Women under their Umbrella the Uganda Media Women Association (UMWA) have come together in a Symposium and awards ceremony to discuss means of how to remove barriers that have made things difficult for them especially in the work space, and to appreciate fellow women for the achievements in the media industry and outside.
These women think, it is these barriers such as sexual harassments, less payment, working over time, long time probations among others have greatly affected the performance of women at their places of work which scare many of them away from work.
During the symposium at Hotel Africana in Kampala on 22/03/2024, women especially those who have been in the media industry for along time, advised young female journalists and those women outside the media industry to be resilient so that they can be able to achieve their dreams.
The woman MP for Mpigi district and the chief guest Teddy Nambooze, commended Umwa for bringing out the voices of women and also appealed to women under this association and all concerned parties to collaborate and engage in activism to impact parliament to bring out women voices and solve the challenges that women go through.
UNEB spokesperson Jennifer Kalule Challenged women never to pull down fellow women but to mentor them. ” Spot that woman, get together, as together we can achieve.” Jennifer emphasised.” She as well appealed to women never to be selfish to each other so that they can use the opportunities they get to lift other women.
Umwa executive director Margret Sentamu challenged government to come up with friendly policies to businesses to reduce the cost of production as away of addressing underpayment to female journalists.
Margret cautioned women to stand and say no to injustices and violations against women especially sexual harassment and cautioned them to respect themselves and avoid giving into men for the sake of getting that job.
Women who have served in media and other fields have been appreciated by Umwa for the long time service committment and holding each other’s hand during all the challenging time at the work space.
The awardees include, Brenda Namata, and Cotilda Babirekere from Umwa, UNEB spokesperson Jennifer Kalule, journalists Hatima Naluggwa Ssekaaya and Diana Kibuuka, among others and organisations include Private sector foundation, vision group, Nile breweries, Nation media among others.
POLLICY appreciated the work done by Umwa with an a ward and a gift that was delivered by the Programs Officer in POLLICY Phillip Ayazika.
The Symposium was celebrated under the theme: Breaking Barriers, Investing in Women’s Progress.
