Uganda Leads in Growth, Gender Issues - WB Report

May 23, 2005 - (The Monitor) A new World Bank Group (WBG) study cites Uganda as a leader in Sub-Saharan Africa in addressing critical linkages between economic growth and gender issues.

But it suggests Uganda can grow faster by unleashing the economic power of women through speeding up the current process of removing barriers to business.

The Director for Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Lawrence Kiiza, said, "Gender is often considered a soft social issue, but we know it has important economic consequences too. The government has made a lot of progress in improving women's participation in the political process and we are trying to ensure women have the opportunity to fully participate economically too."

The World Bank said in a statement issued on Friday that available data indicates women owned businesses are more likely than those of men to benefit from reform of the investment climate and streamlining regulatory processes.

World Bank Country Manager Grace Yabrudy observes, "The government has been quick to act on the report's recommendations on gender and growth, already incorporating these into the poverty reduction support framework and the draft update of the Medium Term Competitiveness Strategy (2005-9) as a Strategic Priority."

The Gender and Growth Assessment underscores the importance of addressing both legislative and cultural issues. Input from women's business and private sector groups such as the UIA Women Entrepreneurs Network, UWEAL and the Private Sector Foundation (PSF) helped formulate recommendations for Uganda.

Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) Director Dr Maggie Kigozi said Uganda was the first country in Africa to include a woman on the President's Investor Council - a forum that enables the private sector to make direct input on how to improve the investment climate for business.

The report cites the importance of women business owners contribution and of sex-disaggregated data to enable good policy making.

One of the report's findings is that women business owners lack information and training to enable them tailor products for international markets.

They also lack access to such markets.

The statement said the Gender-Entrepreneurship Markets of International Finance Corporation and the Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa will hold two workshops on gender and growth.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200505231202.html