The Month of the Woman Entrepreneur (MOWE) is a global event and in Uganda is celebrated in the month of November annually since 2006 when it was introduced by the International Labor Organization-Women Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equity (ILO-WEDGE) project. Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited (UWEAL) in partnership with ILO and the Government of Uganda has been playing a leading role.
MOWE is celebrated annually to appreciate women’s success and inspire a million others who are still held up in the confines of cultural and gender norms or lack capital, information, knowledge, and skills to start a business that needs support.
The theme for this year’s MOWE is “Trading across Borders”. This is because only 1 in 5 companies of export are owned by women due to the poor quality of their products among others. This year, UWEAL will focus on adding critical systems and technology for women to do business across borders.
On 1st November 2017, UWEAL and all her partners involved in the MOWE celebrations piloted a press conference to enable all partner institutions to highlight their involvement during the Month of the Woman Entrepreneur (MOWE) 2017.
Representatives from all partner institutions gave a highlight of the activities they are doing/plan to do during the MOWE as UWEAL mark their 30 years journey, which has been tough though rewarding at the same time. UWEAL has managed to establish 25 chapters countrywide and facilitated women to network. The organization that started as a brainchild of 6 women now boosts with over 10,000 members countrywide among others.
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) is among the partner institutions and will be shepherding an online campaign with the hashtag #WomenEntrepreneurs and participating in a panel discussion on “How to maximize ICT for trade” during the annual conference slated for 29th-30th of November 2017.
UWEAL and her partners will conduct training and expose women through networking to improve entrepreneurship skills among women in Uganda. This is because UWEAL’s mandate is to carry out capacity building, networking to gain opportunities that support women in their business, advocate for women’s access to financing, and participate in government procurement.
The press conference was then adjourned with UWEAL showing gratitude for her partners for being with them and officially invited the partners for the annual conference that is scheduled for 29th-30th of November 2017.
By
Sandra Aceng
