International and Domestic Civil Society Organizations have on Wednesday 20th proposed that the government puts in place policies and programs including legislation to address unpaid care work by girls and women.
The demand was made at the side-lines of the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Rita Aciro, the Executive Director, Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) said gender parity cannot be achieved when the majority of the women are engaged in the domestic sphere providing services that do not have an economic benefit.
“We need to achieve gender parity and that cannot be achieved if not without combined effort “she added
Aciro said if women cannot get out of the domestic sphere to do economically gainful work and also participate in decision making, then they will always be left behind.
In her remarks at the event, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, noted that it is important to draw attention and advocacy on the issue and have partners in the community to champion the cause.
The Speaker undertook to work with women parliamentarians and the Minister in charge of Sustainable Development Goals, Mary Karooro Okurut, to raise consciousness about the issue until it becomes government policy.
