Echuya Batwa

[1] As their traditional forest lands and territories fell under the control of agro-industries and conservation agencies, the Batwa became squatters living on the edges of society.

The establishment of the Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks for Mountain Gorillas in 1991 enabled the authorities to evict the Batwa definitively from the forest.

The Batwa in Uganda (today) experience systematic and pervasive discrimination from the government and other sectors of society, and their rights as indigenous peoples are neither recognized nor respected".

[4] The Batwa people live in the southwestern portion of Uganda, namely, in the districts of Bundibugyo, Kisoro, Kanungu, Kabale, and Rubanda.

[citation needed] In October 2021, the PBS Newshour reported that the Batwa population in Uganda has a life expectancy of just 28 years, and that about 40% of children do not survive to the age of five.

[3]: 3  Early attempts at "multiple-use zones" were employed to enable the Batwa to live in protected areas, but these resulted in no material changes, and were quickly abandoned due to what the African International Christian Ministry (AICM), a Ugandan non-governmental organization, called "flawed implementation and institutional discrimination".

Affirmative action was enshrined in the Fourth Constitution of Uganda, and the 2013 National Land Policy highlighted the need to "redress historical injustices to protect the land rights of groups and communities marginalized by history or on the basis of gender, religion, ethnicity and other forms of vulnerability to achieve balanced growth and social equity".

This led to formation of CFM groups at parish and sub-county levels, which are mostly dominated by non-Batwa who for long have marginalized the Batwa.

Batwa interests were therefore not fully met when the communities were being assisted to negotiate, draft and finally sign CFM agreements with the National Forestry Authority.