The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT The speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga has noted that gender equality is a key driver of resilience to challenges like the COVID-19 Pandemic that has ravaged the world.
She was speaking on Monday during a virtual meeting platform of the 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament organized by the Parliament of the Republic of Austria.
Female Speakers representing parliaments and National Assemblies of states organized under the Inter-Parliamentary Union have called for increased economic empowerment of women and financial inclusion.
The meeting which was dedicated to “stepping up women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion” was moderated by Kadaga.
Speaker Kadaga said that gender equality is a key driver of fair, sustainable and just development and it is also key driver of resilience to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic that is on a global scale.
“Women workers are more likely than men to have the lowest paid and least protected jobs, often in the informal sector where they are excluded from tax-financed health coverage and from social benefit protections, such as pensions, social insurance, paid sick leave, or parental and care leave,” she added.
Also weighing in was the President of the Senate of Zimbabwe, Mabel Chinomona who said that COVID-19 has a more devastating effect on women and therefore all measures must be taken to avert the situation because they are suffering more through losing jobs.
“We still have a problem of financial inclusion of women and financial empowerment. Women’s economic empowerment requires changing structural political norms and social order by including women in all areas of decision making like political and administrative institutions,” she said.
Chinomona suggested that government ought to support women to studying Science Technology and Mathematics (STEM), the subjects currently influencing change in the world order. She added that this would empower women to compete favorably in the advancing global technological arena.
Tanzila Narbaeva, the Chairwoman of the Senate of Uzbekistan added that protecting the rights and insuring gender equality are a priority in Uzbekistan and this includes creating equal economic opportunity.
“Recently, we passed 16 Acts of Parliament that are linked to promoting gender equality to encourage female entrepreneurs and we have a center in our country that has been created to train women for that purpose,” she said.
Narbaeva further added that this goes a long way in empowering women financially and economically which in turn uplifts their status in society.
Gabriela Cuevas, the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) President encouraged the Speakers to utilize the platform to exchange best practices of women empowerment and to learn from each other.
She urged member states of the IPU to focus on economic empowerment of women especially in the areas of property rights, equal salaries and access to social security.
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