JCoR Workshop for Religious in Uganda (August 2025)

The Justice Coalition of Religious (JCoR) and the Association of Religious in Uganda (ARU) invited all Catholic Sisters, Brothers, Priests in Uganda to join this three-day, in-person workshop titled “From Compassion to Change: Religious Voices for Justice and Sustainability in Uganda.”

Dates: 5-7 August 2025

Theme: Constitutional rights, human rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and advocacy

Participants: 21 Sisters, 2 priests, and one lay mission partner representing 15 Religious institutes/congregations and the Ugandan Episcopal Conference/Uganda Catholic Secretariat

Organizing Team:

• Sr. Josephine Kamau, DM (Uganda Coordinator, JCoR)
• Sr. Agnes, DM
• Sr. Margaret Alowo, MSM
• Fr. Tarcis Baguma, SJW

The workshop focused on exchanging perspectives on injustices facing the Ugandan people today; equipping participants with a deeper understanding of Ugandan constitutional rights, the Human-Rights framework, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a basis for advocacy; and development of action plans through which participants could engage their congregations and communities in addressing root causes of injustice through advocacy for systemic change.

The group was energized by opening remarks from Sr. Justine Naluggya, IHMR, Assistant Secretary General of ARU, and by closing remarks from Fr. John Bosco Kamoga, CSSp, President of ARU.

Topics Covered:

1. JCoR’s Mission, Vision, and Invitation to Advocacy Community
2. Catholic Social Teaching’s call to promote systemic change through advocacy
3. UN Sustainable Development Goals
4. UN agencies operating in Uganda
5. Major injustices in Uganda
6. Introduction to Advocacy:
   • meaning
   • principles
   • tactics
   • process
   • practical examples
7. Priorities for advocacy among Religious in Uganda
8. Hindrances to conducting advocacy in Uganda
9. Action planning for collaborative advocacy as the JCoR Network of Uganda

Key Outcomes:

From a list of 30 injustices identified by the workshop participants, three areas of concern were selected as top priorities on which the group wishes to pursue advocacy actions in the immediate term:

1. Domestic violence
2. Workers’ rights: wages and working conditions
3. Environmental harms: deforestation and plastic pollution/improper waste disposal

The participants developed an initial action plan on how they would like to approach each of these issues.

Workshop Photos: