Social Justice and Strategic Litigation Program
Under this program, CEFROHT uses legal empowerment, legal research, and litigation to advance the right to adequate living by ensuring social justice, climate justice, and economic justice. CEFROHT employs a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA).
The program is double-barreled, as the title suggests, with activities under the Social Justice Program and activities under Strategic Litigation.
Program Objectives
- To use legal empowerment, legal research, and litigation to advance the right to adequate living through social justice, climate justice, and economic justice.
- To publicize the Human Rights Enforcement Act as a legal tool to resolve cases expeditiously.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Legal Empowerment
The Social Justice Program aims to empower marginalized groups (rights holders) by equipping them with knowledge to understand and advocate for their rights through legal mechanisms. The program also empowers duty bearers by educating them on their legal obligations.
This is achieved through trainings and community barazas, where duty bearers (such as local government officials, judicial officers, and other stakeholders) engage with rights holders (the community). These interactions break social and economic barriers, bridge knowledge gaps, and foster holistic solutions.
Each year, CEFROHT conducts over 20 trainings on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, including:
- Access to Justice using the Human Rights Enforcement Act
- The right to adequate food
- Land rights and equity
- Seed sovereignty and agroecology
Legal Research
CEFROHT conducts legal research using a Human Rights-Based Approach to analyze laws and engage stakeholders in policy advocacy. This includes examining issues affecting the right to adequate food and sustainable living, producing position papers and legal briefs, and leveraging these documents to influence policies.
STRATEGIC LITIGATION
Under this program, CEFROHT uses the courts to advance policy objectives. The litigation efforts are divided into two categories:
Public Interest Litigation
This involves non-adversarial litigation as an advocacy tool to influence government and stakeholder policies through court declarations and directives. CEFROHT engages in litigation at both regional and national levels.
Regional-Level Cases
- The EACOP Case
CEFROHT sued the governments of Uganda and Tanzania, along with the EAC Secretariat, in the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) for signing agreements permitting the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The case highlights severe environmental risks, threats to biodiversity, the Lake Victoria basin, and livelihoods of affected communities, arguing that the project violates the EAC Treaty. - The GMO Case
CEFROHT represents smallholder farmers in the EACJ against Kenya’s decision to lift the GMO ban. The case argues that porous borders within the EAC make containment impossible, yet other member states lack regulatory frameworks for GMOs. CEFROHT collaborates with Kenyan CSOs opposing GMOs.
National-Level Cases
- The Breastfeeding Case
Challenges Uganda’s 60-day maternity leave policy, which contradicts WHO’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for six months. - The School Feeding Case
Opposes ministerial guidelines mandating parent-led school feeding in government/UPE schools, given that 21% of schoolchildren are orphans or too vulnerable to afford meals. The case highlights child-led households with no adult support. - The Restriction of Marketing/Advertising Case
Challenges the lack of regulations on unhealthy food and sugar-sweetened beverages marketed to children.
These cases aim to advance the right to food and sustainable living.
Fighting for food justice and land rights?
Join CEFROHT in empowering communities through advocacy and sustainable agriculture.
I had lost all hope after people tried to take my land in Kiboga. But CEFROHT helped me for free and took my case to court. Because of them, I got my land back. I can now farm and take care of my children. I thank CEFROHT so much for standing with me.
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Coalition Reflection Meetings: Deepening Strategy and Coordination for Front-of-the-Pack Warning Labelling Regulations (FOPWL) Advocacy in Uganda.
Strong advocacy requires more than passion; it requires discipline. The willingness to stop, assess, adjust, and push forward with a refined and sharper strategy. That discipline is exactly what Uganda’s National Coalition on Front-of-the-Pack Warning Labelling (UNCC-FOPWL) has been doing every single month. Throughout the quarter, CEFROHT, together with coalition partners SEATINI, FIAN Uganda, and
May 2, 2026 -
To See, We do: How CEFROHT hit the ground running in 2026
The year had barely begun, and CEFROHT was already in full swing. From 4th to 9th January, the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) convened its annual beginning-of-year staff retreat at Das Berliner Hotel to reflect, reset, and charge headlong into the year ahead. Six days, every program area, one unified plan, and
May 2, 2026 -
Who is responsible for Feeding Uganda’s most vulnerable children? CEFROHT just helped rewrite the answer.
On 24th and 25th March, CEFROHT, together with other partners invited by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) Uganda, conducted a review of the Pre-Primary, Primary, and Post-Primary Education Act, a rare and critical opportunity to examine how Uganda’s foundational law can be strengthened to better protect children’s rights to food, health, and
May 2, 2026 -
Hunger in Schools: Ministry of Education and Sports agrees on a Joint School Feeding Workplan and Budget for Uganda.
Picture a child in a classroom, too hungry to learn. Across Uganda’s public schools, particularly in rural and low-income settings, a large proportion of learners arrive at school without having eaten a single meal. And the consequences follow them long after the school bell rings. Tackling this reality requires more than goodwill; it requires coordination,
May 2, 2026