The government of Uganda has registered some achievements as it prepares to celebrate the International Day for Rural Women which is held annually on 15th October.
The Minister of state Gender and Culture affairs Hon. Peace Mutuuzo while speaking at the Eve of the event in Kampala said that the day helps create awareness about government policies and programmes in place to support and safeguard women as they perform thier roles at house hold and national level.
Showing the relevancy of women in the economic sector, the minister noted the high involvement of women in business.
“The MasterCard index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) has continuously ranked Uganda top at the global scale among economies having the most women business owners”. She said. She revealed that Uganda is ranked with 39.6% as one of the world’s three leadung economies having the most women business owners followed by Botswana at 38.5% and Ghana in third place at 36.5%.
With programmes such as Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme(UWEP) launched in financial year 2015/16, Social Assistant Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) among others, the women have managed to get financial help to uplift thier welfare.
However women still face challenges which the Government says is working on to enable women join business. According to the minister, these challenges include Gender Based Violence, defilement cases, heavy involvement in domestic responsibilities, high poverty levels due to low ownership of property by women among other challenges.
The national event will take place in Galilaaya sub County in Kayunga district.
