The government of Uganda is committed to the promotion and protection of women land rights to ensure equitable national economic growth and development ,Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has stated .
Nabakooba was presiding over the opening ceremony of a five-day Regional Workshop for Catholic and non-Catholic actors organized at Kampala Kolping Hotel in Kampala to devise means to support advocacy for Women’s Land Rights.
The Minister said that government is aware of the challenges women face in accessing and owning land and it is putting in place mechanism to protect women land rights .
“Government has made considerable progress in designing and implementing measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the land sector. The legal and policy frameworks are designed to improve women’s access to and control over land and address gender inequalities prevalent in Ugandan society,” she stated .
The Minister said Uganda is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Elimination against Discrimination of Women (CEDAW) protected under article 14 .
As a result government is required to report on the situation of rural women and which steps are being taken to address the prevalence of negative customs and traditional practices that prevent women from inheriting or acquiring ownership of land and other property.
Nabakooba said that government together with other Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member states have developed an action plan to address issues of Women’s land rights reciting the implementation of the Kilimanjaro Declaration on actualizing women’s land rights in Africa (2016).
The minister regretted to note that well as 52 % of Uganda ‘s population are female and 48% male, land ownership by females currently stands at only 20%.
“The National Resistance Movement (NRM) government shall continue investing in the registration of women’s land rights to economically empower them to ensure food security and improved livelihoods,” she pledged.
Nabakooba lauded the catholic institutions for empowering women in Uganda through the Communal Land Associations where women’s representation on average stands at 59%.
The Bishop of Masaka Diocese Serverus Jjumba urged Ugandans to embrace the advocacy to create equity in land ownership.
“The women are the breadwinners according to our culture. She is expected to produce food to feed the family. If she gets ownership of the land, she will get motivated and work harder,” he said.
Dr. Emmanuel Aliba Kiiza, National Executive Secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Uganda Episcopal Conference, noted that women are marginalized when it comes to ownership.
“The women are somehow marginalized by our culture and they do not inherit land. We are beginning a process here in Uganda to advocate for the rights of ownership of land by women. ”
