Engabu Za Tooro to facilitate the formation of a Uganda Coalition for Cultural Diversity

Engabu Za Tooro Cultural items on display at an Exhibition in Fort Portal, Uganda

The Executive Director of Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) Stephen Rwagweri Atwoki has indicated that the organization will facilitate the formation of a Uganda Coalition for Cultural Diversity after attending the 5^th Congress of International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity due on 25^th to 28^th October 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Engabu Za Tooro which was officially invited by the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (IFCCD) because of its status as an associate memberof IFCCD and its rich experience in implementing culture related projects for 19 years in Uganda will be represented by Mr. Stephen Rwagweri Atwoki at the conference.

According to Rwagweri Atwoki, “Uganda has got a number of growing national organizations, Associations and Networks in the field of Arts and Culture. They cover areas like publishing, production, performing arts, media and indigenous medicine,” hence the need to have a national coalition on cultural diversity in Uganda.

EZT Cultural Troupe performing

Rwagweri adds, “all these entities in the field of culture and arts exist and act in isolation from one another. There is no known viable national forum or platform for networking and cooperation of all professionals and practitioners in the Art and Culture sector. Equally, there are only a few international networks that have established chapters or sections in the country which limits the capacity of arts and culture practitioners and professionals to influence national policy for the development of the sector”

While speaking today Monday 22^nd October, 2018at Engabu Za Tooro offices in Fort Portal as he prepares to travel to Canada to attend the international conference on cultural diversity, Rwagweri indicated that Uganda has no National Arts Council and has only recently ratified the 2005 UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression which is a sign of a weak culture and arts sector in the country.

Some of the proposed institutions to be members of the Uganda Coalition for Cultural Diversity are Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action), Uganda Musicians Union (UMU), Bayimba Cultural Foundation, Uganda Writers Association (UWA), Uganda Development Theatre Association, Uganda Theatrical Groups and Artists Association (UTGAA), Federation of Performing Artists of Uganda (FEPAU), The Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU), Uganda Women Writers Association (FEMRITE), National Association of Folklorists, National Council of Traditional Healers and Herbalists, Uganda Community Museum Operators Association, International theatre Institute – Uganda Chapter, Arterial Network – Uganda Chapter, Department of Performing arts and Film Makerere University, Department of Literature: Makerere University, Institute of Languages – Makerere University, African Music Council.

Stephen Rwagweri attending a recent WIPO meeting in Geneva, Switzerland

Others are Department of Performing Arts; Kyambogo University, Department of Literature: Kyambogo University, Department of African Studies: Mountains of the Moon University, Federation of Performing Artists Association (FEPAU), Uganda Federation of Movie Industry (UFMI), Uganda Journalist Union, Uganda Journalist Association, Society for Advancement of Ugandan Languages (SAUL), National Book Trust of Uganda, African Women Writers Initiative, Uganda Pen Center, African Writers Trust, Uganda Performing Right Society, National Association of WRITERS in Vernacular (NAWIVE), Koogere Foundation, Gulu Theatre Artists, National Association of Folk Arts and Folk Festivals Organisations (NAFAFO).

Currently, Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform) is implementing a two year UNESCO co-funded project aimed at revitalizing ceremonies and practices associated with Empaako naming system in Uganda among the communities of the Batooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Batagwenda and Banyabindi of Western Uganda so as to enhance their capacities to transmit knowledge and skills to successive generations and to mobilise practitioners to revive the Empaako naming ritual.

More, follow the website on http://engabuzatooro.or.ug/engabu-za-tooro-facilitate-formation-uganda-coalition-cultural-diversity/