Patience Poni Ayikoru, Uganda

Patience Poni Ayikoru is a Ugandan activist, lawyer and Member at the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers. She is enthusiastic about women’s inclusion in governance and gender equality. Patience has a keen interest in Women’s Rights. She has been a champion in several leadership spaces and has attended several platforms for great leadership and debate. As an advocate for gender justice, Patience created a platform for young girls and women in her community in the rural areas of Koboko, West Nile region of Uganda to discuss the many challenges that young girls and women face.

In this episode, Patience discusses observing gender inequalities in her community as a young girl, even though she did not experience this in her own home… asking a teacher how she could help those whose voices were not being heard and being told that she could become a lawyer or judge… inclusion and the importance of asking why others are being left out of discussions that affect them… why she decided to support young girls and women in rural Uganda… launching a volunteer-led organization, now known as Femme Talk, with initial financial support from her father… creating a youth-led initiative that connected organizations working to end teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence, and child defilement in the illegal marriage of young girls to older men… her commitment to mentorship and to keeping girls in school… the role of the media in increasing awareness of the challenges that girls face… the importance of collaboration and the collective voice in overcoming resistance to change… the untapped potential of girls in rural areas… the role of formal and informal mentorship in our leadership journey… staying true to our values… and the advice to “use your voice to tell your story.”