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Exciting developments in Uganda are happening as women take the lead in peace and security advocacy.
Arriving at TY cakes premises in Kibuli, I see Zam Nakittyo, the proprietor of the company. She is a photojournalist working with a number of media companies and also a co-founder at The Campus Times in Uganda.
The young, energetic journalist is changing women’s lives in Kibuli slums and in the suburbs of Kampala by empowering them with sustainable skills to get them out of poverty.
As Chairperson for young mothers in Kibuli’s Kakugulu zone Nakittyo also offers guidance, encouragement and counselling to engage them in peace and security advocacy.
Despite having a very busy schedule, Nakittyo has contributed to the improvement of women’s livelihoods in her community and across Uganda.
“I have always been very intentional, whilst working as a photojournalist, I had to take up tailoring and baking lessons,” she told us.
She explained that these goals were years in the making: “It has always been my goal to ensure that I spread my knowledge to women who seemed to live in abject poverty which is a barrier to peace and security in many areas in Uganda.”
In Kibuli, a Kampala suburb lies an overpopulated slum with most of its occupants being women and youth. Slums are generally unhealthy, unsafe and very undesirable areas with poor housing facilities. They are also characterised by poverty and inequality both in low and middle-income countries.
The United Nations (UN) 2018 statistics indicated that more than one billion people live in slums. However, the UN goal is that by 2030, 3 billion people worldwide will be able to afford decent accommodation.
The Sustainable Goal 11 of the UN commits to making cities and residences where people stay safe and sustainable. It also commits to specifically monitoring slum populations to enhance peace and security worldwide. This is because when areas are densely populated there is a struggle for accommodation and other resources that lead to conflict.
Uganda has one of the largest populations occupying slum areas with 60% of the population living in slums.
Nakittyo’s goal is to see that within five years the women that she trains will be able to afford a comfortable living.
“I advise women not to be reckless by just giving birth to children that they will not look after,” she expresses.
Nakittyo wants the women she trains to have long-term skills and strategies: “I caution them to use proper family planning methods and to focus and grow their skills if they want a happy life.”
One of her beneficiaries, a primary school teacher named Joweira, is already seeing real changes in her life. “I am so glad that these extra skills are already boosting my income,” she told AWiM.
Joweira also added that alongside her salary she is already earning from baking cakes and this is helping her contribute to her children’s school fees.
Elsewhere in Kisenyi, Jacqueline Ahimbisibwe, a psychiatrist working with Sobriety Foundation Uganda, is helping to take the women off the streets in another of Kampala’s big slums.
In our interview, she noted: “The women I am helping are on the verge of giving up for they are addicted to drugs, some are raped and still get pregnant.”
The situation in Kisenyi is one that is very appalling.
The drugs make the women so weak that they cannot afford to buy food since they have to purchase the costly drugs as they suffer from addiction. The slum is very uninhabitable yet that is where the women sleep.
Their lives are at risk. The women suffer skin infections that a number of them acquire from the needles they use to prick as they share drugs. Peace and security are non-existent.
The psychiatrist says her work is to counsel the women to leave the habit of drug use so that they can be energetic, resourceful and empowered to participate in growing their communities.
“I have started by taking each one back to their loved ones so that they can have a support system with them,” Ahimbisibwe says.
Her goal is to empty slums in Uganda by 2028: “If families could support their own, we could enhance peace and security in Uganda and by 2028 we would be a better country,” she believes.
Nabatanzi, a street vendor, shares how her positive thinking drove her out of the slum.
She slept on the streets in Kisenyi where she gave birth to her baby when her husband had evicted her from the one-room house they were renting in Nsambya, a Kampala suburb.
Her only shelter was the ghetto in Kisenyi. There she learnt how to use drugs.
“There is no peace there. All the women and youth that sleep in that ghetto are under the influence of drugs,” Nabatanzi recalls.
Nabatanzi says that she is glad her parents accepted her back and supported her through a skill development school where she learnt how to bake cakes. She bakes cakes on a charcoal stove locally known as a ‘Sigiri’. She sells these cakes in Kampala. With these savings, she can pay for her shelter and her child’s school fees.
The Government of Uganda has a poverty reduction strategy that it has been creating as part of a framework for economic growth and transformation. This strategy stands on the following pillars: Good governance and security, actions which will increase the ability of a poor person to raise their incomes and actions which will improve the poor person’s quality of life.
The poverty eradication plan has been put in place to accelerate economic growth. It encourages reallocation of expenditures by directly reducing services inclusive of primary health, promoting agricultural extension, building feeder roads, and giving out grants equally.
Under this plan of eradicating poverty to promote peace and security, there should be good governance. People with an aim of helping others out of poverty will thrive in such an environment.
The human rights commission argues that conflict leads to the displacement of people. Most of these people end up in slum areas where they may fall into common patterns like murder and stealing.
Uganda is also practising democracy as a means of enabling the decentralisation of responsibilities at the district level. Good governance in this case also involves making public expenditure transparent and efficient. This is of great importance as public information should be effectively disseminated and explored by intersectoral cooperation.
The government also considers persons with special needs and disabilities. These require a community-based approach which deserves priority, and disaster management which includes handling disasters like drought, floods, and earthquakes with effective response and preparedness.
Furthermore, the government has made plans to modernise agriculture.
Agriculture is the main source of income in Uganda. The government looks at enabling research and technology, educating people about agriculture, utilising sustainability, and helping rural areas citizens to access decision-makers. In addition to this, the government is also planning for employment outside agriculture by offering general advice and information on microfinancing.
Lastly, the Ugandan government has also enabled free primary education for four children in each family. This has greatly contributed to more enrolment of children in schools. When children are in school they are not idle therefore crime rates are high.
Water and sanitation are being supported by major public interventions as well as sanitation on water-borne diseases. This is to enable peace and security in communities. Without water, slum areas are a dangerous habitat.
Female leaders continue to call upon the government to support them financially if they are to meet their skill development goals that are sustainable. These will promote economic growth and strengthen economic relations, thus enhancing peace and security.
The SME Division under the Uganda Investment Authority supports and facilitates the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are majorly domestic entrepreneurs. The overall goal of the SME Division is to develop sustainable domestic investments.
Its objectives are facilitation and support for increased revenues earned by SMEs, facilitation and support for SMEs under the National Content Inclusion in priority sectors, and improved access to business-related information and advocacy for and on behalf of SMEs.
The UIA also has a technical skills training programme that is aimed at building the capacities of MSMEs so that they may acquire the necessary basic skills to produce improved and high-quality products. This goal is to improve household income and promote industrialisation.
Training areas include; dairy (processing and packaging of dairy products), textile design (tie and dye), motorcycle repair and servicing, bakery technology, wine-making, charcoal briquettes making and packaging, fruit juice processing, soap manufacture, value-addition on oyster mushrooms among others. The programme is demand-driven and training is carried out in groups of 40 entrepreneurs.
In order to ensure peace and security through education and training, UNESCO has a number of skills under Sustainable Goal 4. An educated and skilled community will enhance a peaceful environment. UNESCO has a plan for young people where they will attain skill development programmes like technical and vocational education and online training for quality education to ensure inclusiveness.
The UN policy document mentions SDGS by 2030 to end poverty in all forms. By 2030, all women and men should have equal rights to economic resources as well as access to basic services, property ownership, funding, new technology and control over land. The UN agenda will be inclusive for everyone, this will enhance productivity and reduce conflict among neighbouring countries enhancing peace and security.
This story is part of the African Women in Media (AWiM) Peace and Security Journalism Programme in partnership with UNESCO, through the IPDC framework.
