The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has established that the lack of access to political funding presents a huge challenge to women seeking to enter political life.

Mariam Fauzat Wangadya, the Commissioner for UHRC, stated while presenting the 26th Annual Report 2022 on the State of Human Rights and Freedoms in Uganda at Parliament on May 22, 2024, that, despite women’s proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, as well as their right to participate equally in democratic governance, women’s leadership and political participation remain limited due to campaign funding.

“Over 200 women find it very difficult and expensive to acquire funds to participate in politics compared to men,” Wangadya noted.

Wangadya also revealed that holding a political position implies holding power, influencing decision-making regarding resource allocation, and other important aspects of society, which include active political participation like voting, standing for office, protesting and signing petitions, and joining political parties.

She further reported on the progress of women’s empowerment in Uganda, noting that although females account for 51% of Uganda’s total population, the proportion of females who have never attended school is twice as high as that of males.

According to Wangadye, statistics from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) show that 72% of the adult population resides in rural areas, of which over 51% are females.

Additionally, she said that girls and women are still responsible for domestic labor at home, leaving little time to complete assigned homework. Ultimately, free education remains unluckily unreachable for many Ugandan girls, who continue to face gender discrimination just for being born daughters and not sons.

“Women are more prone to being fired first and hired last. Women are concentrated in sectors of economic activity with greater vulnerability to economic cycles in the informal sector and lack access to services that allow a conciliation of family and work life,“ she added.

Wangadye stated that such impediments make it more difficult for women to compete on an equal basis with men in the workplace. She added that gender discrimination in the labor market is a widespread economic issue that takes many forms. These may include restricted access to particular employment sectors and gender wage disparities.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission will submit and publish the Annual Report on the State of Human Rights and Freedoms in the country to parliament on Thursday, May 23, 2024, in fulfillment of Articles 52(2) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda as amended.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) was established under the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.

The decision to establish a permanent body to monitor the human rights situation in the country was in recognition of Uganda’s violent and turbulent history, which had been characterized by arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, torture, and brutal repression with impunity on the part of security organs during the pre- and post-independence eras.