By Dorcus Asiimwe (Programs Manager)
Over the past three weeks, a group of diverse, emerging leaders selected from civil society, education, and community development organisations successfully completed the Michigan Fellows Africa Initiative (MFAI) gender and development training. Supported by University of Iceland GRO-GEST under the alumni engagement grants, the training; Gender & Development in Contemporary Societies: A Youth-Led Hybrid Seminar in Uganda” commenced with the virtual component where twenty youth leaders in Uganda engaged with experts from Iceland, United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uganda featuring Dr Giti Chandra, Kelly Schweda, Palesa Motaung, Mulenga Chimba, and Racheal Ssenyondo among others. Modeled as a reciprocal virtual exchange seminar where fellows first engaged with the material on the Edx Massive Open Online Course(MOOC) on Gender and Development administered by GRO-GEST, fellows brought their professional experience to class, discussing how gender and development manifest in the four thematic areas; the state, peacebuilding, decolonialization and security.
The virtual training, grounded in Ubuntu-mindedness and open online dialogue, demonstrates how collective concern, shared responsibility, and individual action in gender and development can be historicized and decolonized to advance inclusion, equity, and human development. Through the application of the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) Framework, fellows reflected on how theory can be translated into practice to foster meaningful personal and community-level change.
Evaluations in the pre-post virtual training survey filled by the fellows revealed that the majority felt most confident in their ability to talk about women’s roles in peacebuilding, gender and development concepts, and community engagement after the training. Insufficient funding and resources, limited knowledge, and bereft access to leadership training opportunities on Gender and Development were cited as key barriers.
While reflecting on the learning experience, one participant postulates;
“The virtual training significantly enhanced my knowledge of peacebuilding and feminism. I gained a deeper understanding of the state’s role in promoting gender equality, and the experience strengthened my ability to advocate for more inclusive and equitable communities.”
Withstanding the internet blackout in the week of 2026 Uganda National Elections, a preemptive contingent protocol was applied to ensure fellows continued to engage with the material, which minimized disruption but also exposed the vulnerability of online training.
In March 2026, the training continues with an in-person component where fellows will gather, learn, share, network, and present high impact capstones that will positively impact gender and development work. The week-long engagement will involve guided discussions, reflective sessions, peer dialogue, poster presentations of participant capstone projects, volunteering experience at UYDEL, and certificate awarding among other activities.
This initiative is courtesy of MFAI, University of Iceland GRO-GEST Programme, Makerere University Directorate of Gender Mainstreaming and features experts on gender and development globally.
