Women’s Right to Participation in Environmental Decision-Making in Uganda

Abstract

The regulatory framework on environmental conservation has for decades called on states parties to involve women in decision-making processes. Further, human rights law, in general, recognizes women’s right to public participation. In spite of these legal provisions at the international and regional levels in Africa, women’s right to participate in environmental decision-making processes is inadequately safeguarded in Uganda. This is so, despite the fact that women have specifically been noted to directly deal with natural resources by virtue of their socially constructed gender roles. Using doctrinal analysis, this chapter analyzes the adequacy of environmental and human rights legal framework in ensuring the realization of women’s right to participation in environmental decision-making in Uganda.