A Wealthy Woman A Wealthy Nation Practitioners Questions on Promoting Female Entrepreneurship Dorothy Kanduhukye Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL)

A Wealthy Woman A Wealthy Nation

About UWEAL History: established in October, 1987 to promote business women in Uganda Vision: a wealthy woman responsibly contributing to national economic development Mission: to empower women entrepreneurs to create wealth through capacity building, networking and advocacy

Our Ultimate Goal ‘A wealthy woman A wealthy Nation’ A Wealthy Woman A Wealthy Nation

Our Membership  We target women entrepreneurs, aspiring business women, professional women and women groups and businesses that are managed by women  In over 15 district chapters  Have a membership of over 1000 women from all over the country  sectors – Education, agriculture, manufacturing, art and crafts, textiles, trade etc

Our Core Pillars Capacity Building NetworkingAdvocacy

Capacity building Programs Entrepreneurship and Business Management Trainings The Mentoring Program Entrepreneurs in Handcrafts Program ACCESS! for African Women to International Trade Supplier Readiness ProgramBreakfast Meetings (Members & Corporate) Month of the Woman Entrepreneur (MOWE) Practical Hands on Skills Training (Value Addition)

Networking B2B Exchange Visits Annual Entrepreneurship Awards Dinner Seminars, Conferences and Workshops Other networks East African Women Entrepreneurs Exchange Network (EAWEExN) East African Business Council Africa Businesswomen’s Network Month of the Woman Entrepreneur (MOWE) Annual Awards Dinner

Advocacy Creating a favorable business environment for women in Uganda to do business in a competitive manner Supporting Public Advocacy through Regional Competitiveness (SPARC) - aims to increase women’s economic engagement in the labor force and entrepreneurship, while simultaneously creating a more enabling environment for women’s economic engagement and greater poverty alleviation in Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. Advocacy UWEAL’s SPARC Campaign is Targeting Allocation of 50% of Agricultural Resources towards Women in Agriculture with Particular Focus on Government of Uganda’s National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)

The Next 5 Years Targets An Incubation Center An Enterprise Institute A Women Enterprise Fund Active Participation of Women in the Oil Sector

Status of Women in Uganda Women make up 52.5% of the labour force and are an important pool of potential talent to help Uganda meet its development goals. However, it is generally known that women face more challenges since they are more disadvantaged than men due to established cultural norms and attitudes about women’s roles, less mobility, and the unequal demands of domestic responsibilities on women’s time 44% of business establishments 86.2 are self employed 3.8% of working women are in formal employment, compared to 27.9% of working men Women have significantly lower percentages of businesses with employees than men (38% vs 55% )in established businesses Source (ILO WED Assessment report)

Status Key Questions for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship How to bridge the rural urban divide in Women Entrepreneurship development – Self esteem – Dreaming big – Mentoring spirit and drive – Family businesses In the past there existed a fighting spirit among the rural youth and uneducated and are today very successful entrepreneurs. How can we use the same inner spirit that helped them survive and grow to where they are now. Most rural entrepreneurs have lost hope in business and resorted to begging Government their relatives and the CSOs

Status Key Questions for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship How can technology be used to improve access to information for women entrepreneurs – Research – Market access – Networking opportunities – Training needs (self education) – Associations – Government support How can we help women access key factors of production VALUE CHAIN

Status Key Questions for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship How can we bring/involve men as partners in – Reducing violence – Supporting their spouses into business – In building capacity where need be or working alongside their spouses other than fight them – Attitude change – Cultural dimensions-bring both women and men on board How can the women political leaders work with women business leaders to influence Government in formulating policies that are favorable women entrepreneurship.

Status Key Questions for Promoting Women Entrepreneurship How do we ensure that affirmative actions/programs by government and other state actors deliver the required empowerment for women in a sustainable way – Policies and regulations – Gender sensitivity – Financial program and how they affect women entrepreneurship How can the media be influenced to motivate women and young girls to take on entrepreneurship through positive reporting.

Can Research Provide and answer 16 Access to funding-Proposal writing Policy Analysis-Performance & Implementation Information sharing Inform new business models and strategies for women entrepreneurship development Advocacy and lobbying

Existing Knowledge Academic information Stories of successful women entrepreneurs Media Government development programs and projects Research by other agencies Associations and representative bodies 17

Packaging Documentaries Policy briefs Advocacy messages Success stories Reports Easy to understand 18