3 DAY DIALOGUE TO DELIBERATE ON ISSUES OF DISCRIMINATION, MARGINALIZATION AND EXCLUSION AGAINST YOUTH, OLDER PERSONS, WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED BY MDAS IN THE NATIONAL BUDGET FOR THE FY23/24
The Equal Opportunities Commission held a 3 day Dialogue at the Commission headquarters at Kingdom Kampala to deliberate on issues of discrimination, marginalization and exclusion against youth, older persons, women, children and people with disabilities, which must be addressed by MDAs in the National Budget for the FY23/24.
The Dialogue was spearheaded by the Chairperson of the Commission, Hon. Safia Nalule Juuko, and graced by various honorable guests including Members of Parliament, Committee members, and Commissioners from various Ministries.
Through audits like the Annual Report on the State of Equal Opportunities, the Commission has assessed the participation of Youth, Women, People with Disabilities, and Older Persons in development programs and made recommendations for their increased participation and benefit.
The Assessment of the MDA Budget Framework Papers also unfortunately showed a decline in compliance to Gender and Equity requirements compared to the previous financial year.
Some of the issues discussed included:
More decentralization to guide funds to the Youth, Women, People with Disabilities, and Older Persons
Ring-fencing opportunities for the Youth, Women, People with Disabilities, and Older Persons
Mental health awareness and support for the Youth, Women, People with Disabilities, and Older Persons
Deliberate involvement of the Youth, Women, People with Disabilities, and Older Persons in programs and initiatives
Discrimination of vulnerable Youth, Women, People with Disabilities, and Older Persons from scholarships and beneficial programs in favor of their
better placed and connected counterparts
There were also two relatively new key issues raised in the Dialogue by Hon. Sarah Opendi:
1. Sex Trafficking here in Uganda, where women and girls are deceptively recruited and forced into captive sex work. This is an alarming development and needs to be crushed before it can grow and spread.
2. Inattention to deadly diseases like sickle cells, which has a survival rate of less than 20% for babies born with it. She emphasized the need for couples need to get tested before having children so as to avoid such predicaments.
More pictures form the Dialogue.
