VP ALUPO ROOTS FOR EQUAL TREATMENT FOR WOMEN

The Vice President of Uganda, Her Execellency Jessica Alupo has called for equal treatment for women and men in the society for Uganda to develop.

The right to equal treatment between men and women is one of the rights stipulated in the Constitution of Uganda.

When women receive the same education and job opportunities as men, they can improve any organisation they join and transform the communities they live in.

“God created man and woman in his image. We are all equal before God. Therefore, whatever we are doing in this world, should be on equal basis as men and women if we are to transform our communities,” Alupo said.

The Vice President made the remarks while presiding over the belated International Women’s Day celebrations for Kampala at Hotel Africana on Tuesday.

Alupo revealed that women are role models to the children and should always ensure they inspire them by doing good deeds.

In appreciating the women, Alupo gave the Kampala women Council leaders UGX 40m which was a contribution from President Yoweri Museveni.

She revealed that government is interested in ensuring women in Uganda are empowered and has designed various programs to help them.

The Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs Hajat Minsa Kabanda commended the women of Kampala for being hardworking.

“Women in Kampala are hardworking and should be a model for development. Government has supported them in various ways but we need further funding,” Kabanda said.

She encouraged women to learn to support and build each other as the best way of transformation.

“When you develop a woman, you develop the whole community. That is why it is important to have women empowered,” Kabanda said.

She asked the women to embrace the Parish Development Model (PDM) program which is a new government initiative to get Ugandans out of poverty.

The KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka revealed that KCCA is putting women and girls at the centre of the city planning and action revealing that the institution integrates gender perspectives in implementing national laws and policies in the context of the climate crisis and disaster risk reduction in Kampala.

“We have put in place interventions and are further exploring ways in which women and girls can lead on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response, contributing to decision making and change-makers to a more sustainable future in the city,” Kisaka said.

She appealed to the women in Kampala to take advantage of “our natural endowments” and the opportunities brought by climate change.

“As a country we are gifted by nature. We have all year rain and sunshine and organic food. These three elements can be used to tap into harvesting rain water as an alternative water source at a larger scale,” Kisaka said.

She urged the women to embrace solar for lighting because of the available all-year sunshine and make briquettes out of the abundant solid waste.

Kisaka asked the women to champion the Smart City campaign to develop Kampala.

“The Smart City slogan and campaign is our clarion call for all citizens young and old to do their part to make our Capital City shine,” Kisaka said.

Grace Kanyike, the Chairperson Kampala Women's Council said that though government funding through Operation Wealth Creation, Youth Livelihood Program and Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Program has elevated the status of women, there is need to increase the money.