Kadaga wants foreign aid tagged to women projects

NEW YORK: Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has asked donors to tie aid to women-centred projects as a way of empowering local entrepreneurship.

Kadaga was speaking during the 62^nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at the UN headquarters in New York.

The Speaker said since the Word Bank and other agencies place restrictions on where their funds are to be spent, it is also fair that they keep true to their mantra of supporting women.

“If they are talking about supporting women in this world, energizing them, giving them capacity, let them come with specific instructions to our governments that part of this must go to the women,” said Kadaga.

Kadaga is leading a delegation of Ugandan officials including the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development Janat Mukwaya, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender Pius Bigirimana among others.

Kadaga said since budgeting is now programme based, it is better for donors to bias their financing to women projects, who constitute a majority of the rural workforce.

The Speaker said she will take the initiative to ensure that donors take the issues into account.

On the sidelines of the conference, Kadaga met with American citizens of Ugandan descent, who she said should be assisted to participate in economic activities in Uganda.

“This forum is extremely important because it is the forum of the second generation of Americans of Ugandan descent… as a government we need to provide the necessary environment so that they can operate economic activities in both worlds,” she said.

Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Ambassador Adonia Ayebare said supporting the diaspora to invest in Uganda is a sure way to benefitting from their contributions.

“When we have grassroots movements like this bringing people together about the issues that affect them in the Diaspora…once you have these movements in the coming years, you will have a genuine Diaspora community,” said Adonia.