Use Parish Model, Emyooga to empower women - Museveni

He emphasised that creating wealth for women was one way of consolidating the progress made in the gender equality movement. 

He said once women are economically empowered, many of their challenges would be addressed. 

“The most important empowerment is economic empowerment. This  is what I want you to concentrate on this time. The two channels, the PDM and Emyooga will definitely make big changes in society. Once a woman has her own money, she will not be as vulnerable as those depending on a man for a livelihood,” he said.

Despite being the majority population at 51 percent, women hold less wealth compared to their male counterparts. 

The President  believes that transforming the economic status of women will help him hit the elusive dream of middle income status and result in general social economic transformation.

“This Kisanja [term] I want to help you understand this stimulus of empowering women through economic empowerment.  We want Uganda to become a middle income society with a skilled population to phase out the peasants,” he said.

The Parish Development Model, launched last week, is the latest of the numerous government anti-poverty schemes projected to lift 3.5million households from subsistence production to the money economy. 

Under the Emyooga Programme, President Museveni said the women must be inculcated as an independent category. The Emyooga programme was launched in 2019, with a revolving fund worth Shs560m at every constituency.  

Mr Museveni also urged women to embrace commercial agriculture.

The President also advised implementers of the programme on how to use the PDM money. 

According to Mr  Museveni, in the next financial year, each borrower will receive Shs1m. This means the Shs100m due to be disbursed next financial year will benefit 1oo households  per parish. 

For parishes with more households, the President said they should tap into other poverty alleviation programmes such as Operation Wealth Creation. 

This year’s Women’s Day was marked under the theme: ‘Building on women’s strength for a better future in a Covid-19 world. 

Reports have indicated that women tend to be disproportionately affected by shocks like the pandemic, with many exposed to gender-based violence’.

Women demand for more

Speakers at the event hailed the government for the progress made in advancing the rights of women in the country, including political representation, education, improved health and property ownership, among others. 
Statistics indicate that 44 percent of the Ugandan Cabinet is made up of women, while in Parliament, they make up 35 percent. 
President Museveni said he had appointed women to top positions because he is confident in their abilities. 

“We created these structures deliberately. The women’s councils are like internships. You are learning how to be a leader and some of these ministers, many of them started off [there].What you are celebrating now, when  I appoint some of you vice president, prime minister to be in charge of Uganda, it is a sign that women are able, and also helps in shaping views,” he said.

However, there are concerns that the achievements made at the top are hardly reflected at the grassroots where many are still lagging behind and benefit minimally from government development projects. 
UN Resident Coordinator Susan Ngongi Namondo said specific policy and legal frameworks are necessary to bridge the gender gap, and cushion women from vagaries  of climate change. 

“Women still enjoy less of their rightful share of the overall development progress both globally and nationally. Great inequality still remains and women are faring less well,” She said.

According to Ms Ngongi, government should direct more resources to sectors like health and environment that have a direct impact on the welfare of women. 

The Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Ms Betty Amongi, said cultural myths remain a major impediment in gender equality, underscoring the importance of women representation at all levels of governance. 

“Give women and girls the same opportunities as males. We want to join the table because it is on that table that decisions are made, let our perspective be reflected on that table. We want access to justice for women whose rights are being abused,” she said.

She also called on the public to support government campaigns against teenage pregnancies.
Ms Faridah Naboowa, the chairperson of the National Women Council, called on government to put in place mitigation measures against climate change, and skill women in smart agriculture, and value addition.