568 million shillings was disbursed to 84 women groups before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 but only 186 million shillings has since been recovered, according to statistics from the district community services department.
Omoro district is
struggling to recover close to 400 million shillings disbursed to women groups
under the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Program (UWEP).
UWEP is an initiative of the government that is aimed at improving access to financial services for women and equipping
them with skills for enterprise growth, value addition and marketing of their products
and services.
The program is
implemented as a rolling programme under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and
Social Development (MGLSD). Women groups are provided
interest-free credit for enterprise development on a revolving fund basis.
The women are required to
be in groups of 10-15 members to ensure the successful implementation of their
priority enterprise and full repayment of the Revolving Fund.
However, the majority of
women groups in Omoro district are failing to pay back the money.
568 million
shillings was disbursed to 84 women groups before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 but
only 186 million shillings has since been recovered, according to statistics
from the district community services department. This leaves the district
with the burden of recovering 382 million shillings from women groups.
Perry Jawoko Isiro, the Senior
Community Development Officer Omoro district told Uganda Radio Network that
many women blame the coronavirus pandemic for the collapse of their
enterprises making it hard for them to pay back the money.
“Out of 84 women groups
who received the funds, only six have fully paid back the money. This is
because their income-generating activities collapsed during and after COVID-19,”
says Jawoko adding that this is preventing other women from accessing the funds.
She said that in the last financial year, only five groups were funded.
Judith Akello
Freelancer