Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) was founded in 1991 to contribute to removing limitations for democratic development and meaningful enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and internationally recognised human rights instruments. Its formation was led by a group of fresh Makerere University graduates. The organisation marked 25 years of human rights activism in 2016. At 25, FHRI has grown from a small organisation with minimal capacity to one with great potential through a set of multifaceted human rights programmes based on research, monitoring and documentation of human rights violations, human rights education, legislative advocacy and legal aid service delivery.

In the coming years FHRI will build on previous work to further entrench democratic and civic rights and values in the Ugandan society with lessons learned around emphasising collective action through partnerships and coalitions, targeted advocacy of persons with real influence, legal rights empowerment and a deepening of existing interventions. Recommendations arising out of evaluations enriched FHRI’s Strategic Plans and programming by; developing a Gender Policy for more gender sensitivity; expanding its scope of work to encompass economic, social and cultural rights; formulating interventions that have bridged the gap between rights holders and duty bearers; encouraging the adoption of high impact activities that promote accountability for human rights violations and; re-directing implementation of programmes from one off projects to longer and sustained campaigns.

At the institutional level, developments have been; the construction of the Human Rights House in 2001; the founding of the Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU) in 2009 and; most recently in 2015, spearheaded the formation and operationalisation of the Citizens’ Election Observer Network in Uganda (CEON-U). These developments have triggered the rapid growth of FHRI’s membership from 50 in 2001 to 1435 members in 2017.

This project of FHRI identifies platforms through which the youth amplify their voices to influence policymakers to amend the National Youth Council Act.  The action is implemented through a campaign code-named, ‘My Voice’. The campaign consists of a set of well-coordinated and interlinked activities all aimed at mobilising and building a critical mass of young people to advocate for electoral reforms within identified spaces. The campaign is grounded and informed by research on the existing gaps within the National Youth Council Act and best practices from similar jurisdictions.

Engagement with policymakers on this issue is supported right from the community, sub-regional to the national level, through My Voice community dialogues and My Voice regional forums culminating into a national stakeholder dialogue. This bottom up strategy is intended to draw in more youth (particularly female youth and youth with disabilities) from the lowest level of the social strata with a special focus on Youth from West Nile and Karamoja between 17 and 35 years old, including those in-and-out of school and in-and-out of employment. Through the proposed action, FHRI and CCEDU (Citizens Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda) will take advantage of already existing partnerships with the Uganda National Students’ Association (UNSA), the Inter-Party Youth Coalition, the Parliamentary Youth Forum and the CCEDU youth membership in order to reach more numbers and trigger collective action.