Over 150 govt entities pass 2022 gender test

For the first time in recent years, a total of 158 government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have all passed the 2022 gender and equity test after they attained the minimum 50 percent mark and above.
According to the latest Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) report that was released yesterday at the Office of the President, the Commission chairperson, Ms Safia Juuko Nalule, revealed that they assessed 158 ministerial policy statements of all government MDAs.

 “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and inequalities is critical to addressing the different development concerns of the marginalised and vulnerable groups or persons, including women, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and rural and urban poor, hence more needs to be done by both,” Ms Nalule said, in an interview with Daily Monitor last evening.
 According to the new report, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development topped the EOC assessment with 92 percent, followed by the Ministry of Water and Environment with 82 percent and EOC in the third position with 81.8 percent.
 The Ministry of Tourism scored 80.6 percent, Kyambogo University 79.6 percent and Kampala Capital City Authority 76.8 percent.

 The least performing entities are the Uganda Embassy in Doha, Qatar, at 51.50 percent, the Mission in Malaysia at 51.5 percent and Mission in Belgium at 52.5 percent. “The Commission assessed the National Budget estimates and 18 Programme Budget Framework Papers for 2022/23 to establish the extent to which the development programmes had specified measures undertaken to equalise opportunities for men, women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalised groups. The national average score was 65 percent,” Mr Bashir Lukungu, the head of research monitoring and evaluation at EOC, said.
Meanwhile, the state of equal opportunities in employment in the private institutions reveals that gender stereotypes about women and men employment for some jobs or industries persist.
The report also indicates that women were perceived not to be eligible to work in “hard manufacturing factories” such as  steel and construction. “This attitude, if not transformed, is likely to affect the government’s gains in addressing gender inequality and women empowerment,” the report notes.

ON ACCESS TO LAND  
The report revealed 54 percent of respondents did not easily access credit when needed while only 45.9 percent were able to access it. The report also indicates that the majority of the respondents (78.5 percent) had access to land.