Grey Market Charcoal East Africa — Why Prohibitionist Interventions Are Failing

At Kampala’s Nakawa market, Lovisa Nabisubi scoops charcoal from a bag and packs it into tins ready for customers. Her bare hands, feet, and clothes are stained black from hours of dealing in this popular household fuel which some equate to “black gold” not just in Uganda but in most of East Africa.

No Parent Should Ever Be in the Position We Find Ourselves, Say Mothers of LGBTQ+ People in Uganda

The mothers of LGBTQ+ individuals in Uganda have taken a stand against Bill passed by the Ugandan Parliament proposing the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, life imprisonment for the "offense of homosexuality," and up to 20 years in jail for promoting homosexuality.

Next Ebola Outbreak ‘Not a Matter of If, but When’

It is two months since the World Health Organization declared Uganda free of the most recent Sudan ebolavirus, which killed 55 people. Uganda employed public health measures to end the outbreak. In the absence of vaccines and therapeutics, the threat of the next outbreak looms.

Energy: Why Africa Must Be Part of Nuclear Energy Appetite

The search for energy diversification has taken a more frantic pace amidst the global energy transition debate.

Energy Transition: Is it Time for Africa to Talk Tough?

Thirty-year-old Difasi Amooti Kisembo is one of the demonstrators near the EU delegation offices in Kampala. He and a handful of others have traveled from Uganda’s oil and gas-rich Albertine region’s district to Uganda’s capital Kampala to express their displeasure with an EU Parliament’s resolution against the planned construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

COVID-19 Forced Ugandan Teachers to Go Digital, Teaching Them Important Lessons

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, an education officer in the district neighbouring Uganda’s capital Kampala decreed that teachers could not take computers, mobile phones, or tablets into classrooms.

Tragic Irony of Hunger Deaths in Karamoja, Uganda Amidst Plenty of Climate Adaptation Technologies

Hundreds of people have died of famine in Uganda’s Karamoja region, and local leaders say that some people are now eating grass to survive.

Smallholder Farmers in Uganda Recruit Black Soldier Fly for Green Fertiliser

The conflict in Ukraine has led to an increase in fertiliser prices in Uganda and neighbouring Kenya. Amidst the shortages, some farmers are shifting to a more sustainable way of enriching their soils using frass from the Black Soldier Fly.

Disability Inclusion Lifts Rural Ugandan Families From Poverty

Lawrence Akena was born 32 years ago with microcephaly. Because of his neurological condition, he didn't go to school or benefit from skills training.

Uganda Recognizes Pregnant Teens’ Right to Education, but Religion, Stigma Lock Out Most

When schools reopened in Uganda in January, Atim’s baby was 3 months old. The 17-year-old wished to go back to classes but she faced a dilemma—whether to disclose to her teachers that she was a lactating mother.

Uganda’s School Plan for Refugee Children Could Become a Global Template

Thirteen-year-old Wita Kasanganjo is a pupil at Maratatu Primary School in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement based in Uganda’s Hoima district. But last month, when Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni ordered the re-opening of schools for the first time since the mid-March nationwide closure, Kasanganjo was not part of the returning group of students. The government, in a cautious lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, has allowed only pupils who are part of the final year or candidate classes to return to their schooling.    

‘Waste is only Waste when you Waste it’ – Could Ecobricks be the Solution to Uganda’s Housing and Pollution Problem?

About 40 kilometres out of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, in the Mpigi area, you can find an entire village hill with houses that have plastic bottles walls and car tyre rooftops.

When the Search for Jobs Ends in Slavery

In 2017, Zubedah Nakitende’s electronics shop was robbed with thieves taking her entire stock. But she had heard from a colleague about lucrative jobs in Jordan and decided to take on work as a domestic helper, earning an income of 740 dollars a month.

To Silence a Poet, and a Nation: What Stella Nyanzi’s Conviction Means for Uganda

The conviction of Ugandan feminist and activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi for publishing a metaphorical poem about President Yoweri Museveni could have a chilling effect of freedom of expression, according to Dr. Peter Mwesige, co-founder of the Kampala-based African Centre For Media Excellence. 

Uganda’s Rare Tree Climbing Lions and Endangered Primates Threatened By Climate Change

As climate change leads to increased temperatures in East Africa, a thicket of invasive thorny trees with the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions have begun threatening Uganda’s second-largest park, home to a rare breed of tree climbing lions and one of the highest concentrations of primates in the world.

Senegal Talks Green Growth this Week

Global Green Growth Week 2018 is taking take place in Dakar, Senegal from 26-29 November with a focus on strengthening collaborations, sharing experiences and best practices in the new green growth economy.

Lack of Funds Prevent Ugandan Communities from Investing in Cage Aquaculture

Colvince Mubiru had heard about cage fish farming on Uganda’s lakes. The small business owner decided to try his hand at it and spent USD8,000 to set up farming cages for Nile Tilapia on Lake Victoria, expecting to reap a huge profit. But just six months into his enterprise, he made huge losses.

Q&A: Creating a Safe Space for Survivors of Sexual Exploitation in the Aid Sector

How to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in the aid sector is a question that has come to the forefront in the past year as allegations have been made against various global organisations, including the United Nations.

How to Green Uganda’s Cities

Locals in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, always have two or three things to say in a conversation about how the city is developing. Some say it is filthy because of the growing waste; others say it is a slum because of its unplanned settlements; and then there are those who say it is just plain inconvenient because of the traffic congestion created by the boda boda (motorcycle taxis) and commuter taxis that honk incessantly as they make their way along the streets.

The Shrinking Space for Media Freedom in Uganda

Last month, a horrifying video circulated on social media in Uganda. It shows Reuters photographer, James Akena, surrounded by Uganda Peoples Defence Force soldiers who beat him as he raised his hands in the air in surrender. He was unarmed and held only his camera.