The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Women activists from 17 non-governmental organisations and nine individuals under their umbrella organization, Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) have listed seven demands they want government to pay attention to in a bid to improve the social welfare of girls and women in Uganda.
This comes amidst general conviction that the women are increasingly playing an important role in political, economic and social activities that are driving social transformation of countries across the world.
In Uganda, over 52% of the population (over 40 million people) are women, the rest (48%) are men.
The activists want government to address systematic issues in the health sector through recruitment and retention of skilled health workers, availing drugs and necessary equipment and revising fees required to access and receive services at Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital.
They also want Parliament to expedite the enactment of the marriage and divorce bill and the sexual offences bill which are currently under discussion in Parliament. They also say government should enforce the existing land laws and policies as well as uphold the provisions on land in the constitution particularly Article 26 that provides for prior compensation for the deprivation of property by government. Government should also establish a land fund for women to enable them own and control land.
The women also demand that the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Act should be revisited to revise nomination fees for presidential and parliamentary candidates. And that the Uganda Police should ensure that elections are always peaceful, calm and safe for all players. They also demand that the police should expeditiously investigate gender based violence (GBV) cases and bring the culprits to book to serve as a lesson for the would be offenders engaged in similar acts. And also, courts of law should prioritise cases of GBV.
The ministry of education and sports should expedite the investigation of reported sexual violence cases in schools and that whoever is found guilty should be dismissed and persecuted and their teaching license revoked.
They also ask government to assess the gendered impacts of taxes and accord a gender approach to taxation.
UWONET’s Executive Director, Rita Aciro said that for these demands to yield meaningful results, the media should have interest in reporting about them regularly so that policy makers and other players can respond accordingly.
Aciro added that the future of women in Uganda and beyond starts with good policies and practices of raising the girl child right from their homes up to institutions of learning and other places.
“We demand our girls to live in a safe environment,” she said.
The activists announced the demands at the official opening of the ongoing 4th National Women’s Week at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Oct.23.
It is running under the theme ‘crossing barriers, building bridges; unleashing collective power.’ The event ends this Friday.
