Women Emancipation and Community Development in Sironko Town Council, Sironko District, Eastern Uganda

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION 1.0

Introduction This chapter will look at the background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, specific objectives, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study, and the conceptual frame work. 1,1 Back ground to the study One of the pillars of the Millennium Development Goals promulgated by the United Nations (UN) is promotion of gender equality as well as women’s emancipation. The World Bank, like the rest of the international community, has adopted this pillar based on empirical evidence of the significance of gender to economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development. The World Bank has thus commissioned a study called “Integrating Gender into World Bank Financed Transport Programs”. The work is financed by the Japan Staff and Consultant Trust Fund (JSCTF) and is being undertaken by a consortium led by IC Net Limited. Countries that invest in girls and integrate women into the workforce tend to be more competitive. Thus, many governments are considering or already implementing policies to promote opportunities for women. Mounting research and anecdotal evidence show that closing the gender gap is good for companies, too. Those that successfully engage women can reap a rich diversity dividend. With talent shortages projected to become more severe in much of the developed and developing world, it is imperative for business to have access to female talent Charman, (2008). Dorward, A. (2006) argued that in Uganda women’s roles were clearly subordinate to those of men, despite the substantial economic and social responsibilities of women in Uganda’s many traditional societies. Women were taught to accede to the wishes of their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sometimes other men as well, and to demonstrate their subordination to men in most areas of public life. Even in the 1 980s, women in rural areas of Buganda were expected to kneel when speaking to a man. At the same time, however, women shouldered the primary responsibilities for childcare and subsistence cultivation, and in the twentieth century, women had made substantial contributions to cash~crop a~rioulture.