Patience Akumu
Lawyer, Award-Winning Journalist, Human Rights Advocate
St-Cergue
Summary
Patience Akumu, a lawyer, award-winning journalist, advocacy, and communications professional with passion for data, campaigns, creative story-telling and proactive media engagement for more inclusive policies and a more feminist world. A dedicated writer with over 250 publications in international and national publications to her name.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
8
8
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Advocacy and Communications Manager
United Nations Office
04.2024 - Current
- Leading global and national malaria partners to develop and implement joint advocacy and communication strategies and keep malaria on the global agenda.
- Led the malaria community into developing their first ever joint advocacy strategy and knowledge agenda, enabling measurable advocacy and better use of research utilization.
- Leading advocacy and communications team of three full time staff and four consultants, enabling effective prioritization, partner support and use of resources.
- Leading engagement and content production for key days such as UN General Assembly and COP.
- Leading knowledge development on key thematic issues such as climate and malaria, nutrition and malaria, human rights and malaria among others.
- Positioned the advocacy and communication team as leading in articulating the intersection between malaria and other humanitarian issues so as to better influence policy and attract funders.
- Ghost writing op-eds for the CEO to strengthen the partnership's position as thought leader, including regularly featuring in the African Royal Society's African Arguments. My focus is earned media that attracts more attention and positions the organization's influencing.
- Leading in developing briefs, press statements, success stories and speeches to ensure quality and consistent messages.
- Leading media engagement and content collection that enabled us reach over 25 million people and feature in top tier media such as The Guardian, Radio France International and BBC.
- Leading social media engagement and creative content production that enabled us more than double our reach within six months.
- Utilising my contacts and knowledge from the humanitarian sector to ensure that malaria is streamlined in humanitarian discourse within and outside the UN.
- Strengthened our private sector engagement, working with key players to influence private sector discourse, campaigns, outlook and investment in malaria.
- Strengthened donor participation by introducing a weekly newsletter to keep donors engaged with creative content and organizing donor weeks, featuring key donors and their contributions while encouraging serious discourse on targeted key issues and challenging stakeholders for sustainable solutions.
- Increased donor trust and ensured renewed funding when I took the burn rate from under five percent to over 60 percent within six months.
- Strengthened donor reporting by introducing human interest stories and utilizing data from the malaria dashboard to show impact.
Programme Policy Officer
United Nations World Food Programme
06.2021 - 04.2024
- As Head of the editorial team in Uganda, I led Communications, Advocacy and Marketing, supporting technical teams to plan their advocacy and visibility work, and ensuring that WFP is seen as an inclusive that is working on influencing and supporting government’s policies on food, refugee response and related issues such as WASH, environment and health.
- Leading and developing strategies for inclusive country campaigns on food and health rights, climate justice, social protection, development and humanitarian issues, including gender.
- Coordinating partners for joint campaigns strategy development and implementation.
- Managed team of four advocacy and communication experts to ensure that they effectively deliver on goals and manage advocacy and communication budget.
- Leading annual and quarterly reporting for key donors such as BMGF, Master Card Foundation, USAID, FCDO, Japan and China and exploring private sector opportunities.
- Contributing to proposal and ensuring they cover communications.
- Coordinating high level private sector and targeted advocacy global campaigns on behalf of the Uganda office, including for key days such as the Global Refugee Forum (GRF). Climate Change Conference (COP). Utilised data from WFP to develop all the messages for different audiences. For example, the technical briefs that are presented at the high-level meetings, messages for our community representatives, press messages and news releases, social media messages and infographics, all the speeches/ talking points as required.
- Supporting the development of monthly food prices monitor and using it to engage and influence private sector decisions.
- Led national campaigns for key days such as COP, World Food Day, Women’s Day, Human Rights Day, World Water Day and Human Rights Day. Guided the country team on which of the key days are most strategic for our campaigns. I led development of campaign strategies for the key days as well as developing messages for different online and off-line documents, including briefs, news releases, talking points/speeches (for both government and WFP representatives) and social media posts.
- Leading the country office and field communications and advocacy team, including giving technical guidance to the Communications for Development and advocacy teams in the field, budgeting and fundraising for communications and advocacy.
- Leading local and international media engagement, including pitching, media response, writing op-eds and features. I in 2023, I authored four pieces for WFP in the Guardian UK and shared tips with the regional team on how we can do more joint pieces to feature more. These garnered earned media space, including a piece on Christmas in Uganda's refugee response that explored the complex issue of food rations through simple and relatable storytelling.
- Leading crisis communication, including on key issues such as the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, COVID-19, food safety and private sector engagement risk communication.
- Contributing to proposal development and making sure that they integrate the human rights-based approach and activities have clear advocacy and communications plans.
- Managing a team of five communications and advocacy staff to ensure that there are proper work plans and communication, advocacy and fundraising goals are met.
- Being a member of the Country Management Team and ensuring communication issues are prioritized and included in programmes.
- Carrying out communication and advocacy training and mentorship for staff.
- Designing and updating Communication and Advocacy strategies for the country office, new and ongoing projects
- Developing and implementing the communications, private sector engagement and advocacy strategy and linking it to the global WFP strategy.
- Developing powerful messages and campaigns to influence government policies and laws on food and humanitarian response.
- Packaging WFP research and other technical information into diverse communications material ranging from news releases, op-eds, policy briefs, success stories to social media posts and infographics.
- Analyzing food and humanitarian laws and advising government and technical teams on ways to influence them.
- Writing and editing proposals and donor reports as well as producing donor-specific content and campaigns.
- Sharing a quarterly media context analysis called Food Time that I began.
- Packaging complex research and position papers into presentations for government and donors.
- Writing speeches for the WFP team, general UN team, government and donors.
- Participating in key advocacy working groups such as those on humanitarian advocacy, the localisation agenda, health advocacy and Strategic Development Goals.
- Online and offline monitoring and reporting on media and advocacy reach and engagements.
- Training government leaders and staff on advocacy and communication, including on UN reporting process such as the Universal Periodic Review, SDGs progress report and African Commission reports.
- Led research, policy & advocacy in humanitarian & development projects, developing research agendas & data use plan.
Technical Specialist/ Knowledge Management and Communications Specialist
USAID Integrated Agriculture, Abt Associates
12.2019 - 05.2021
- Led knowledge development for the USAID’s flagship resilience project that strengthened nutrition, education, health, WASH and nutrition as key vehicles to resilience for both refugees and host communities.
- Leading periodic donor spotlight campaigns alongside the USAID team.
- Using data, voices, stories and other content from the field to develop advocacy material right from research reports to technical briefs, policy briefs, blogs, opinion pieces, press statements, Tweets, Facebook posts, infographics, picture stories, vlogs and talking points.
- Connecting small businesses to Business Development Service Providers to enable them to get support to expand their businesses and using these success stories to craft the organization's sustainability narrative.
- Identifying case studies to help craft messages and the narrative on gender and resilience.
- Sending weekly updates to USAID, key public and private sector partners and ensuring that our content is interesting and captured.
- Leading advocacy and communication on gender, girl education, challenging harmful social norms, WASH and menstrual health in schools.
- Mentoring and developing capacity of staff in communications, private sector advocacy and providing technical advice
- Sitting on Senior Management Team and advising on the strategic role of communications in implementing the project.
- Coordinating media engagement and ensuring we share quality and captivating content
- Leading qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysing & packaging data to use as evidence to influence policy & practice
- Carrying out context analysis, risk and capacity assessments for communication partners prior to grants.
- Designing, implementing country & regional communications & advocacy, aligning with program and USAID strategy.
Research and Policy Coordinator
Oxfam in Uganda
05.2016 - 12.2019
- For three and a half years, I led research, policy and advocacy for Oxfam in Uganda’s humanitarian, WASH and development projects.
- Developing research agendas and data use plans to ensure Oxfam Uganda features in international inequality campaigns.
- Managing teams to brainstorm and conceptualize powerful and impactful research, including producing the first Uganda inequality report and one of the first in Africa.
- Managing the USD 1 million inequality campaign and media engagement.
- Leading research on inequality and making sure messages link both humanitarian and development interventions and show case how the compliment each other.
- Producing Oxfam in Uganda’s first inequality report on key drivers of inequality, including education and health.
- Co-wrote the inequality report on land policies and practice as a driver of inequality.
- Collecting content and developing policy positions on diverse issues such as refugees and education, women’s unpaid care work affects girls’ education, land laws in Uganda, illicit financing and extractives.
- Leading advocacy for the three organization themes of resilient livelihoods, humanitarian and governance, and coordinating campaigns for partners across these themes.
- Led advocacy on gender, which was a cross cutting theme
- Developing advocacy and campaign strategies for different themes, as well as the country advocacy strategy
- Linking the national advocacy strategy to global strategy, participating in global and regional advocacy planning and campaigns
- Leading campaigns such as that on reforming World Bank Public Private Partnerships in education, Women’s unpaid care workload as a barrier to work and education, Financing to maternal Health, Inequality, Empowering Local and National Humanitarian Actors and Education and Resilience for refugees.
- Drew the one program one campaign strategy that was commended at global level for integrating both humanitarian and development campaigns.
- Representing advocacy on the Humanitarian Country Team and making sure advocacy issues are captured and implemented in Humanitarian projects.
- Support communications, producing blogs, vlogs, info graphics, talking points, press statements.
- Media training and mentorship to the team.
- Engaging journalists to ensure we have equality global and national coverage.
- Leading engagements on inequality with the World Bank, IMF and Ministry of Finance.
- Coordinating with other NGOs to report on SDGs and compliance to other global goals and conventions.
- Was part of the country strategy team, a small team chosen because of their foresight and understanding of the country program, to plan for the next five years.
Global Media Officer
Oxfam International
01.2019 - 04.2019
- This job involved coordinating 90 countries and supporting regional communications teams to ensure quality content for global campaigns.
- Supporting global and regional campaign and public engagement teams to design communication and campaign strategies, and to produce content for social media and traditional media platforms.
- Led the GROW team to campaign for the rights of small holder farmers, laborers and to push for climate change policies that benefit the poorest.
- Led public engagements and producing content for key events such as the IMF and World Bank springs meeting and World Economic Forum.
- Regular context analysis of the international media and updating the team on trends and hooks that we can ride on to push our messaging.
- Coordinating different countries and global teams, mapping their communication needs and giving them the necessary support.
- Global media monitoring and reporting.
- Supporting countries to develop media and advocacy strategies.
Research Manager/ Manager Land and HIV Unit
Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum
12.2015 - 05.2016
- Here, I strengthened my competencies in legal advocacy and working with minority groups, as well as linking human rights to development
- Lead public interest litigation and advocacy on laws that affect civic space – For Example the NGO Act and regulations and The Equal Opportunities Commission Act.
- Reviewing laws that affect minorities, developing advocacy positions and messages to influence revision of the laws in a way that does not stifle civic space and human rights.
- Develop advocacy and media strategies and guidelines.
- Managing the land, HIV and advocacy budget.
- Linking HIV challenges to other public health issues such as malaria and proposing an integrated approach.
- Writing UN Universal Periodic Reviews and other international reports.
- Capacity building and training of staff in policy analysis and communication.
Communications and Legal Officer
Africa Institute for Energy Governance, AFIEGO
01.2013 - 12.2015
- This involved advocating for respect of human rights in the extractives industry.
- Managed the media and advocacy budget and contributed to proposal development, bringing in the first funding for gender and extractives and another for media.
- Program implementation and reporting, including sending regular updates to donors and writing narrative reports.
- I founded and ran the weekly newsletter.
- Developed AFIEGO’s communication strategy.
- Worked on proposals, including that which brought in AFIEGO’s first media grant.
- Led advocacy on laws to guarantee the right education, WASH and a clean and healthy environment.
- Produced regular blogs, narrative reports and briefing papers on extractives and energy rights issues and continuously trained and demonstrated to staff how to do the same.
- Regularly wrote and edited petitions and communique on extractives and energy rights.
- Worked with external lawyers to follow up and publicize progress on AFIEGO’s public interest litigation cases, including one on evictions to make way for the oil refinery without compensating those affected.
- To date, AFIEGO continues to work on women and extractives issues and the program is funded.
- Participated in engagements on extractives at regional level with AFIEGO Kenya office and other NGOs.
- Engaged with Parliament, Ministry of Energy and worked closely with the Civil Society Coalition on Oil to plan and implement joint advocacy activities.
- Worked with a consultant to develop AFIEGO’s website
- Managed the website and social media pages
- Produced videos and picture stories for the internet and different social media platforms.
- Led public health campaigns on malaria in the face of extractives and environmental challenges
- Regularly travelled to the field to document AFIEGO’s work and write success stories.
- Working on proposals to ensure they have a communications, advocacy and policy angle.
- Established impressive systems and the same donor continues to enthusiastically fund AFIEGO’s communications.
Senior Features Writer
The Observer Uganda
08.2008 - 04.2012
- Carrying out interviews and writing pieces for the newspaper across different sections such as news, features and the women’s magazine. Focus was health, education and social justice.
- Founded the women’s magazine Sizzling that wrote about women’s rights, children’s rights health and social justice issues in a light and easy tone that targeted the youth
- Supervised junior writers and interns to ensure quality and compliance with editorial style and standards.
- Challenged and changed the terrain on sexist advertising in Uganda through a feature story analyzing advertising of one telecom company.
Education
MA - Journalism and Communication
Makerere University
01.2010 - 01.2014
Bachelor’s Degree - Law
Makerere University
01.2005 - 01.2009
Skills
External and internal communications
Project management
Content production
Writing
Editing
Campaigns
Policy analysis
Legal analysis
Content coordination
Media outreach
Branding management
Thought leadership
Spokesperson experience
Social media coordination
Certificates and recognition
- Certified people and knowledge manager at Oxfam
- Proposal Writing and Finance Training Certificate from MZN
- Certificate in Human Rights and Access to Medicine from Makerere University
- Digital and Public Campaigning Certificate from Oxfam
- Currently enrolled in Oxfam’s Campaign, Advocacy and Influencing Leadership Programme (CALP)
Worksamples
- Who is growing? A study of the key drivers of inequality in Uganda
- ‘It’s a time to forget all the stress’: Christmas in Africa’s largest refugee camp
- Hunger and hope: Africans tell of desperation and innovation as climate summit meets
- Elephantiasis; visibly neglected
- A review of COVID-19 and the health and inequality dilemma in Uganda
- Breaking stereotypes in Ugandan agriculture
- Oil dollars versus environmental gems: The Wild Life Act and protection of biodiversity in Uganda's Albertine Graben region
- Silence far from golden for child labourers in the mines of Uganda
- Joseph Kony's child army and the ivory trade that pays its bills
- How insults and a campaign over sanitary towels landed activist in jail
- Ugandans fear curse of oil wealth as it threatens to blight 'Pearl of Africa'
- Stories of change: One woman at a time
- Inside the world's largest refugee camp: 'We just want to go home'
- Health through safe drinking water
Personal Information
Date of Birth: 05/02/86
Awards
- The David Astor Journalism Award, 2013
- The Uganda Human Rights Commission Award, 2011
- Most inspiring Ugandan women under thirty, 2013
- Movers and shakers of the Internet in Uganda, 2017
- Under the David Astor Journalism Award program, I had a three-month fellowship in the UK in 2013 I worked for The Independent, The Times London and The Observer UK. I published feature stories and opinions I have continued to freelance for international media to date.
- My work got me an interview on BBC’s women’s hour I have also been invited as a commentator on Ugandan politics and elections on Aljazeera and Guardian Podcast among others.
- Between 2013 and 2016, I worked part time as a producer with German TV, the national German Broadcaster We produced several stories including one on refugees in Uganda, the budding movie industry and the perceptions of beauty and stereotypes among Ugandan women.
- I also featured on German TV for my work challenging Uganda’s Anti-Pornography Act and organizing women to protest the same.
- In December2015, I was a consultant for Human Rights Watch, gathering information on Uganda’s health sector and drug stock outs.
Poetry and dance
Nothing like a good poem and a little dancing to keep those creative juices flowing and recharge to carry on the monumental task of influencing for more inclusive policies and systems.
Awards and Fellowships
- Under the David Astor Journalism Award program, I had a three-month fellowship in the UK in 2013 I worked for The Independent, The Times London and The Observer UK. I published feature stories and opinions I have continued to freelance for international media to date.
- My work got me an interview on BBC’s women’s hour I have also been invited as a commentator on Ugandan politics and elections on Aljazeera and Guardian Podcast among others.
- Between 2013 and 2016, I worked part time as a producer with German TV, the national German Broadcaster We produced several stories including one on refugees in Uganda, the budding movie industry and the perceptions of beauty and stereotypes among Ugandan women.
- I also featured on German TV for my work challenging Uganda’s Anti-Pornography Act and organizing women to protest the same.
- In December2015, I was a consultant for Human Rights Watch, gathering information on Uganda’s health sector and drug stock outs.
Timeline
Advocacy and Communications Manager
United Nations Office
04.2024 - Current
Programme Policy Officer
United Nations World Food Programme
06.2021 - 04.2024
Technical Specialist/ Knowledge Management and Communications Specialist
USAID Integrated Agriculture, Abt Associates
12.2019 - 05.2021
Global Media Officer
Oxfam International
01.2019 - 04.2019
Research and Policy Coordinator
Oxfam in Uganda
05.2016 - 12.2019
Research Manager/ Manager Land and HIV Unit
Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum
12.2015 - 05.2016
Communications and Legal Officer
Africa Institute for Energy Governance, AFIEGO
01.2013 - 12.2015
MA - Journalism and Communication
Makerere University
01.2010 - 01.2014
Senior Features Writer
The Observer Uganda
08.2008 - 04.2012
Bachelor’s Degree - Law
Makerere University
01.2005 - 01.2009
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