Top political leaders, parliamentarians, and faith-based actors from across Africa and beyond gathered this week at State House, Entebbe, for the Third African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family and Sovereignty.
The high-level summit culminated in a strong call for an African Charter to protect traditional values, uphold national sovereignty, and resist ideological pressure from external forces.
Hosted by the Parliament of Uganda and State House in partnership with several African and international organization’s, the conference was officially opened on Friday, 9 May 2025, by President Yoweri Museveni and First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni, Uganda’s Minister of Education and Sports.
In her keynote address, Mrs. Museveni warned of increasing foreign influence that, under the pretext of aid and development, threatens to undermine African cultural identity and family structures.
“Aid is no longer offered freely it now comes with conditions that seek to redefine our societies according to foreign standards,” she said. “This erodes the values we hold sacred and compromises our sovereignty.”
Speaking as a wife, mother, and grandmother, Mrs. Museveni called for the urgent reclamation of Africa’s cultural, educational, and spiritual foundations. She highlighted Uganda’s education reforms promoting patriotism, moral values, and reverence for family and God initiatives that are entirely government-funded to avoid foreign ideological strings.
She also reaffirmed Uganda’s commitment to the 2020 Geneva Consensus Declaration, which upholds national sovereignty in policymaking on life, family, and gender.
President Museveni echoed these sentiments, condemning what he called the “disorientation” being promoted globally.
“For some to spread this disorientation to the whole world is criminal—but it will not succeed,” he declared.
The president dismissed comprehensive sexual education for children as “madness,” arguing that African traditions provide age-appropriate moral guidance. He also warned that Uganda could withdraw from the Samoa Agreement if it contains coercive provisions disguised as reproductive rights.
“Our lawyers must study that document,” he said. “If it contains those things reproductive rights and so on we will pull out. We cannot be part of that nonsense.”
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among also reaffirmed Uganda’s stance on protecting family values, citing the recently passed Anti-Homosexuality Act as a demonstration of national resolve in the face of international pressure.
“The forces against the foundational values of the family have agents both locally and internationally,” she said. “They aim to divide and defeat us, but we must remain united.”
Among commended Parliament for resisting sanctions and blackmail during the Act’s passage and praised the President, First Lady, and MPs for their role in defending Uganda’s cultural integrity.
International delegates also voiced support for the conference’s objectives. Mohamed Ghayate, Deputy Speaker of Morocco, emphasized the importance of sovereignty as the expression of a people’s will to define their destiny and preserve their cultural heritage. He pledged Morocco’s support for a continental charter.
Henk Jan van Schothorst of Christian Council International, a Dutch advocacy group, lauded Africa as the “last man standing” in the global struggle to protect family values.
“You face immense pressure from the West, including my own country,” he said. “But I urge you to stand firm not just for your children, but for ours as well.”
Organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Network on Family Values, Family Watch Africa, the African Bar Association and the Foundation for African Heritage, the conference is part of a growing African-led initiative to establish a Charter of Values and Sovereignty.
Delegates called for the outcomes of the conference to be institutionalized across African parliaments, the African Union, and the Organization of African First Ladies.
The Source Reports.
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