The Eminent Women:

High profile women of integrity, influence, widely perceived as non-partisan and able to take quick effective action in support of peace are selected by Uganda Women’s Movement through the WSR Steering Committee members to lead engagement with key election actors and mediation. The Women’s Situation Room also hosts Eminent Women from other African Countries who support the running of the physical room and ensure the WSR remains a non-partisan space.

The Group of the Wise:

Experienced and credible senior citizens, who are conversant with Uganda’s political history and elections processes, guide the Eminent Women in their roles support access to and engagement with key decision-makers, and advise on sensitive issues, particularly during election days.