Ugandan women to compete for OIC ambassadors of goodwill

In Istanbul Turkey

Ugandan eminent women are to compete for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States ambassadors of goodwill in the field of maintaining family values and their safeguards and empowering women.

This was agreed on and passed during the recent 6th Session of the Ministerial Conference on the Role of Women in the Development of Member States, which conference also applauded Uganda for its policies on women.

The session was organised by the General Secretariat of OIC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Family and Social Policies in the Republic of Turkey. It attracted ministers of the 56 Member States to review the most important challenges in the field of women empowerment and advancement, as well as the obstacles to the achievement of the OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW).

The conference was on November 1-3, 2016, in Istanbul, Turkey under the theme "The Status of Women in the OIC Member States in Light of the Current Challenges".

Uganda was represented by Hajjat Janat Mukwaya, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development. The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and First Lady, Emine Erdoğan.

Mukwaya said the conference specifically applauded Uganda's affirmative action on education for girls, the immunisation programme under ministry of health that has greatly improved Uganda's child mortality rate; women's access to resources for empowerment such as the Women's Fund. The Uganda's Land Act, according Mukwaya, was also applauded for recognising the women's role in owning land for productivity and property.

The Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) programme which was first launched in 14 pilot districts across the Eastern, Central, Western and Northen districts in Uganda (between 2010-2015), was one of the things Uganda was commended for, according to Mukwaya. Following the successful completion of the pilot in 2015, the Government of Uganda took a decision to roll out the Senior Citizens Grants to an additional 40 districts over the next 5 years; starting with 20 in Financial Year 2015/16, thereafter to 5 districts every year, till 2019/20.

The conference came up with four important resolutions on women empowerment and their role in development.

Mukwaya said the resolutions concern expediting the ratification of the Organisation of Women's Development Statute, appointing an OIC goodwill ambassadors in the field of maintaining family values and their safeguards and empowering women, adopting the updated OIC Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women (OPAAW) and adopting the concept paper on the establishment of the OIC Women Consultative Council (OWC).

President Erdogan said his country would make best use of its chairmanship of the 13th Session of the Islamic Summit by giving due attention to the status of women in the OIC Member States. He requested for the enforcement of the resolutions taken concerning women and giving effect to them in reality.

He commended the positive developments taking place with respect to the establishment of the OWC proposed by Turkey during the Istanbul Summit held in April 2016. He called for conducting a sound evaluation of the status of women in the Member States and for providing opportunities for the participation of women in the development of the Member States.

The OIC Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Hameed A. Opeloyeru, emphasised the importance of preparing policies, strategies and programmes, as well as enhancing the laws and legislations based on noble and tolerant Islamic laws that aim at improving the participation of women in the development process and empowering them to address the challenges they face.

Opeloyeru added that the agenda of the Session is considered very important to achieving the various goals aimed at enhancing the role of women in the social and economic development of the OIC Member States.

He noted that, throughout history, women have played an effective role in the social, political, cultural and economic lives of mankind. They have contributed to building civilisations and training generations. Yet women and young girls till today continue to face exclusion, marginalization and socio-economic difficulties, which has greatly constrained our developmental aspirations and advancement.

And that this ugly situation is further exacerbated by the psychological crises women face due to armed conflicts, fragility and instability, which the Muslim world is going through. He said these require policies, strategies and programmes, aimed at mobilising the energies of all segments of our populations, even as we strengthen those laws and legislations aimed at enhancing women participation in the development of Member States and Muslim societies. Appropriately, he said, the approach will enable them to overcome the daunting challenges faced by women as one of the vulnerable groups in our societies.

Opeloyeru said the efforts of OIC to advance the role of women began when the 32nd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers adopted a resolution calling for a ministerial conference to consider the role of women in the development of OIC Member States. He said the first session of the ministerial conference on the subject was held in Turkey on November 20 - 21, 2006 with regard to the preparation of the OIC Plan of Action on the Advancement of Women. This plan, he said, was adopted during the second session of the Ministerial Conference held in Cairo on November 24 - 25, 2008.

Mukwaya said participants presented measures to combat violence against women and gender inequality as well as efforts to curb the economic, social and psychological impact on the lives of women and girls in troubled areas and conflict zones. She called on Uganda to try hard to make timely contribution to the organisation so as to have a stronger bargaining voice.