Zadock Amanyisa | Tayari News
The National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) has enrolled up to 30 women into a six-month pilot mentorship and leadership program to help promote leadership equity in the water and sanitation sector. The arrangement is spearheaded by Professional Women for Water and Sanitation.
According to Eng. Zainab Mpakiraba, the NWSC Manager in charge of External Services, the program will be designed to help build resilience among women so that they are able to effectively deliver, handle the pressures that they face in their homes and from the realities that stop them from delivering.
“Women belong to families, they have families at home, pressures from these families and life shocks tend to inhibit the way they deliver at work.” She said
The program is expected to strengthen leadership skills, life skills, and technical and managerial competence for women in the sector to effectively deliver.
Dr Rose Kaggwa, the NWSC Senior Director, Business and Scientific Services, said women’s representation in Uganda’s water sector remains globally competitive, standing at 33%, which is very good and much higher than in other areas.
“When you go to Germany, you find that they still have about 22% but when we look at the way we are performing, step by step, we are beginning to see more women coming into the sector and even in some of the areas which initially were thought to be very technical like plumbers, we are beginning to have women plumbers also coming into the organization,” Dr Kaggwa noted
“When you go into the board room, you find women not just through affirmative action but through real service delivery,” she added.
The programme is designed to produce a cycle of mentorship that expands impact across the utility’s teams.
Pledging his commitment to expanding leadership opportunities for women in water, the Utility Managing Director, Eng. Dr Silver Mugisha wants women to leverage technology to sharpen their skills.
“The moment you are sharp in terms of leadership, the moment you are intentional in terms of what you want to achieve, the moment your character is good, the moment your skills are good, I can tell you that this question of women will never rise,” says Dr Mugisha