8th March 2024

International Women’s Day 2024

In honour of International Women’s Day, this year we are paying tribute to all the incredible women that are at the beating heart of everything we do.

We recognize that women are at the centre of their communities, raising them up and sustaining them. However, in the villages that we work in Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo, it’s the women who are usually in the most marginalised positions in society. Often without a formal education, and with domestic expectations based on traditional gender roles, too many women lack independence and opportunity. At The Gorilla Organization, we actively promote gender equality by empowering women and girls through our community-based initiatives. For example, we ensure that girls attend our educational programmes in schools, teaching them valuable conservation lessons. We also train and equip women in skills such as bee-keeping and agriculture, and provide them with the resources they need in order to become financially independent.

In our gorilla monitoring work, we are also seeing more and more female rangers getting involved in conservation and leading the conservationists of the future. In other areas too, we have many amazing women running the Gorilla Organization projects. Jovia Basenga coordinates the Beekeeping Project, training beekeepers living close to the gorilla habitat in Uganda. Thanks to her work, people are finding alternative livelihoods, living independent of the gorilla habitat. There’s Regina Sanyu, our very own Farmer Trainer. She works helping communities to be less reliant on the gorilla habitat and instead grow their own crops sustainably and in a who heads up our Batwa Project, working with and empowering marginalized indigenous communities, giving many of them the chance to earn a living and more fully integrate into society.

And of course, we can’t forget our inspiring Director, Jillian Miller. Jillian has led The Gorilla Organization for over 30 years and is the founder of its award-winning community-led conservation. Without all these incredible women, we would not be who and where we are today, leading the conservationists of the future. “It’s been my privilege and inspiration to work alongside these amazing women in my 30 years as director of the Gorilla Organization. I’m in awe of their astounding ‘Deeds Not Words’. Happy International Women’s Day!” – Jillian Miller, Director of the Gorilla Organization.