SIHA network Commissions Women Through Vocational Training: A Step Towards Economic Inclusion in Uganda
The Strategic Initiative for Women in Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network has graduated over 25 women in vocational skills such as shoe making, door mats, bags among others in order to pinpoint their success in entrepreneurship.
Since 2017, the SIHA network has supported women market and street vendors (WMSVs) in Nakawa, Kawempe, and Kampala Central divisions to form successful cooperatives that engineer the idea of exchange and improve livelihoods. The same cooperatives also serve as advocacy platforms to challenge the hostile laws and policies under which the vendors operate.
Recently, after changes in the past years regarding the city's legislation that led to street vendors vacating the streets under the Kampala Capital City Authority, women were particularly affected.
However, this year in November, the Naguru Women Market Street Vendors Cooperative held its first Graduation Ceremony in Bank Village Naguru for women after completing a three-month training in Crafts and Shoe Making.
The training center was established with the financial support from SIHA Network, comprising over 150 women’s rights organizations from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Uganda.
This network operates to address challenges, women’s subordination and violence against women and girls in the Greater Horn of Africa region.
Wednesday, in kampala, the Regional Advocacy and Communication Coordinator for SIHA Network,Ms. Nassali Sandra, while addressing the audience emphasized that “for women market and street vendors, the cooperatives provide networks of mutual support and solidarity that help them build social capital, boost their self-esteem and self-reliance, gain a stronger voice in decision-making, and collectively negotiate better working conditions.”
She also noted that vocational skills like craft making help women and youth thrive and achieve their dreams while addressing the unemployment crisis. Expanding such vocational training centers across Uganda should be a key part of government initiatives, with subsidized rates for youth and women.
“This is particularly critical given the high unemployment rates in Kampala and the low completion rates, which are under 20% from Primary to Secondary school.”
Ms. Nassali further pointed out the numerous challenges women face, including the lack of social protection. As workers in the informal sector, they are often denied essential security and protection, which leaves them vulnerable to eviction, arrest, and property confiscation by city authorities.
These issues have received limited attention despite the fact that their work contributes significantly to Uganda’s economy. She added, “Their contributions are often invisible to national and regional economic policymakers, and their efforts to sustain their communities’ livelihoods are not recognized or formally supported. It is time for this to change.”
Mr. Jimmy Beyange, the Naguru II Parish Zone 4 Councilor, also spoke at the event, praising SIHA Network’s work in empowering the women of Naguru. He acknowledged that under their program, many women, especially single mothers, had been empowered.
“I stopped vending because I realized it wasn’t helping me grow. After joining politics, my objective became advocating for the women of Naguru. Once elected as a Councilor in the area, I mobilized fellow women to create the Naguru Shoe Makers and Crafts center, drawing on the knowledge and skills gained through SIHA Network’s training,” Ms. Achiro Florence, a former street vendor, sharing her personal story, said.
