By APN Reporter
apearlnews.com
President Yoweri Museveni has said the NRM government has always championed women’s emancipation.
“The NRM position right from the beginning was to look at the whole society with the aim of transforming it. The problem with Africa is that we have delayed social and economic transformation. In the last 600 years, Africa has lagged behind in the process of social and economic transformation. However, in our efforts for social economic transformation, we used a number of stimuli from the beginning, “he said. The first one was the strong security apparatus to maintain peace in the country. Our girls are part of that structure. I am not surprised by insecurity in some parts of Africa because some of our brothers look at this issue in a different way. Patriotism, Pan Africanism, and social economic transformation led to the building of a strong army. “
The president and NRM national chairman were speaking during the International Women’s Day celebrations held at Kololo under the theme “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.”
He noted that there are no longer refugees, including women, moving out of Uganda to other countries or being refugees in their own country due to the peace enjoyed by the country.
The president, who was accompanied by the First Lady, Janet Museveni, added that the NRM government emphasized political emancipation for women by ensuring affirmative action, which has seen many women politicians come up, unlike before.
When you look at parliament, if we were to look for only constituency MPs, the number of women would be smaller than it is now. We would have only 26 women in parliament out of the 300 MPs or so. Because of our knowledge of society, we said let women compete with men but also have a portion of theirs. We said that in each district, there should be a seat for women.
“What you are celebrating now when I appoint some women as Vice President or Prime Minister, etc., is an outward sign that women can manage. It doesn’t mean you will all go and sleep in her house or that she will share her salary with you. “
The president noted that the policy of education for all has ensured that the literacy levels go up for everyone, including women.
“We introduced UPE and want it to be free education. You can see government schools are now full of children, and because of that education, women have come up. In 2001, the number of girls in schools was 24%, but today, they are 49.9% of the enrollment. The literacy rate for women is 72%, up from 43% in 1986. If we could implement completely free education in government schools, we could move much faster, “he noted. Museveni,
however, noted that what remains is the total economic empowerment of women to ensure they are no longer vulnerable.
He said the new programs like the Parish Development Model and Emyooga are set to address this and ensure women, among other members of society, are economically empowered.
This is what I want you to concentrate on this time through the Parish Development Model and Emyooga. This will cause big changes in society. In this term, I want you to understand this effort to empower women economically. Once a woman has got her own money, she will no longer be as vulnerable as those who depend on others. This is our broad program for social-economic transformation, including women’s empowerment.
The function was also attended by the Vice President, Maj (RTD) Jessica Alupo, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the NRM Women’s League chairperson, Lydia Wanyoto, and Hajati Faridah Kibowa, the Women’s Council Chairperson, among others.
