Female-led commercial enterprises will be supported to gain access to finance for modern energy technologies for use in their enterprises, Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, the minister of Energy and Mineral Development has said
Nankabirwa made the remarks during the launch of the Gender Strategy for the Energy, Mineral and Petroleum Development Programs on Friday in Kampala.
“To enhance our enterprise focus as a strategy to increase opportunities for women in income generation and expansion of tax revenue, we plan to increase women’s access to finance for productive use of electricity from 24 percent to 30 percent in the next 5 years,” she said at launch of the strategy and Action Plan 2022/23 – 2027/28.
The strategy aims to reduce gender inequalities and inequities in access to and utilization of energy, minerals and petroleum resources, products, and opportunities by 2027
Gender Strategy is aligned to national and international commitments on human capital development and addresses key challenges to reducing the Country’s gender inequalities. It is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 5 – Achieve Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls, and SDG No. 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Nankabirwa added that government has put in place various policy and legal requirements for gender mainstreaming in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda under Article 33 guarantees women equal rights with men and provides for affirmative action to redress imbalances created by history, traditions and customs. The Uganda Vision 2040 supports inclusive growth through the promotion of equal opportunities and enjoyment of human rights for both men and women as well as protection of vulnerable groups,” she said.
The recently enacted Mining and Minerals Act (2022) removed restrictive practices on women participation in the mineral sector and protect children against mining hazards. The Act makes provisions to address gender equity and equality issues in the mining sector.
On her part, the Permanent Secretary, Ms Irene Bateebe, said, there is need for systematic, regular and continuous collection of data on topics and indicators identified in the Strategy including on women and men benefiting from jobs, use of energy and mineral products and services and entrepreneurial opportunities among others.
“MEMD commits to support regular monitoring and evaluation as well as impact studies on efforts towards reducing gender inequality and empowering of women and other vulnerable groups,” she said in a statement read for her at the launch,” she said.
Mr. Bernard Mujuni, Commissioner Equity and Rights at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said the ministry is ready to further engage and collaborate with MEMD to help in implementation of the strategy.
Government of Uganda is implementing various initiatives to enhance women’s access to clean energy in the form of energy-efficient cooking stoves and home lighting solutions, which will accelerate progress toward gender equality and increase women’s participation in the economy.
Mr. David Otieno, Program Director at GIZ Uganda, praised Uganda’s commitment to gender equality, specifically pointing out the strides made by MEMD.
“GIZ is pleased to note that over the years, MEMD has registered major improvements in mainstreaming gender. These include development of a sexual harassment policy which we are also going to launch today,” he said.
