As the world celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, 2025, the theme “Accelerate Action” takes center stage. This global call to action emphasizes the need to acknowledge, support, and amplify strategies, resources, and activities that drive women’s advancement. In Uganda, this theme rings deeply, as the country continues to strive for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Despite progress in recent years, Ugandan women still face significant challenges in various aspects of life. Women’s participation in the workforce, politics, and decision-making processes remains limited. They also continue to bear the brunt of poverty, lack of access to education and healthcare, and violence.
Speaking on local television, Lydia Wanyoto, the National Chairperson of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Women League said that in order to accelerate action and drive women’s advancement in Uganda, several strategies like economic empowerment have been employed.
“The government of Uganda has invested economic empowerment programs like GROW which are helping to bridge the gender gap. The future of empowering women economically should home grow. In my mind I have the Parish Development Model, the women enterprise fund support, fund that will reach the last woman on the village. The majority of the Ugandan woman is at the village where their empowerment is at the parish level which is easy to access physically and geographically, ” Wanyoto said.
“For women to be empowered economically, we must tailor their business, trade within the home setting because the role of the mother must remain, but she must have something for the pocket and something to contribute to the household which is a direct relationship to fighting domestic violence,” she added.
According to Barbara Nabaasa, a teacher at Kigezi high school, the Ugandan government has invested in girls’ education through Universal Primary Education (UPE) affirmative action policy and women’s education and vocational training.
“Young girls have been able to acquire minimal education to help them read and write. At least most females can acquire small jobs after finishing Primary education. The 1.5 points added to a female student on their university admission score is designed to increase the number of women enrolling in higher education. The vocational training has also helped them acquire skills like tailoring, weaving and more hence competing with their male counterparts,” Nabaasa said.
In order to advance women’s empowerment in Uganda, the government has strengthened laws and policies that protect women’s rights, such as the Domestic Violence Act and the Employment Act, which help to create a more enabling environment.
While speaking to Dr Doreen Najjuko at DMC Medical Hub, healthcare and reproductive rights have empowered women’s advancement through improving access to quality healthcare, family planning services, and reproductive health education which help women make informed choices about their bodies and lives.
“It is good that in this era women know how to take care of their bodies. They make informed decisions on how many children they would like to have and when they should have them through family planning methods which gives them time to concentrate on their jobs, businesses and furthering their education,” Dr Najjuko said.
Joselyn Bata Kamateneti, the Ntungamo district Woman Member of Parliament (MP), said that providing opportunities for women to take on leadership roles, mentorship programs, and networking initiatives has helped build their confidence and capacity.
“The NRM government gave women a chance an opportunity to be represented in Parliament through the election of a district woman MP. In our villages, the LC committees comprise of a good number of women who take part in decision-making from the grassroot level. The female voice is now heard. Our Vice president is a female, the Speaker of Parliament is a female, look at the number female of judges, EDs and Ministers that we have,” MP Kamateneti said.
As Uganda celebrates International Women’s Day 2025, the theme “Accelerate Action” serves as a reminder that it has empowered women’s advancement, through acknowledging and supporting strategies, resources, and activities that positively impact women’s empowerment, which create a more equitable and just society for them.
