I was privileged to be selected as one of the participants of the 3rd National Youth Symposium 2025, hosted by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD). The gathering could not have come at a more revealing time for Uganda’s political journey. Under the theme “Reflection on 20 Years of Multiparty Politics: The Role of Young People in Building a Democratic, United, and Prosperous Uganda,” the symposium brought together young voices across political, social, and regional lines to reflect on how far we’ve come, and who gets to shape where we go next. As the country prepares for the 2026 general elections, this political season offers more than campaign posters and nomination rallies. It offers an opportunity to pause and ask: What does genuine participation look like when so many young people still feel unheard? What happens when voter registers raise credibility concerns, or when civic education rarely reaches the grassroots in meaningful ways? At Femme Forte, we also ask what these gaps mean for whose voices are left out; especially young women and girls, who continue to face layered barriers even in spaces meant to include them. The Price of Competing, and the Cost of Exclusion Securing a political party’s flag has always come with hidden costs, but this year, the stakes have become clearer than ever. For many young Ugandans who dream of contesting in 2026, the rising nomination fees have turned a party flag into an expensive hurdle rather than a gateway. According to (The Daily Monitor, 2025), a presidential ticket under the ruling NRM now costs 20 million UGX, while an MP slot costs 3 million, and even a local councilor position can demand up to 1 million. While the NRM defends these fees as a way to “screen serious candidates,” the reality is that the price of entry often screens out those with the most at stake: young people, who make up the largest share of Uganda’s population but hold the smallest share of its wealth. In stark contrast, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) charges 5 million for president, 100,000 for MPs, and nothing for councilors. Meanwhile, the National Unity Platform (NUP) currently asks for no nomination fees at any level, positioning itself as more accessible to young and less resourced aspirants.

Uganda’s approach to sexuality education is trapped in silence; a silence fueled by cultural taboos, conservative backlash, and the persistent myth that knowledge equals moral decay. But the cost is devastatingly clear: each year, thousands of girls endure teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortion, sexual violence, and preventable school dropouts: all deeply gendered harms. Keeping girls uninformed is not culture. It is control. Patriarchal systems thrive on girls’ subjugation. Religious gatekeepers conflate morality with ignorance. Politicians barter girls’ futures for votes. A truly feminist approach must name this for what it is: a deliberate barrier to girls’ power over their own bodies and futures. The State of Sexual and Reproductive Health in Uganda: A Crisis Engineered by Silence The statistics are not accidents. They are the direct result of systemic neglect. 25% of Ugandan girls aged 15–19 are already mothers or pregnant (UNFPA, 2024). When COVID-19 hit, school closures and lockdowns pushed a thousand more girls out of classrooms and into risk (Forum for African Women Educationalists Uganda Chapter, 2021). Between March and June 2020 alone, pregnancies among girls aged 10–24 seeking first antenatal care rose by 22.5% from 80,655 to 98,810 cases. The youngest girls paid the heaviest price: pregnancies among girls aged 10–14 skyrocketed by a staggering 366.5%, from 290 in March to 1,353 by September 2020 compared to an increase of 25.5% among girls aged 15–19 and 21.1% among young women aged 20–24. Although the incidence of early marriage was lower, 2.8% of girls and young women surveyed, reported being pressured, sometimes by their own parents to get married during the lockdown. Child sexual abuse is also pervasive. According to Male, Faiaz, Rao, and Raj (2023) 59% of women reported sexual abuse in childhood, and national data showed that 1 in 3 girls under 15 were forced at first sex. The silence around consent and bodily autonomy leaves girls defenseless against such violence. This is not merely a “cultural issue.” It is a political choice. This neglect disproportionately harms rural girls, girls with disabilities, and those living in poverty, deepening their marginalization and denying them access to even the most basic information about their bodies and rights. While a National Sexuality Education Framework exists in principle, it remains limited, inconsistently implemented, and culturally contentious. It fails to meet the realities of adolescents across Uganda. Who Blocks Progress? Naming the Gatekeepers Conservative leaders weaponize culture to suppress girls’ autonomy while ignoring the abuse that silence enables. Underfunded systems leave teachers untrained or too fearful to address sexuality beyond basic biology, perpetuating dangerous myths like menstruation being unclean. Corporate exploiters profit from unsafe abortions and watered-down health programs that depoliticize girls’ rights and silence feminist resistance. A Feminist Way Forward: Truth as Resistance We reject the lie that knowledge corrupts. Comprehensive sexuality education does not corrupt culture; it disrupts the systems that profit from girls’ ignorance and silence. At Femme Forte, we demand: A rewritten National Framework that boldly names power and rights. Teach contraception, consent, and bodily autonomy, without apology and without compromise. Policies shaped with girls, not for them. Girls must lead these conversations, set the agenda, and hold leaders to account. Funding that bites. Redirect budgets from vague awareness campaigns to grassroots feminist educators who break stigma every day and meet girls where they are. To parents: Fear will not protect your daughters, but knowledge will. To leaders: Stop hiding behind tradition. Your inaction fuels rape, poverty, and preventable deaths. To girls: Your body is yours. Own it. Defend it. Define your future. The Revolution Will Not Be Whispered Uganda’s girls are not victims waiting to be rescued they are fighters, denied tools by those who fear their power. We owe them more than pity: we owe them the mic, the curriculum, and the future that is rightfully theirs. Silence is not safety. Shame is not protection. Knowledge is power and we will not settle for less. References Forum for African Women Educationalists Uganda Chapter. (2021). Research Findings on the Situation of, and Impact of Covid-19 on School Going Girls and Young Women in Uganda. Male, S. S., Faiaz, M. M., Rao, N., & Raj, A. (2023, January 22). Home: Publications. Retrieved from AfroBarometer: https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/ad593-majority-of-ugandans-see-domestic-violence-as-a-private-not-criminal-matter/ Ministry of Education and Sports. (2018). National Sexuality Education Framework. UNFPA. (2024, April 19). Home: Latest News. Retrieved from UNFPA: https://uganda.unfpa.org/en/news/young-innovators-create-solutions-ending-teenage-pregnancy Article by Jacqueline Nampijja