Investments that would make a difference
Without empowering girls and women, the injustices they face will erode any health gains achieved in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals. File photo.
What you need to know:
Focus areas. There is a need to consider women as a critical part of the development agenda or all efforts may be for naught. How then can we improve women’s lives? Brian Mutebi explores.
Think for a moment. Don’t women deliver more than babies? Maybe they do. Of course they do. Women carry more than babies or water. They carry families.
They carry businesses. They carry potential. Yet they suffer inequality, violence and discrimination. Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of Global Journal, warns that if this continues – a situation where women are not looked at as a critical part of the development agenda – not even the billions of dollars poured into global economies will achieve anything.
“Without empowering girls and women, the injustices they face will erode any health gains achieved in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals,” he says.
To that effect, the Lancet together with women’s health and rights advocacy organisation, Women Deliver published a handbook codenamed Deliver for Good highlighting 12 interventions – Key Investment Cases – that are hoped to improve the lives of women.
1. To improve maternal and newborn health and nutrition, Deliver for Good suggests access to affordable care before, during and after pregnancy; quality midwifery and obstetric care including exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months.
2. Meet the demand for modern contraception and reproductive health
3. Respect, protect and fulfill sexual health and rights.
4. Ensure access to compressive health service
5. Dramatically reduce gender based violence and harmful practices.
6. Ensure equitable and quality education at all levels.
7. Boast women’s economic empowerment.
8. Strengthen women’s political participation and decision making power.
9. Accelerate access to resources such as land, clean energy, water and sanitation.
10. Invest in women to tackle climate change and conserve the environment.
11. Improve data and accountability for girls and women.
12. Build sustainable financing and partnerships for girls and women.
The 12 investment cases, it is stated, will empower progress for all, men and women. “Investing in girls and women creates the ripple effects that yield multiple benefits, not only for individual women, but for families, communities and countries,” stated Women Deliver.
The numbers
Some important statistics on the state of women in Uganda;
• 16 women die every day due to pregnancy related causes.
• 56 per cent of women reported physical and or sexual violence from a partner (2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey).
• Unmet family planning need is at 34 per cent and national contraceptives prevalence at 30 per cent
•Women supply 70 per cent to 80 per cent of agricultural labour yet only 30 per cent of them control the proceeds from land.
•Women own a paltry portion of land ranging between seven per cent and 20 per cent.
