Female leaders urged to uplift fellow women

The UN women presentative in Uganda, Paulina Chiwangu, has called on women in leadership to support and uplift the status of their fellow females.

Chiwangu said that for women to have a meaningful change, there must be a holistic approach to enhance women leadership and adopt a feminist approach.

She explained that to achieve this, they need strong partnerships with actors waiting to advance women empowerment from government to private sector and beyond.

“For us to achieve meaningful change, we need to take a holistic approach, we need to enhance women leadership, adopt a feminist approach, enhance women skills, capacity development and address bias and norms across all sectors,” Chiwangu said.

She added: “In most of the countries that I have been to, I hear this statement, women are their own enemies, I have heard quite a number of times especially in the African region but it could be because we have struggled to reach where we are. European women hold each other.”

Speaking during the Women in Insurance strategic plan 2022-2026 launch in Kampala, Chiwangu urged the women to bring their fellow women closer to them or even above their level.

“Women will not be empowered until the last woman is empowered, so let’s not be comfortable that we have achieved while our sisters and mothers are suffering, lets us work together to achieve the main goal for ensuring the whole world achieve gender equality and women empowerment,” she said.

She thanked the women in insurance companies for identifying the role women can play in the insurance industry in Uganda.

The Director legal Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda, Francesca Kakooza, said that insurance uptake is increasing but there is still low penetration. She encouraged Ugandans to embrace the insurance system.

She however notes that as a regulator, they are trying to create awareness in the public about the advantages of insurance.

“We are working hard to ensure that the ordinary Ugandan knows about insurance and how it can help them against risks and losses. In Uganda, insurance is at 0.8 per cent, pushing to 0.9 per cent but UIA is aiming for higher,” she observed. 

However, she noted that like any other finance institution, insurance is faced by fraud.

“A lot of fraud comes to us. Customers forge losses so that they can claim from the insurance companies which is wrong,” Kakooza remarked. 

The president for Women in Insurance, Aphwa Sebyala, said they will advocate for better insurance terms for their gender and ensure that they are empowered to take up better positions like their male counterparts.