Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa on Monday presented Uganda’s progress in advancing women’s representation in leadership, citing their growing presence in Parliament and Cabinet.
Speaking at the World Women Parliamentarians Forum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Tayebwa, who led Uganda’s delegation, said the country had taken deliberate steps to increase women’s participation in governance since 1986, when the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government came to power. These measures include affirmative action, which is enshrined in the Constitution.
According to figures he cited, women account for 35 per cent of Uganda’s Parliament, with 187 women among 529 members, while they make up 49 per cent of Cabinet.
Tayebwa also highlighted the positions held by women, including the Vice President, Prime Minister and two Deputy Prime Ministers, as examples of their participation in senior government leadership.
He pointed to gender and equality assessments in the budgeting process, supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission, as measures intended to ensure that women and other disadvantaged groups are considered in government programmes.
However, Tayebwa called for further measures to give women greater influence in decision-making.
“Representation is only the beginning. Having women in Parliament is important, but the most important measure of progress is whether women are able to influence the laws, the policies, the budgets and decisions that shape the lives of our people,” Tayebwa said.
The two-day forum, held on October 12–13 under the theme “From Representation to Influence in the Decision-Making Process,” brings together women parliamentarians to share experiences and discuss ways to strengthen women’s role in governance.
Tayebwa described the forum as an important platform for countries to learn from one another’s experiences, saying parliamentary cooperation can help identify practical ways to strengthen women’s influence at national, regional and international levels.
“As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that women's voices are reflected not only in our chambers, but also in the decisions that determine the future of our societies,” he said.
Uganda’s delegation included Lira District Woman MP Auma Linda Agnes, National Female MP for Persons with Disabilities Laura Kanushu, Wakiso District Woman MP Betty Ethel Naluyima, Soroti District Woman MP Anna Ebaju Adeke and National Female Youth MP Mercy Kanyesigye.
Voices from Across the World
Leah Sopiato Sankaire, the Kajiado County Woman Representative who led Kenya’s delegation, said that despite the progress Kenya had made, the country had yet to implement the constitutional requirement that no more than two-thirds of the members of any elective or appointive public body should be of the same gender.
Sankaire said women were 31 representatives short of meeting the required threshold in Kenya’s Parliament. She added that efforts were underway to address the shortfall, including through a constitutional amendment bill.
For the world to move beyond representation, Sankaire said women needed to lead parliamentary committees responsible for budget allocation.
“When these committees are chaired by women, a gender-sensitive budget becomes a reality,” she said.
Parvana Valiyeva, who led Azerbaijan’s delegation, noted that her country was the first in the Muslim East to grant women the right to vote and stand for election in 1918. She added that the first secular school for women in the Muslim East was established in Azerbaijan in 1901.
She said these achievements demonstrated Azerbaijan’s longstanding commitment to advancing women’s rights and representation.
Valiyeva urged women parliamentarians attending the forum to ensure that women’s voices were heard and protected in sectors shaping the world today, including climate change, technology, economic development, peace and security.
Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Battsetseg Batmunkh, said the achievements celebrated at the forum were the result of women’s efforts to secure the implementation of the declaration adopted at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing.
“Since the conference, the representation of women in parliament has more than doubled,” she said. “Many of these achievements we are celebrating today are because of those women who refused to accept limitations imposed on them.”
