Speakers

Catherine Naisu is the Executive Director of Hamiza Development Foundation (HDF). She is a certified PRINCE2® Project Manager and qualified Advocate with over 14 years strong track record in gender programming, legal aid support, community mobilisation and empowerment and human rights advocacy.

HAMIZA Development Foundation (HDF) is a womenled Ugandan organization and a strong actor in the fight to end Gender Based Violence and advance the rights of women and girls. We work in the most remote and floodprone communities across Uganda, in both humanitarian and development spaces, where poverty, climate shocks, and displacement increase vulnerability.

Our approach is holistic and rights-based, involving a mix of; Protection & Justice with interventions of GBV prevention and response, legal aid, and psychosocial support; Health & Autonomy as we offer Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for adolescents and women. Through I AM GIRL SPACE and community outreaches/barazas, we provide information, Menstrual Health Management kits, and services that enable girls and women to make informed choices about their bodies and futures. Economic Empowerment through VSLAs, skilling, agroecology, and climate-resilient livelihoods to improve yields, food security, and household incomes especially for households of vulnerable adolescent girls and boys. Girl-Centered Programs: In-school and outof-school safe spaces that keep girls learning, healthy, and protected.

We work with communities to shift norms. Men and boys are engaged as ambassadors of change through Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) methodology, Stepping Stones, and Positive Parenting. We strengthen local structures — Men Action Groups, Women Interest Groups, School Governance Committees, and Local Leadership — and create safe spaces like I AM GIRL SPACE and community barazas to drive dialogue and accountability.

HAMIZA is also a networked advocate amplifying the voices of women and girls at district, national, and regional levels through coalitions and partnerships. Our advocacy centers on body autonomy, Education, land rights, and economic independence — for both host and refugee communities across Uganda. We believe that a woman who owns her body, her land, and her income is the foundation of a just and resilient society.