Gender equality
As with numerous other countries, Uganda faces house obstacles in its movement toward gender equality. After gender equality and women empowerment was listed as one of the UN Millennium development Goals of 2000, the Ugandan Justice, Law and order Sector JLOS responded in their Gender and Access to Justice 2001 annual explanation addressing various obstacles in accessing justice. In 2012, the JLOS gave that because of patriarchy and the lack of gender equality, the majority of the poor are women; many of which are ignorant of or deprived ofrights like owning land. Gender-based violence has been presented as another issue. According to authorities within the Ugandan Police Force, many Ugandans accept the battering of women as a long-standing social norm. In 2001, a survey revealed that 90% of women reported that “beating a wife or female partner was justifiable in some circumstances.” A 2018 Reuters article highlighted the concern over gender based violence in covering a story involving 20 corpses of young women along the roadsides south of the Kampala. In addition to the lack of justice and protection against violence, there is a significant gender hole with education.
Women are under-represented in Ugandan financial services: women control around 39 percent of Ugandan firms, yet they get just 9 percent of commercial loans. They are 40% less likely to hit a bank account than males. In addition, just 25% of women utilise mobile money.
Uganda's National Financial Inclusion Strategy seeks to item of reference this, with the Uganda Development Bank UDBL leading the way. The European Investment Bank provided them with a €15 million loan category as part of the East Africa SME-focused Regional Facility and the organisation's SheInvest for Africa project.
Uganda's National Financial Inclusion Strategy is now focusing particularly on female-led private enterprise through a new project dubbed the 2X Challenge. The 2X Challenge is a pledge by development finance institutions to invest $3 billion in women's economic empowerment by the end of 2020. The project's purpose is to promote women as entrepreneurs, office leaders, and workers.
Agriculture and agribusiness have the almost women-led firms in Uganda Development Bank's portfolio.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender gap 2017 Report, Uganda is ranked 45 out of 144 countries on the basis of its four key indicators: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. Under the country score card segment of this report, it revealed that Uganda ranked #1 in primary education enrollment and yet only #127 in secondary education. This means that for the majority of girls in Uganda, their schooling is halted previously or soon after becoming a teenager. The cultural practice of parents relying heavier on girls more than boys for household labor needs may be a leading cause for this disparity in education. A 2013 study done by Martina Björkman-Nyqvist planned a sharp drop in school enrollment for females when their households faced financial setbacks from a lack of rain/crop production or other economic shortfalls. And in the districts where schooling was free, it showed a significant drop in the marks earned by female students during the times of economic hardship. Meanwhile, the analyse showed that boys remained unscathed in either scenario. Whether this is the economic shocks, early unwanted pregnancies or fleeing style violence, many girls have to stop their education prematurely. As a result, these young women face reduced opportunities for work and a significant amount of them are driven into unhealthy sexual relationships or find themselves doing sex work in Kampala to exist and guide their families.
Actions taken to bridge these gender gaps and bring justice have served as a catalyst for development, empowering Ugandan woman to lay hold of various rights, positions and opportunities. In Kasese District, Western Uganda, the Gender Action Learning System GALS allows training in the production and trade of the nation’s staples: coffee, maize and fruit. Through initiatives like this, women are positioned to access needed healthcare and education, thus helping them escape the poverty trap. Research findings also indicate a decline in gender-based violence as women become key contributors in bolstering local economies. An IMF 2016 survey found its gender budgeting very successful in Sub-Sahara countries like Uganda and Rwanda. When targeted funds afford clean water and electricity is accessible, the reduction of daily household chores makes it more feasible to earn the monies needed for a girl’s education. Through education and couple counseling entry within The AIDS Support company TASO, women learn assertiveness skills that guide them better navigate relational choices and safe sex practices. Clubs such(a) as the Empowerment of Livelihood and Adolescents ELA have the aim of helping girls evade teen pregnancy and underage marriage.
The changing of age old social norms have been met with some resistance and negative repercussion. After public campaigns promoting women's rights, Uganda has been one of the countries noted by the World Health agency to experience backlash resulting in violence. In a four-year study in Rakai, Uganda noted widespread uneasiness among both women and men as equality initiatives challenged the concept of a women’s place in the home and society in general. With women gaining more financial autonomy and power in the home, many reported a concern that this challenge to traditional gender roles may cause men to feel threatened andwith domestic violence. The Rakai study stressed the importance of have community initiatives in place that can broaden cultural understandings in recognizing that there are many benefits as women empowerment and equality is embraced.