A two-day rights-based approach training for 130 participants in the Kidepo Landscape, covering Karenga and Kitgum districts, under the Regenerative Cotton Farming Project, led by Dodo Moke, Environmental Social Safeguards and Conflict Sensitivity Manager
Safeguarding Participation Through Rights-Based Approaches
Community engagement only endures when it is inclusive, safe, and accountable. In 2025, AWF supported the identification and training of 130 parish-level grievance and feedback monitors across Karenga and Kitgum districts. Embedded within local governance structures, these monitors help manage complaints confidentially, strengthen transparency, and ensure conservation programmes remain responsive to community concerns.
As interventions scale in 2026, these safeguards will remain central— protecting trust, improving programme integrity, and preventing conservation efforts from becoming sources of conflict rather than shared benefit.
Building Wildlife Protection Capacity and National Ownership
Kidepo and Murchison received specialised training in rhino monitoring and management, in preparation for planned translocations from Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to Ajai, and from Kenya to Kidepo. AWF also supported a major milestone in national ownership: the formal handover of the Canines for Conservation programme to UWA after nine years of collaboration. This transition reflects Uganda’ s growing capacity to sustain specialised law enforcement tools and safeguard conservation gains independently.
Tourism and Enterprises That Finance Conservation
In 2025, AWF facilitated eco-tourism learning exchanges involving UWA, Community Wildlife Associations, and AWF staff. These engagements resulted in a practical eco-tourism action plan, with priority wildlife-friendly enterprises identified for rollout in 2026.
Alongside community-based initiatives, AWF invested in strengthening wildlife protection systems with UWA. Twenty-four rangers from
OMOJOY TOURIST PRODUCT 19