THE WOMEN IN WEST NILE

"The Women in West Nile" documents the lives of women in Uganda’s West Nile region, which borders South Sudan. I first visited the area in 20199on a project with my sister, who works with refugees in West Nile. Through her, I learned about the local communities, and due to my previous experience with refugees, the German Cooperation invited me to work alongside a film crew documenting both refugees and host communities.

Uganda is the third-largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with over 1.2 million refugees, mostly women and children from South Sudan. It is praised for being refugee-friendly, offering refugees the right to work and significant freedom of movement.

The project focuses on refugee settlements and small villages, which were accessible thanks to the government organization I partnered with. Most of the women I documented fled South Sudan alone, as their husbands were either killed or fled due to the Civil War. Left to raise their children, many of them work in the fields for survival. These women shared powerful stories about their pasts.

Included are portraits of women from West Nile, captured in subtle colors that reflect Uganda’s cultural significance, particularly the Kitenge textile, which symbolizes their personalities.

In the context of the largest refugee crisis since World War II and the growing number of climate refugees, this project highlights Uganda's "Self-Reliance Strategy," which offers a model of integration that benefits both refugees and host communities.