UWOPA demands for a gender monitoring unit

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In a bid to strengthen gender responsive budgeting in Uganda, members of the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) vowed to lobby for a gender budget monitoring unit in Uganda to monitor the country’s performance in financing gender equality. If established the unit would be a replica of Rwanda’s Gender Monitoring Office which promotes gender equity and monitors the country’s compliance with the gender principles into the national development processes. 

The legislators who had just returned from a study tour in Rwanda acknowledged the existence of Uganda’s Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit within Ministry of Finance, but felt that it focused more on monitoring resource utilization than monitoring Uganda’s performance to meet its gender equality commitments. 

The members with support from Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) had visited Rwanda to draw lessons for up scaling gender responsive budgeting in Uganda. While sharing her experience, Hon. Kiboijana, the Chairperson of the Uganda Parliamentary Gender Champions stated that gender responsive budgeting is a key priority to Rwanda and its even enshrined in the country’s Vision 2020 objective of promoting Gender Equality. The State Minister for Finance (General Duties), Mr. Fred Omach shared that through Rwanda’s National Budget, gender equality commitments are financed and on a quarterly basis, the Prime Minister who supervises the Gender Monitoring Office presents to Parliament the progress towards achieving Rwanda’s gender equality commitments. 

Mr. Fred Omach who was also the team leader on this study tour, urged UWOPA to take advantage of the ongoing amendment process of the Budget Act and lobby for gender rein fencing in the National budget where an agreed percentage allocation can be proposed for gender mainstreaming as is the case in Rwanda. 

The Uganda legislators also resolved to focus on the sectors of Health, Education, Agriculture and Water and Sanitation, they proposed to meet with the Ministries of Finance and Gender to discuss modalities of mainstreaming gender responsive budgeting as well as enforcing the budget call circular directive on gender budgeting in the four sectors. They resolved to collaborate more with the various parliamentary committees in the next financial year to ensure that the four sectors submit gender budget statements detailing how they plans to address gender equality in FY 2012/13. 

According to the Uganda Legislators, the officials in Rwanda credited FOWODE for the technical support availed to them when formulating the country’s gender-sensitive policies and programs and called on the Ugandan government to implement its gender sensitive policies as well. 

As pioneer advocates for gender responsive budgeting in Uganda, FOWODE pledged to support Parliament efforts in promoting gender budgeting. Ms. Patricia Munabi Babiiha the Executive Director, FOWODE mentioned that two capacity building trainings will be organized in 2012 to train the legislators in gender budgeting and that FOWODE will continue providing technical guidance to the legislators through her research and also pledged to develop a gender checklist of the four sectors which will guide the legislators when assessing the sectoral budgets of the 2012/13 financial year. 

By Carol Namagembe, FOWODE Program Officer -Communications

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