Farida Charity is a community leader and peace activist who supports peace initiatives in the conflict-affected Yumbe district of northern Uganda. Very little is known about her personal life.
Charity began her activism at a young age. At 15, she participated in peace negotiations with the Uganda National Rescue Front that led to an official ceasefire agreement between the rebels and the Ugandan government in 2002.
At the time of this writing, Charity is the spokesperson for the Yumbe District Council. Over the past five years, she has used her leadership position to advocate for policies that promote peaceful coexistence between refugee and host communities in the district and to advocate for health care for women and girls. As chair of the Council’s Women Caucus, Charity mobilized other women leaders to create mentoring programs for school-age girls from host and refugee communities that focus on preventing sexual gender-based violence, addressing conflict, and keeping girls in school.
“The things that women need sound simple, but they are big issues, especially in rural communities. Women need peace and access to health care services. The most important thing is to have peace and to look at ourselves as human beings, regardless of gender, political, religious, and ethnic backgrounds,” Charity says.