The Ugandan delegates at the CSW conference.
The Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Hon. Janat Mukwaya has stressed the need for harnessing citizen generated data in order to ensure effective monitoring of women programmes.
Speaking during the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) conference in New York from 13th to 26th March, 2018 she resonated the voices of women and girls living in rural areas in Uganda who constitute a greater portion of people whose activities include economic production, care and support to families as well as community.
She said government’s overarching planning framework which is in line with the National Development Plan II (NDP II) and 2030 Global development Agenda is to ensure that no one is left behind. Initiatives are being undertaken to increase household incomes by increasing the quantity and quality of agriculture production for rural communities through modern farming methods, policy and legal reforms in the land sector to guarantee women right to access, utilization and ownership of land, expansion of road and communication infrastructure to facilitate movement of persons and marketing of goods and enhancing human capital development, the quality of education, health and social services.
Hon. Mukwaya reiterated recommendations as received from rural women and girls in Uganda to the delegates as follows; enhance dialogue with women and girls to capture their needs from lived experiences in policy formulation, planning and programming; support women and girls to attain education, life skills and literacy including financial literacy as a springboard for holistic development; address all forms of Gender Based Violence (GBV) including child marriage, Female Gender Mutilation (FGM) through strategies for prevention and responses that bring on board men and boys as behavioural change agents and advocates.
Speaking during the CSW side event, the Chairperson EOC, Mrs. Sylvia Muwebwa Ntambi expressed her gratitude for all members present. She noted that, “This year’s theme on transforming the lives of rural women and girls was timely because Gender and Equity is instrumental as we strive to realize a just and fair Uganda wherein all Ugandans have equal opportunity to participate, contribute and benefit from national development efforts.”
She asserted that until involvement and participation of women in decision making processes and enhancing their financial capacity by availing affordable credit, market opportunities and institute affirmative action measure for them is not undertaken, gender and equity planning and budgeting may not be far reaching.
Ms. Zaminah Malole, Member of the Commission chaired the discussion and responded to a number of questions raised on how far Uganda has gone in implementing gender and equity plans for inclusive development. The session was interactive and exposed the strides Uganda has taken in gender and equity planning and budgeting in the different sectors
The event which is held annually was attended by government officials, civil society organisations and development partners from all over the globe.
