Napak women urged to involve in empowerment projects

Napak, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leaders in the Napak district have challenged the women to actively participate in the empowerment programs and make their voices heard.

Currently, the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), in partnership with the Nakere Rural Women Activist (NARWAO) and Hope for Karamoja Children Foundation (HCF), with support from the Royal Danish Embassy in Uganda, is implementing the Women’s Amplified Voices for Accountability (WAVA) project.

The 3-year project aims to improve women-led accountability for gender responsive service delivery and climate justice in the Karamoja sub-region, covering districts of Napak, Karenga, Kotido, Amudat and Nakapiripirit.

However, the leaders have raised concerns that many women empowerment projects have been implemented in the district without the active participation of women.

They are now urging the FOWODE partner to ensure that they consider the full involvement of women in the project and pay attention to their concerns.

Esther Munyes, a senior Community Development Officer in charge of Gender in Napak district, said that local women should take up empowerment projects as essential initiatives that can promote gender equality and enhance social, economic and political status.

Munyes highlighted that the women are still grappling with the cultural norms and inequalities which hinder them from participating in the decision-making processes and rights to property ownership.

She noted that the partners need to work collectively to ensure that such barriers are unlocked through providing space for the rural women to raise their voices on the real issues affecting them.

Munyes observed that many times, partners often focus on the numbers and forget to take into consideration the number of women who speak on their matters. She noted that the negative norms have been maintained in a way that limits women’s participation in decision-making by letting men speak for them.

Munyes also raised the concern about ownership and control of assets that have always hindered rural women from empowerment.

Munyes said that women cannot easily benefit from the empowerment programs, such as GROW funds, that require women to present their properties as collateral in order to access the money.

She urged the project implementers to ensure that they open up the minds of women in terms of having ownership and working for their own assets. She also called for financial literacy and more skills to be able to compete in the money economy.

Milton Odongo, the Napak Resident District Commissioner, said the WAVA project inception is timely because sensitisation of women on accountability for service delivery has been lacking.

Odongo said that the women need to be empowered to fight corruption and ensure proper accountability from the household up to government institutions.

Odongo is optimistic that women would be better at demanding quality service delivery since they are the primary consumers.

He urged the women to promote democracy and ensure that they also take up some of the leadership roles in the community.

Odongo challenged the partners to be non-partisan and not mislead the local communities in the ongoing political season.

He noted that some non-governmental organisations have been disguising themselves to be under community empowerment organisations when they are promoting the opposition parties.

Emmanuel Kashaija, a program manager at the FOWODE organisation, said that the project will harness the capacities of over 20,000 people, especially women in the Karamoja region and at a national level, with the objectives of increasing women’s participation in decision-making processes and strengthening accountability mechanisms to foster effective service delivery.

He said that the project would also prioritise the gender responsive policies and climate adaptations for women and marginalised families in the region.

Kashaija observed that people who are causing climate change are not affected, and it is only women who are experiencing the negative impacts.

He challenged the government to consider prioritising the climate change adaptation strategies in its planning budget.

Kashaija demanded that the quality of services women receive in the health, education sectors, and in the delivery of the Parish Development Model (PDM) program be gender responsive.

He said that the girls should also be supported in schools by providing emergency sanitary towels to help them encourage retention at school and fight against gender based violence that has often led to school dropouts.

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