Women’s Month: What are you doing to break the bias?
Racheal Luwedde
What you need to know:
- This year’s Women’s Day and month came at such a time when women empowerment in the country has taken centre stage if the most recent government appointments are anything to go by.
World over, March 8 is commemorated as International Women’s Day. The 2022 celebrations were themed Break the Bias, with everyone being called upon to imagine a gender-equal world, free of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. In Uganda, over 30 female leaders were recognized and given medals of honor for their contribution towards empowering the girl child over the years during a colorful event held at the Kololo Independence Grounds.
This year’s Women’s Day and month came at such a time when women empowerment in the country has taken centre stage if the most recent government appointments are anything to go by.
READ:
Women occupy very senior positions in the Uganda government, including Vice President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Deputy Speaker of Parliament. Others are also holding senior cabinet dockets such as Health, Education, Energy, Minerals, Science, Technology, Innovation, Land, Urban Development, and Housing.
The same effort is being seen in different parts of the world. According to United Nations (UN) factsheets, women hold about 21 percent of ministerial positions globally. Only three countries have 50 percent or more women in parliament, and 23 countries are headed by a woman. Despite women’s increased presence in key decision-making roles, both equality and equity are still far off.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Teenage pregnancies fact sheet, there was a marked, somewhat shocking increase in teenage pregnancies in Uganda during the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic. Some 290,219 teenage pregnancies were recorded from January to September 2021 alone, translating to over 30,000 per month – a figure similar to the number of women that attended the March 8 celebrations at Kololo Independence grounds! This very sad reality pours cold water on all the benefits we have registered in the past.
In the same regard, UNFPA Gender-based Violence (GBV) fact sheet shows that 64.7 percent of the districts in Uganda had surging GBV cases between 2019 and 2021. About 18 districts registered a 100 percent increase in GBV cases from 2019 to 2020! Unfortunately, the majority of the people affected by this GBV are women and children.
Further, women in leadership roles still struggle with discriminatory norms and exclusionary policies that make rising through the ranks even harder. While some face undue bias on whether they have the necessary competencies to execute certain tasks, others face unending sexual harassment from their male colleagues. Even though some men also face unwelcome sexual advances, over 90 percent of the victims are women.
With all this and much more happening, gender parity will not be reached for another 100 years!!
As such, it is imperative that we, especially those who have broken the barriers of stigma, use our positions and ‘heard voices’ to balance equality.
In addition to the spotlight that has been placed on influential women this month, we should use the same opportunity to highlight some areas that need to be urgently worked upon. For instance: Creating a national, toll-free, and anonymous helpline for victimized women, developing and promoting a national whistleblowing platform, investing more in financial schemes for women and young girls who have suffered GBV and early pregnancies. This could be national assistive housing, food banks, or home shelters to business capital incentives, to mention but a few.
Inclusive and widespread equality is critical for the overall development of our country. As we continue to confront urgent challenges – from Covid-19 and its aftermath effects, economic regeneration, conflict, to mention but a few, we should not ignore that in a society where 5 out of 10 women or girls are empowered, the interests of the said society are better represented. Put differently, a society that empowers a woman has, in fact, empowered an entire family.
In all, let us break the bias against women and create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world.
Ms Racheal Luwedde is a Public Relations and Communications leader.
