Women's Day: Let us harness the  leadership potential for every woman

 

 

 

 

The day will be celebrated in Mbale district. It has been celebrated for almost a century now, the first being 1911. 

 

The day is meant to honour our mothers as they cele¬brate their continuous challenges to their enjoyment of full potential as equal citizens with equal rights with men. 

 

It is not trust ‘Women's' Day, even if that is how it is popularly celebrated, it is about gender awareness and democratic struggle to make the world a better place for all inhabitants both men and women. Gender equality is the equal ease of access to resources and opportunities. 

 

The 1995 Constitution Article 33 talks about women being accorded the same dignity with men. Article 34(2) provides that a child is entitled to basic education, which has to be the responsibility of both parents of the child and the State. 

 

The Children's Act provides for the right to education and guidance. All these, together with regional and international commitments such as African Charter on the Welfare and Rights of the child and now Sustainable Development Goals, require that governments take progressive measures to accelerate Universal Primary Education, which I am sure the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government has continued to implement hence, helping the girl child.

 

This year marks 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, considered the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women rights. 

 

It is an opportunity for women/men to reflect on the progress in women's economic empowerment, peace and security leadership and participation and defeating gender based-violence.

 

Following deliberate actions Uganda has made un-precedented progress. For example, the UPE, USE and UWEP programme, in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, has drastically improved the lives of women in many districts. Secondly, the recent women council elections has increased the demand for political space. 

 

What we need to do is to make sure there is sustainability in the coming elections where I expect women to leave the traditional ga¬zetted constituencies and compete with men. For example, how many women are willing to even compete for the Local Council 3? My argument here is that most gov-ernment services are delivered here and it is always the preserve of men to decide what to do.

 

Look at the Health Centre 3, where some "in-charges" disappear, they are all under the sub-county where local council 3 chairperson is the head and that's where women still face enormous constrains because they are not well represented in decision making at that level. 

 

There is also a stereotype still hanging in people's head's; this points to gender inequality in education and training mostly among parents that have not been convinced that a girl child can do better than the male counterpart, because we have been made to believe that there are tasks and careers for women and those for men.

 

I have seen some tendencies where women do not support each other and mentor others to greatness. Research conducted by the two renowned professors Tara and Dasgupta of the University of Massachusetts found that female membership encouraged a sense of belonging, motivation and confidence among the female engi¬neering workforce. 

 

The research noted that female mentors promot¬ed aspirations to pursue engineering careers by protecting women's belonging and confidence. Greater belonging and confidence were also associated with more engineering retention. Simply put, when women support each other, it builds confidence among the younger women and helps in retention of women in the workplace. 

 

While there has been a lot of progress in terms of representation at parliamentary level, private sector, civil society and academia and lower local government, there is need to examine and assess the quality of the voice of those women that occupy those positions and see how to improve for the better. Happy Women's Day. 

 

The writer is a Pan Africanist and resident district commissioner — Kabarole district