Jackie Asiimwe–Mwesige, (nee:Jacqueline Asiimwe) (born March 1970), is a Ugandan human rights lawyer and philanthropy advisor. She is the current Chairperson of the East African Philanthropy Network (EAPN) and chief executive officer of ''CivSource Africa'', a philanthropy advisory service company that she founded in 2017. She concurrently serves as the chairperson of the ''International Centre for Research on Women Uganda'', an affiliate of the

International Center for Research on Women The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is a non-profit organization with offices located in Washington, D.C., United States, New Delhi, Ranchi, and Jamtara, India, Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda. ICRW works to promote gende ...

ICRW, based in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, United States. Jacqueline is a member of the Global Board of ICRW. She also served as the Deputy Programme and Advocacy Manager for the ''Civil Society Capacity Building Programme'', funded by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, from 2007 until 2009.

Early life and education

She was born in March 1970 at

Mengo Hospital Mengo Hospital, also known as Namirembe Hospital, is a private, faith-based, community, teaching hospital in Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda. Location The hospital is located on Namirembe Hill in Rubaga Division in northwestern ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda's capital city. Her parents are Reverend Benon Mugarura Mutana and Mrs Joye Mugarura. Asiimwe attended Mengo Primary School where she sat P7 in 1983. She then joined

Gayaza High School Gayaza High School is the oldest all-girls boarding secondary school covering grades 8 to 13 (Secondary 1 to 6) in Uganda. The school is Church of Uganda, Church-founded, government of Uganda, government-aided and accredited by the Ministry of Ed ...

the oldest girls' secondary school in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, from 1984 to 1989 for both O-Level and A-Level studies. She holds a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree, awarded by

Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

, Uganda's largest and oldest

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, obtained from the

Law Development Centre The Law Development Centre (LDC) is an educational institution in Uganda for higher learning that offers various legal courses ranging from one month to one year. Overview The LDC is the only institution in Uganda that offers the Bar Course lead ...

in Kampala. Her

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree was awarded by

Georgetown University Law School Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over ...

, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Career

While still an undergraduate at Makerere University, Jacqueline became a member of the Uganda chapter of Federacion Internacional de Abogadas (FIDA) (International Federation of Women Lawyers), starting as a volunteer. She also worked as an advocacy officer at

Uganda Women's Network The Uganda Women's Network (UWONET) is a Ugandan non-governmental organization (NGO) working to advance public policy regarding women's rights. It is an umbrella organisation of national women's NGOs and individuals operating in East Africa. Th ...

(UWONET). During this time, she worked with many women who silently grapple with issues of maintenance, domestic violence, and rape. She also worked as a country manager for an anonymous donor, Deputy Programme and Advocacy Manager for

Civil Society Capacity building programme,

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

, Fellow; Women's Rights Division of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

. Asiimwe is the

CivSource Africa an organization that identifies and supports the work of funding agencies and philanthropists in Africa. The organization particularly seeks to connect with and support local/Africa led philanthropy and provides grant management and advisory services on context and strategy. Asiimwe has also served as a Chairperson of the Ugandan affiliate of the International Center for Research on Women. She is a

board member A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

of Femme Forte, Project Soar and East Africa Philanthropy Network. She also served as the country manager for Uganda at ''Wellspring Advisors'', an American philanthropic advisory firm. Asiimwe is known for zealous fight for women's rights, not only in Uganda, but also internationally. She participated in the "Black Monday" campaign; an initiative by several civil society organisations to tackle corruption in Uganda.

Professional memberships and affiliations

Jacqueline Asiimwe is a member of the following bodies, organizations and societies: (a) Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA Uganda) (b) the Uganda chapter of the

International Coach Federation The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to professional coaching. ICF is an accrediting and credentialing body for both training programs and coaches. Overview ICF has over 50,000 members in over 150 ...

(c) a member of Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) (d) a member of Gayaza Old Girls Association (GOGA) (e) a member of Uganda Feminist Forum (UFF) and (f) a member of Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda (LAW Uganda).

Consultancy experience

GiZ Human Rights Program, Global Rights Alert,

Uganda Women Parliamentary Association The Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) is an all-party parliamentary caucus established during the 5th parliament of Uganda (1989–1994). It comprises all women MPs, though also allows male MPs to be associates or honorary members. UWO ...

(UWOPA),

OXFAM Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

GB Pan African office-

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...

, Forum for Women in Democracy,

DFID The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

, International Centre for Research on Women,

HIVOS Hivos (, Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation) is an international cooperation organization, with its global office in The Hague, The Netherlands. Hivos provides support to civil society organizations working in Africa, Latin America, th ...

, OSIEA, SHARP,

Delegation in Kenya, Ministry of Justice

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

Women and Gender Directorate,

Action Aid ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide. ActionAid is a federation of 45 country offices that works with communities, often via local partner organi ...

International,

National Democratic Institute The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a non-profit American non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to "support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability". It is ...

and

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Uganda.

Family

Jacqueline married Peter Mwesige, a journalist, on 22 December 2002, in

Perryman, Maryland Perryman is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,342 at the 2010 census. History St. George's Parish Vestry House was listed on the National Register of H ...

, United States. The marriage was blessed with two sons. The marriage was officially dissolved in a sitting of the

High Court of Uganda The High Court of Uganda, also Uganda High Court, is the third-highest judicial organ in Uganda, behind the Supreme Court of Uganda and the Court of Appeal of Uganda. It has "unlimited original jurisdiction", with powers to try any case of an ...

, in

Kampala, Uganda Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa, and Rubaga. Kampala's metropolitan area consi ...

, on 30 November 2021. The couple was granted joint custody of their two children together.

Other affiliations

Asiimwe is a Fellow of the Women's Rights Division of

References

External links

I Love You Dad! by Jackie Asiimwe

Nnabagereka launches Mpanga’s book ‘It’s A Pity She’s Not a Boy’
As of 6 December 2019.
"Women Writers Booklet" by African Philanthropy Network
As of 17 December 2020.
Opinion: Did Dr Peter Mwesige have to announce his divorce on twitter?
As of 2 December 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Asiimwe, Jacqueline Living people 1970 births People from Kampala 21st-century Ugandan lawyers Ugandan women business executives Ugandan business executives Law Development Centre alumni Makerere University alumni 21st-century Ugandan women lawyers Ugandan women chief executives Ugandan chief executives People educated at Gayaza High School Georgetown University Law Center alumni 21st-century Ugandan businesswomen 21st-century Ugandan businesspeople