KAMPALA, Uganda (LifeSiteNews) — The Ugandan government recently postponed its signing of an agreement with the European Union (EU) and a coalition of African, Caribbean, and Pacific nations due to the agreement’s lack of clarity on points related to sexuality and gender ideology.
Uganda, which has remained firm in its traditional values amid ongoing pressure from the West to accept radical sexual ideologies, announced late last week its decision to defer signing the New Partnership Agreement (NPA) with the EU and the Organization of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States (OAOCPS) while seeking clarification on language concerning “gender equality,” “discrimination,” sex and sex education, and marginalized groups.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, the agreement includes 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific and threatens to impose radical gender and sex “education” on conservative nations and undermine their respective sovereignty. It was signed on November 15 and legally binds signatories for the next two decades.
On Friday, November 17, the Ugandan Parliament announced that it would not sign the agreement until clarification on these issues and complete understanding of the agreement has been reached. The New Partnership Agreement, which is the latest installment under the overarching Samoa Agreement, is designed to address issues related to “human rights” and development, governance, security, “environmental sustainability,” and migration.
The document specifically requires signatories to enforce “human rights,” including “non-discrimination” practices based on sex. It also suggests that internationally recognized “human rights violations” encompass “sexual and gender and identity-based violence,” which are also required to be responded to as “human rights violations.” However, it is unclear what would be considered “violence” in this language, as the word is not defined in the document.
The EU has a history of promoting anti-life policies and ideologies. For years, the EU has promoted the LGBT agenda, reaching a new level in 2016 when all 28 member states agreed to defend so-called “LGBTI equality” in a first for the multi-national organization.
Earlier this month, the nation of Namibia rejected the NPA, citing the threat to its protected sovereignty and “fundamental concerns” the African government had with the agreement’s language.
The NPA is a replacement of the Cotonou Agreement, another EU-led policy that focused on trade and economic principles with African nations. This trade deal was first signed in 2000 and extended past its 2019 expiration date due to COVID-19.
Uganda’s latest opposition to liberal points in the NPA comes a year after it raised the same concerns during the African, Caribbean, and Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) summit in November 2022.
Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Uganda, said at the time that his nation objected to “hidden clauses concerning human rights,” specifically alleged “rights” related to gender ideology and abortion. He argued that the EU was trying to force them to endorse such practices by signing the updated agreement.
“We are a society that is not ready for homosexuality, and we are a society that is not ready for abortion,” Tayebwa said during the 2022 summit. “We are not yet a society that has lost the moral compass.”
Uganda has not overtly refused to sign the NPA. At this point, the government has simply deferred its commitment to the agreement while it seeks further clarification on its language.
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