Advocating for Inclusion of clause 8 (5) and 55(4) in the Public Finance Bill 2012


 Forum for Women in Democracy held a press conference on 13th November to call upon on Members of parliament to include clause 8 (5) and 55(4) of the public finance bill 2012 

On 5th November 2014, the debate on the Public Finance Bill 2012 returned to the floor of Parliament and has been deferred until 13th November 2014. As women’s rights activists we anticipate that Parliament shall handle this critical bill with gender sensitivity but also expedite the process of passing the bill into law hopefully before the end of 2014.



FOWODE acknowledges that Women shape the development agenda throughout the developing world yet still remain disadvantaged and excluded in budgeting, decision and policy formulation processes. They continue to be sidelined within the household because they have less access to and control over resources and limited influence over household decisions. According to UDHS 2011, only 16% of Ugandan Women own land. 39% of women aged between15-49 cannot read and write compared 16% of men and in 2011 according to the report of the Coalition to stop maternal mortality in Uganda, 16 women died every day due to preventive death in child birth. Therefore efforts to reduce gender inequality in Uganda are required on multiple fronts. 

The Public Finance Bill, 2012 is an important proposed legislation for effective, fair and equitable management of public finances for the benefit of citizens in Uganda. Civil society advanced a number of proposals, which were adopted by the Committees of Parliament charged with scrutinizing the bill.

FOWODE supports the Committees recommendation under Clause 8 of the Budget Framework Paper to insert a new clause 8(5) that provides for a “Certificate of Gender Equity (CGE) that should be issued by the Attorney General (AG) certifying Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ compliance to gender and equity issues.

However FOWODE recommends that Parliament should consider replacing “Attorney General” under Clause 8 (5) with Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC).

With the Certificate on Gender Equality in the Public Finance Bill 2012; Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would be obliged to address gender and equity constraints in their plans and budgets if the CGE was used as an enforcement mechanism. The Certificate will help legislators use gender mainstreaming as a performance indicator when reviewing the performance of sectors and their adherence the Budget Call Circular’s (BCC) call on gender and equity budgeting even before approving the National Budget. The CGE will also be used as a demand mechanism by Legislators to the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development to treat lack of compliance to the BCC’s directive as a disciplinary issue. If passed the bill is expected to enhance public finance management and accountability in Uganda. It covers a wide range of aspects including debt management, budget preparation, approval and management, macroeconomic and fiscal policies as well as oil and gas management among others.

We therefore recommend Parliament should support the recommendation to have the Equal Opportunities Commission Issue the Gender and Equity Certificate that will oblige MDAs comply with gender budgeting principles as directed in the Budget call Circular. In addition, Parliament should consider inserting a new Clause 55(4) for adoption, where “3% of the petroleum revenue should be ear marked for developing social services, and agriculture, culture. Developing social services will not only benefit women but also the other marginalized groups who are concentrated in these sectors.

Hon Margaret Baba Diri said that any budget should consider that people with disabilities (PWDs) marginalised groups and gender

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