British High Commission Launches Mentorship Program for Women Parliamentarians.

The British High Commission, in partnership with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), UN Women, and the Uganda Women Parliamentarians Association (UWOPA) on Tuesday launched the second cohort of their Mentorship Programme for women parliamentarians in Uganda at the High Commissioner’s residence in Kampala.

The one-year program will be funded by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and supported by the British High Commission. It is aimed at increasing the MPs’ knowledge and skills in parliamentary practices and procedures, effective parliamentary scrutiny, and external communication skills.

It will be implemented along three strands; a one-to-one mentorship support program between Ugandan and UK MPs, senior leadership exchanges as well as communications and parliamentary procedures workshops.

The Programme is targeting the second cohort of at least 35 female MPs, following a successful first cohort of 30 female parliamentarians, which will continue to run alongside.

Speaking at the event, the UK High Commissioner to Uganda, H.E. Kate Airey OBE credited the government for its progress in addressing gender inequality, especially in leadership positions.

“I am delighted by the achievements Uganda has made so far to address gender inequality, with women now in 43% of local government positions 33% of parliamentary seats, and 43% of the cabinet positions and a female Vice President and Prime Minister,” Kate said.

She added on and said “But, what I have learned from my career is the power of mentorship, and that’s what this program is all about. We need to make sure that the funnel of talent continues to go through that system so that we continue to have the very best female leaders operating here in Uganda, fighting for women’s rights, and fighting for the best quality decision making,” she said.

Ms. Adekemi Ndieli, UN Women’s Deputy Country Representative remarked, “Our mentorship program looks at how we can build the skills of women. We have quite a number of young people right now as members of parliament and also those who are coming to the parliament for the first time.”