United Nations CEDAW/C/SR.575 Convention on the Elimination Distr.: General of All Forms of Discrimination 15 January 2003 against Women Original: English Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Exceptional session Summary record of the 575th meeting Held at Headquarters, New York, on Friday, 9 August 2002, at 10 a.m. Chairperson:Ms. Abaka Contents Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention (continued) Third periodic report of Uganda This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Chief, Official Records Editing Section, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza. Any corrections to the record of the meetings of this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session. 02-51646 (E) *0251646* CEDAW/C/SR.575 The meeting was called to order at 10.25 a.m. labour. The domestic relationships bill in particular had remained stalled in the Cabinet for four years; it had full presidential backing, but was still awaiting the Consideration of reports by States parties under views and contributions of civil society organizations. article 18 of the Convention (continued) Also delayed for procedural reasons was the passage of the employment bill, which would also provide for Third periodic report of Uganda ratification of several International Labour (CEDAW/C/UGA/3) Organization conventions. Consultants had drafted the bill without first citing the underlying principles or 1. At the invitation of the Chairperson, Ms. Bakoko- securing a “no objection” finding from the Minister of Bakoru (Uganda) took her place at the Committee Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Those table. omissions would have to be rectified and the bill 2. Ms. Bakoko-Bakoru (Minister for Gender, returned to the Cabinet. Labour and Social Development), introducing her 5. Affirmative action had improved women’s country’s third periodic report, said that Uganda had representation in senior decision-making positions. ratified the Convention in 1987 and had made Women held posts as Vice-President, Deputy Chief substantial progress in implementing its provisions, Justice, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Deputy although it was one of the world’s poorest countries. Inspector-General of Police. Under affirmative-action The National Resistance Movement Government had provisions, one third of local government posts were made a firm commitment to ensuring observance of earmarked for women. A perhaps unexpected source of human rights and the attainment of social and empowerment at grassroots level was the training of economic development. The commitment had been traditional birth attendants under a United Nations translated into action through the Economic Recovery Population Fund (UNFPA) programme, which had Programme in 1987, a Decentralization policy in 1992 placed those women in a position of influence in their and, most recently, a Poverty Eradication Action Plan communities. (PEAP) to improve the livelihoods of all Ugandans, including women, in a sustainable manner. Gender was 6. Gender mainstreaming and the advancement of a guiding principle in that Action Plan. women were overseen by mechanisms first established in 1988 under the then Ministry for Women in 3. Ugandan women had been heavily involved in Development. Although the mechanisms had changed, peace-building and conflict resolution in Uganda and in the emphasis had not. Government programmes neighbouring countries. The relative peace and security focused on the poor and the vulnerable: women, of the past fifteen years had brought economic growth children, people with disabilities, workers and the and a decline in poverty, providing a foundation for all elderly. Part of the mandate of the Ministry of Gender, stakeholders (the Government, civil society and the Labour and Social Development was to monitor private sector) to work towards the advancement of Government programmes from a gender perspective. women. A major achievement had been the Those programmes would be measured against promulgation of a new Constitution in 1995. It was international obligations, the country’s Constitution, distinctly gender-sensitive, it emphasized human rights sectoral policies and individual ministries’ targets for and freedoms, affirmed the equality of all individuals, addressing gender gaps. A document which would be prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, age, made available to the Committee set out a framework ethnic or other social status, and obliged the State to which could be used as a tool by Uganda and quite institute affirmative action to redress structural and possibly other countries to improve targeting and social inequality for disadvantaged groups. results. 4. The National Gender Policy and the National 7. The Universal Primary Education Programme had Action Plan on Women served as a foundation for the doubled school enrolment, with girls experiencing empowerment of women, and reform had been initiated much of its impact. At primary and secondary level, to strengthen the country’s legal and policy framework. girls were often outperforming boys. A policy of Legal reform was focusing on bills regarding domestic awarding bonus points to girls entering tertiary relationships, sexual offences and many aspects of education had doubled female enrolment. Another 2 CEDAW/C/SR.575 priority for the Government was the Functional Adult substantial obstacle to overcome, and political Literacy Programme, which sought to improve literacy instability still threatened some parts of the country, and numeracy, and thus offer opportunities for income the Government remained committed to meeting its generation and better livelihoods. Civil society international obligations. organizations were implementing similar programmes, 11. Ms. Kwaku congratulated the delegation on the so the combined impact of government and non- Government’s efforts to increase the number of women governmental efforts was considerable, especially for officials; she hoped that those office-holders were not women. mere figureheads and that the results of their activities 8. The Government had focused on primary health would be reflected in the next report. The care and road building to improve access for rural Government’s policies aimed at combating HIV/AIDS communities. School sanitation facilities had been were also commendable. However, more must be done improved: their poor quality had been one factor to translate the gender-sensitive provisions of the new influencing the drop-out rate for girls. Provision of safe Constitution into domestic law. The adoption of drinking water had aimed to reduce the distance which important legislation such as the Domestic Relations women and children walked to collect water, an issue Bill and the Sexual Offences Bill had been pending for which had a direct effect on their quality of life. The many years; it was difficult not to conclude that the history of HIV/AIDS in Uganda was known all over Government lacked the necessary political will to the world, but prevalence rates had fallen to 6.1 per implement them. cent in 2002 from 22 per cent ten years earlier, thanks 12. It would be useful to know the number of women to a multisectoral approach covering awareness-raising, members of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, voluntary testing and counselling, and prevention of whether there was a quota for women members, how mother-to-child transmission. many cases of violations of women’s rights had been 9. Domestic violence against women and children brought before the Commission and how they had been was covered in the Penal Code, and other measures to dealt with, how the compensation mechanism operated suppress that phenomenon included establishing family and who was responsible for paying any compensation protection units at police posts and implementing ordered. awareness-raising campaigns. International Women’s 13. The fact that the former Ministry of Women in Day had been assigned the theme “Break the Silence: Development had been subsumed into the Ministry of Stop Violence against Women” and the Day of the Gender, Labour and Social Development suggested less African Child was centred on the theme of preventing focus on women’s issues. She asked what the sexual abuse of children, a particularly appropriate Ministry’s budget was, both in numbers and as a follow-up to the World Congress Against Commercial percentage of the national budget, and whether its Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Yokohama in resources were adequate for the implementation of its December 2001. projects. 10. Uganda’s poverty constituted a challenge to 14. Lastly, in the light of the Government’s failure to implementing the Convention, as it limited the eliminate prostitution, she wondered whether it was country’s ability to meet the social and economic needs considering new policies that would protect women of the population. Uganda was nevertheless working to forced into prostitution from health risks and other produce, document and disseminate sex-disaggregated dangers. data to help formulate policy and evaluate the results of action taken. That had been made part of the Social 15. Ms. Shin stressed that there was no excuse for Development Sector Strategic Investment Plan the delay in repealing or amending discriminatory (SDSSIP), which would be ready in October 2002. legislation as expeditiously as possible in order to Uganda believed that that plan was the first of its kind, bring it into line with the provisions of the and that it could be of use to other countries. The aim Constitution. Furthermore, the President’s claim that was inclusiveness: to address the needs of the poor and the Domestic Relations Bill had not been passed vulnerable, and to extend the achievements of Ugandan because national NGOs had not submitted comments women in politics, civil society and academic life to thereon was unacceptable; it was the Government’s women in rural areas.