Commemorating the International Rural Women’s Day (IRWD) 2019
The International Rural women’s Day (IRWD) was established by the United Nations General Assembly on the 18th December 2007 is observed on the 15th October.
The day is commemorated each year to reflect on the achievements and it’s a platform to give rural women a chance to raise their voices to share their challenges and achievements. The State and non -state actors are also reminded to develop programs that enhance and help women increase production, access services and social protection hence be economically empowered and participate in the development programs.
Women and girls are faced with various challenges that include: teenage pregnancies, child marriages, forced marriages, poor health and nutrition and unfair distribution of land and properties.
International Women’s day is always celebrated every 15th day of October however, in Uganda the celebrations this year will take place on the 24th October 2019 in Arapai Soroti district with the theme: Rural Women’s economic empowerment through savings and affordable credit.
The theme is a reality in Arapai and Teso as a whole where there is evident high level of child marriages, forced Labour and girl child open market sell and trafficking. It therefore intends to ensure that the rural women are sensitized and empowered to desist from the bad practices and get involved in economic activities that can help them save and when need be borrow at an affordable rate for intended economic activities/developments to benefit her and her family.
LANDnet Uganda focuses on how rural woman should not only use their energies on subsistence farming but more on commercial farming such that they can get finances to spend and save for various developmental activities.
We join the rest of the world to commemorate the International Rural W omen’s Day as we reflect on many cultures and how women are faring on as far as economic empowerment is concerned.
We have found out that rural women have the interest to engage in economic ventures but are constrained/ limited by various challenges such as: the low level of education, religion and cultures.
LANDnet Uganda interacted with different individuals and stakeholders hailing from different parts of Uganda and found out the following;
According to our source Linda Obuko Women in Lango sub region have access to land and only use it for subsistence farming. When it comes to farming on large scale for commercial purposes they are denied because culturally land and cash belongs to the men and not women,
Obuko says that accordingly over years now some enlightened families have seen the need to apportion land to their girls and this has helped many rural women to be able to till the ground and sell their produce thus saving and can access friendly loans for development.
As a woman Obuko feels that men should take this as a very positive gesture as women too can ably administer and manage estates of their deceased parents or husbands.
Meanwhile in Buganda region according to both Helen Nakandi and Judith .Atukunda (both staff at LANDnet Uganda) family land is used for both subsistence and commercial purposes. However, the woman must get permission from her husband to sell whatever produce she wishes to.
In Buganda women do not inherit land or property which makes it very difficult for them after the passing on of their parents or husbands. In families where there are no boy children, the family is tasked to choose a cousin to administer the estate of a deceased person. However, in families where a will has been left behind it is respected but with a lot of difficulty citing cases where parents leave a girl as a heir but is rejected culturally.
Similarly, in Teso culture, girls do not inherit land but can access land to cultivate for domestic use however when it comes to selling of produce the men take charge of the proceeds.
According to Ariokot Beatrice a staff of LANDnet Uganda with the knowledge she obtained from her work place, she managed to sensitize her parents who happen to be in a polygamous family on the benefits of distributing land and property. This will help them in an event that their parents pass on. Ariokot advises parents in Teso to jointly plan properly in order to avoid misunderstandings. She further encourages parents to give girl children land and properties even though they get married so that they can have a fallback position in case need arises and they come back home.
Meanwhile in the Bamasaba community women too access land without challenge however when it comes to selling of produce they must get permission from their husbands. According to Namahe Faith, women in Bugisu sub-region are very grounded in commercial farming and utilize every small piece of land to cultivate vegetables which they sell to be able to purchase other items that they may need in their homes like Sugar, soap etc.
Last but not least, we look at Karamojja where women easily access land to use within the family for subsistence farming. Depending on the relationship between a man and his wife, women do get permission from their husbands to use part of the produce for commercial purposes especially local brew which is sold to help in the purchase of other household requirements.
As far as renting off of gardens is concerned, it is the men who benefit and in most cases end up squandering the proceeds in alcohol.
As far as inheritance of land by females in Karamojja is concerned, it is highly forbidden and unheard of as culturally land and property belong to the man. Even in case of death of a spouse, a widow is most likely to be chased away with her children save for families where children are grown up and can defend their mothers.
The Karamojong culture has family heads (clan heads), whose duty should be to defend the widow and her children however, in families where the clan head is sixty and above these are grounded in their culture and they feel no need to defend the widows in this case we find that land and properties that belong to a deceased man is taken by the clan not the widow and her children.
The civil society organizations have tried to sensitize the Karamojong with hope that there will be change with even the women who had been feeling that the land and property belong to a man and that talking about co-sharing of property was disrespect of ones husband since culturally land and property belong to a man.
Women in Karamojja have now adopted the culture of savings and have joined the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA).
Ojing Geoffrey feels that it is time for all men in Karamojja and other regions to rise up and support inheritance by women as most of the properties (development) in reality are got by both woman and her husband as the orphans will be well taken off by their mothers unlike by relatives of her deceased husband.
Having scanned through a few cultures it is clear and evident that the situation of women in society cuts across regardless of Tribe, culture, religion and class.
So as Uganda commemorates The International Rural Women’s Day on the 24th October 2019, LANDnet Uganda joins the rest of the world to celebrate and salute the Rural Women for their efforts and role in various developmental sectors not forgetting in politics, economic and cultural sectors and we do encourage women not to only look at commercial farming but also other income generating activities/developments like housing and others.
LANDnet pledges to continue sensitizing thus empowering women economically in the several districts of our intervention namely; Tororo, Nakapiripit, Kabong, Napak, Moroto, Kotido, Abim, Amuria, Kaberamaido, Kitgum and Gulu and we hope that by the end of the 2020 the perception and altitude would have changed fir the good of the women.
LANDnet Uganda wishes all Ugandan and women world over happy International Rural women’s Day commemoration.
FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.
