Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered at Katunguru Primary School , lake katwe subcounty as Kasese District Local Government joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Women’s Day .
The function was presided over by Her Royal Highness Agnes Ithungu Asiimawe and graced by different stakeholders including high political leaders of the district like the District Chairperson and members of his council ,security led by the RDC and district and subcounty technical staff.
The theme was , ” Accelerating Gender Equality through Women Economic Empowerment ” which presented a reflection on the efforts and progress made towards achieving sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on Gender Equality within the context of economic empowerment.
Her Royal Highness Agnes Ithungu Nyabaghole urged parents to promote girl child education and called upon young girls to pursue courses that are traditionally associated with men like engineering, among others.
In her message to women, she emphasised the need for women to embrace the use of ICT for social-economic transformation. She encouraged women to utilise digital platforms to conduct online businesses and to access information for economic transformation.
Nyabaghole also called upon parents and different actors to protect girls against child pregnancies and early marriages and urged girls to also desist from sexual exploitation by men who take advantage of child poverty.
She condemned men who sexually abuse their own daughters and called for serious action upon them.
The key note speaker, Helen Petronilla , Deputy Executive Director Microfinance support Centre called upon women to utilize government initiatives to empower women like Emyooga, UWEP , PDM among others. She also asked women to utilise Micro finance Support Centre which have a fovourabble interest rate of 8% annually to avoid financial exploitations by money lenders.
Hellen condemned the people of Kasese for not taking advantage of her leadership in Micro Finance Support Centre to benefit for the different financial opportunities under the institution.
The RDC Lt. Joe Walunsimbi appreciated Her Royal Highness , Agnes Ithungu Asiimawe for supporting of government and pledged government commitment to continue supporting the kingdom.
The Women Member of Parliament ,Hon. Kabugho Florance , appreciated His Excelence Yoweri K. Museveni for appreciating the role of women by giving them key leadership positions in the country. She urged the district leadership to emulate him and also give platforms to women in the district .
Hon. Florance also called upon women to wake up in action to fight for themselves to be economically empowered.
The District Chairperson Muhindi Bukombi Eriphaz talked about the different programs of government that are already benefiting women in the district like UWEP , Emyooga and PDM and called upon women to appreciate and utilise them for economic empowerment.
International women’s day serves as a call to action for accelerating progress towards gender equality and empowerment. It presents an opportunity to reflect on the efforts and progress made towards achieving sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on Gender Equality within the context of economic empowerment.
The end.
