What you need to know:
- Leading Uganda’s parliamentary delegation to the World Women Parliamentarians Forum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Tayebwa highlighted the country's deliberate efforts to expand women’s participation in governance since the National Resistance Movement (NRM) took power in 1986, largely anchored by constitutional affirmative action provisions.
Uganda has made significant strides in elevating women to key leadership roles, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa told an international gathering of lawmakers on Monday, October 12, while emphasizing that numerical representation alone is insufficient without genuine policy impact.
Leading Uganda’s parliamentary delegation to the World Women Parliamentarians Forum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Tayebwa highlighted the country's deliberate efforts to expand women’s participation in governance since the National Resistance Movement (NRM) took power in 1986, largely anchored by constitutional affirmative action provisions.
Presenting official statistics, Tayebwa revealed that female lawmakers currently constitute 35 percent of Uganda’s 11th Parliament, holding 187 out of 529 seats. The representation is even higher in the executive branch, where women make up 49 percent of the Cabinet.
He pointed to top executive offices held by women—including the Vice President, Prime Minister, and two Deputy Prime Ministers—as clear evidence of female inclusion at the apex of state administration. He further noted that the country incorporates gender and equality assessments into its national budget formulation, overseen by the Equal Opportunities Commission, to safeguard the interests of women and marginalized communities.
Despite these milestones, the Deputy Speaker urged delegates to push beyond quotas and ensure female leaders possess direct leverage over state policy.
“Representation is only the beginning. Having women in Parliament is important, but the most important measure of progress is whether women are able to influence the laws, the policies, the budgets and decisions that shape the lives of our people,” Tayebwa said.
He emphasized that inter-parliamentary collaboration provides a vital mechanism for sharing practical strategies to bolster women's influence globally.
“As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to ensure that women's voices are reflected not only in our chambers, but also in the decisions that determine the future of our societies,” Tayebwa added.
The two-day global conference, convened under the theme “From Representation to Influence in the Decision-Making Process,” brought together parliamentary leaders from around the globe to evaluate progress since the landmark 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women.
The Ugandan delegation at the forum included Lira District Woman MP Auma Linda Agnes, National Female MP for Persons with Disabilities Laura Kanushu, Wakiso District Woman MP Betty Ethel Naluyima, Soroti District Woman MP Anna Ebaju Adeke, and National Female Youth MP Mercy Kanyesigye.
Global Perspectives on Female Inclusion
Delegates from other nations shared distinct challenges and historic achievements during the sessions.
Leah Sopiato Sankaire, head of Kenya’s delegation and Kajiado County Woman Representative, acknowledged her country's ongoing struggle to enforce its constitutional "two-thirds gender rule," which mandates that no single gender occupy more than two-thirds of elective or appointive public bodies. Kenya’s Parliament remains 31 female members short of this threshold, though Sankaire noted that a constitutional amendment bill is currently being pursued to resolve the deficit.
Sankaire argued that achieving genuine influence requires women to helm critical finance organs.
“When these committees are chaired by women, a gender-sensitive budget becomes a reality,” Sankaire noted.
Representing Azerbaijan, delegation leader Parvana Valiyeva reminded the forum of her nation's historical leadership in gender parity, noting that Azerbaijan established the Muslim East's first secular school for women in 1901 and granted women full voting and electoral rights in 1918. She urged lawmakers to ensure women actively shape emerging global priorities, including climate action, technology, economic development, and international security.
Opening the conference, Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Battsetseg Batmunkh, observed that global female parliamentary representation has more than doubled since the 1995 Beijing Declaration.
“Many of these achievements we are celebrating today are because of those women who refused to accept limitations imposed on them,” Batmunkh said.