UN Women Uganda Partners With the Netherlands Institute for Multi-Party Democracy to Enhance Capacity of Women Leaders In Political Parties

Entebbe, 2 November 2022: -  UN Women Uganda in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Multi-Party Democracy (NIMD) convened a three-day dialogue to address the low participation of women in women council elections.  

The dialogue between the leaders of the women's leagues of the 8 political parties was aimed at creating inclusivity in the upcoming women's council elections and strengthening the participation of women at their designated elections by equipping them with the relevant information to boost their participation.

From the dialogue, the participants made several commitments, including engaging in massive sensitization of women within their political parties at the grassroots level on the mandate of the women's councils and modalities of the women's council elections. Participants also committed to following up with their party leaders on the plan to start an inter-party women’s forum that will be charged with spearheading the women’s agenda within political parties. 

They also agreed to organize a dialogue with women members of parliament to agree on a common agenda for women despite their different statuses because issues affecting women concern them all. 

The UN Women Representative in Uganda, Paulina Chiwangu highlighted the importance of increased involvement of women in politics at all levels. She commended NIMD for the initiative to improve women’s participation in the democratic process in Uganda. 

“We all know that political parties all over the world are a grooming ground for women to take up leadership, so having strong women in the political parties is key to the success of democracy in Uganda,” she said.

Paulina further reminded the participants that women's councils unite all women of Uganda into a single body for development purposes, irrespective of their religion, tribe, origin, status or political affiliation.

Under the Strengthening Electoral Processes in Uganda (SEPU) Project, UN Women seeks to strengthen citizens’ participation and engagement in the Women's council Elections to fill up to 418,075 elective positions from village/ cell, parish/ ward, Subcounty/division, district/city, and national level. 

The NIMD Country Director, Frank Rusa, said good democracy begins with dialogue. 

“We understand that politics has opponents that, have alternative agendas that promote the country and so are partners for national development and it should not be a zero-sum game,” he said. 

He further noted that having good-quality leaders who can diagnose the problems of Uganda and find appropriate solutions is key to development. 

“Women are critical for the story of this country and putting Uganda first is important,” Frank added. 

Going forward, communique with clear milestones and actions for furthering inclusive women's participation in upcoming women's council elections will be developed from the dialogue and will guide the women leaders going forward.