Minister warns police, army over denying officers full maternity leave
Police women during the International Women's Day celebrations at Kololo Independence grounds on March 8, 2022. PHOTO/POLICE/HANDOUT
What you need to know:
- The minister has warned that giving women fewer maternity days is likely to increase malnutrition in Uganda.
- Uganda’s Employment Act 2006, grants employees a fully paid maternity leave of at least 60 working days.
Senior government officials have warned that a short maternity leave granted to women, including those in, security agencies is greatly contributing to cases of malnutrition in Uganda.
Public Service state minister Grace Mary Mugasa shocked expressed dismay noting that officers were being allowed a month-long maternity leave, a practice she said renders breastfeeding difficult.
“A mother is a mother, be it a policewoman or soldier. They should be given adequate time to breastfeed their babies. We need to handle this topic as a whole government approach,” Mugasa said during the second dialogue on nutrition in Kampala.
She added: “You can’t have a developed economy when people have stunted brains.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months after birth and continue breastfeeding until age two.
General Duties minister Justine Kasule Lumumba, who represented Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, challenged institutions to ensure employees are granted adequate time to breastfeed babies.
“This will ensure proper growth of the babies,” she noted.
Health experts say the most critical time for good nutrition for a child is during the 100-day period from pregnancy until a child’s second birthday.
This is because during the days, the brain grows faster than at any other time in a person’s life and a child needs the right nutrients at the right time to foster the development of a brain.
Speaking at the same dialogue, UPDF public information officer Brig Gen Felix Kulaigye said women in the army are granted a 45-day maternity leave.
However, noted that “breastfeeding women are not deployed in military operations so that they are given ample time to attend to their babies.”
Uganda’s Employment Act 2006, grants employees a fully paid maternity leave of at least 60 working days.
“Most policewomen leave by hands to mouth and because of poverty, they come back before the days elapse to get something to eat,” a policewoman who preferred anonymity told Monitor.
Unicef nutrition manager Zakaria Fusheini said although Uganda has made progress in improving its nutrition indicators over the past 20 years, its progress remains less than desirable.
“The Nutrition Situation Report shows that 3% of children under five suffer from acute malnutrition and 1% suffer from severe acute malnutrition. The prevalence of underweight is at 10% (UBOS 2022) for children under 5 years, meaning one in every 10 children in Uganda has a low weight for their age,” he said.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) director for methodology, James Muwonge, said recent findings from two of their surveys indicated that stunting stood at 26 per cent in Uganda.
Malnutrition
WHO defines malnutrition as deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization.
