More than 4776 women in Uganda have benefited from a
TradeMark East Africa Women (TMEA) and Trade programme since 2015.
TMEA has also increased market access for over
443 women traders through establishment of five cooperatives in subsector areas
of beans, coffee, maize, handcrafts and beverages in the districts of Hoima,
Kabale, Mpigi, Jinja, Masaka and Kapchorwa.
This came out during a women and trade plenary
session of the East Africa Trade Development Forum in Munyonyo.
Speaking at the forum, Trade Industry and
Cooperatives Minister, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde noted: “This programme
demonstrates that public private partnerships can actually bear tangible
results when fully utilized. As a government, we will continue supporting
partners to strengthen women trade programmes in the country.”
She added: “Going forward and as Government,
through a collaborative effort, we look forward to reducing challenges that
women face as traders and doubling these numbers today and call upon other
organizations to join us in this concerted efforts.”
As a donor, the representative of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands, Hajo Provo Kluit applauded TradeMark East Africa for
support to women stating that this is a sure way to ensure that trade leads to
prosperity.
Collectively, the organization has reached
over 25,000 women in East Africa.
On his part, TradeMark East Africa, Uganda
Country Director, Moses Sabiiti noted: “Supporting women in trade is going to
be one of our fundamental drivers in growing our economies in Uganda and
beyond. We will be moving to more and more sustainable inclusive environment
thereby creating more jobs and getting more people out of poverty.”
He added: “In the next five years of our
strategy, we would like to scale up our programme and support to over 10,000
women in Uganda and over 300,000 across East Africa. We call upon other
partners to join us in growing prosperity in this sector.”
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