Economic justice activists are worried that the anticipated intentions
of the Parish Development Model-PDM may not be fully realized if women are not
allowed equal or even higher stakes in its implementation.
The program is a new strategy designed to improve
household incomes and lift
Ugandans out of the subsistence economy to the money economy. It targets organizing and delivering public and private
sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at parish
levels as the lowest economic planning unit of the community.
The PDM program which is anchored on seven pillars of its
implementation is putting much focus on agriculture, marketing, and the value
addition chain. At its inception, the government allocated 17 million Shillings to each
parish cooperative society and committed to disburse100 million Shillings in
the next financial year to support members’ income-generating projects.
But Elliot Orizaarwa, the Executive Director at the Women and Girl Child Development
Association- WEGCDA, wants the program
implementers to heighten women's participation by deliberately giving
priority to enterprises that favour them, other than being treated as secondary beneficiaries. The association seeks to break the barriers to women’s economic
justice.
She is afraid that because the program is going to be managed
at the grassroots level, it is likely to be highly competitive and by default, it
will advantage the men more than their female counterparts hence their marginalization.
//Cue in;
“we have read…
Cue out…within
the model.”//
Luganda//Cue in;
“era government…
Cue out…mu
nkulakulana.”//
To close the gap, Orizaarwa says that they considered
engaging the program architects and supervisors at the different levels of implementation,
to appreciate their worries such that they can remove all bottlenecks
that may work against women. Ideally, according to her, it is proper that the program
implementers consider operating within some of the existing different women formations.
//Cue in;
“the plans are there…
Cue out…their voices.”//
Luganda//Cue in;
“oluusi oyinza….
Cue out…buyambi
bwebutyo.”//
Joan Akikunda, the Gender and Legal Officer at WEGCDA also recommends that the program implementers give women equal access and
participation in the economic decision-making process, as well as ensure that they
remain safe from any form of abuse that may result from their financial
empowerment.
She appealed to the Parish Chiefs and Community
Development Officers as key implementers to ensure that women are provided with
timely and accurate information about the program, to enable them closely
follow and eventually benefit from it.
Florence Nakandi, the Programs Officer at Community Transformation
Foundation Network-COTFONE; a civil society organization operating in the
greater Masaka sub-region, challenges the government to bring on board civil society
actors who can ably represent or even empower women to speak up during the decision-making process.
“We would wish to see women effectively participating in the benefiting enterprises' selection process, such that their preferences are catered for,” she noted.
