• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Login
Watchdog Uganda
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
Watchdog Uganda
No Result
View All Result

JOHN MUTEBE: Need to Empower Women WASH Entrepreneurship in Uganda

Watchdog Uganda by Watchdog Uganda
9 months ago
in Conversations with, Op-Ed
1 0
ShareTweetSendShare

The duty to provide water and sanitation services in a home, has traditionally been a preserve for the woman in a family. Daily chores include water collection, sanitation management and hygiene maintenance and education of the children. This prevails in modern times, especially in African countries like Uganda, where majority of women are confined to home care.

One can assume that this long interaction with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) issues on a micro level, naturally gives women better experience and capacity to find solutions to related challenges. This would, therefore, increase their leverage to contribute on broader spectrums such as policymaking and business in the sector.

However, despite this natural or traditional allegiance to WASH, women’s participation on the business and entrepreneurial front of the sector in our country, remains minimal and barely evident.

This comes at the backdrop of an ever-growing trend for private sector to shape various spheres of people’s lives, including WASH. More enterprises are innovating solutions to help communities and individuals to meet their WASH needs.

*Understanding challenges*

Woman entrepreneurship, through provision of women-led WASH designs, products, and services, could ably contribute to not only the community’s wellbeing considering their understanding with concerns, but also that of her household due to increased incomes.

A woman entrepreneur understands the challenges fellow women face in fulfilling individual and family WASH duties and knows how best to solve them.

Secondly, customers, especially in the hygiene business, are largely women. So, a woman producer would enable free interaction with the consumer, hence designing user-friendly products or services.
Nonetheless, there are various constraints to this vast potential of women entrepreneurship in WASH, including limited technical skills, access to finance, information, and business opportunities.

Above all, improved access to information should be at the forefront of changing this tide. With enough awareness, women can identify avenues of transforming their solutions into competitive enterprises.

Firstly, many might not know that they are WASH entrepreneurs. We define a WASH entrepreneur as someone who develops and implements innovative business solutions in water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors. They focus on creating sustainable and scalable products or services that improve access to safe WASH in underserved communities. They range from water engineers, plumbers, and water purification service producers (for water); manual pit emptiers, cesspool operators, waste collectors and recyclers (sanitation); to soap manufacturers, cleaning service providers, and menstrual health products (hygiene).

If they regard themselves as mainstream SMEs, they might not recognise the layers of support systems available for their growth. These include government agencies like Ministries of Water and Environment, Education, and Health; civil society such as Water and Sanitation Entrepreneurs Uganda (WASEU) and Uganda Water and Sanitation Network (UWASNET), as well as a myriad of development partners and platforms to tag themselves and get networks.

*Networks and opportunities*

Besides general financing opportunities for women businesses such as GROW Project, entrepreneurs in WASH can take advantage of various specific incubator and accelerator programs like the ongoing Female Hygiene Accelerator Program to make them build their capacity to attract finance and business partnerships.

Ecosystem engagement platforms such as Majipreneurs Summit, Uganda Water Week, provide opportunities to network with other businesses, interact with relevant entities, and dialogue on policy. Efforts should also be made towards creating gender-responsive procurement processes, which enable female entrepreneurs win government contracts and create a model to attract women into the WASH market.

Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Act 2003 reserves 15% of government contracts for women groups, youth, and people with disabilities. However, a 2023 UN Women assessment on government procurement, found that less than one percent of women-led businesses were contracted by government. You can imagine how much of that was from the WASH sector.

To achieve the envisions of the PPDA act and more, district procurement authorities and CSOs need to establish a comprehensive capacity-building program for women-led businesses, focusing on water and sanitation sectors.

Writer is a WASH Business Adviser and the Program Manager at Water and Sanitation Entrepreneurs Uganda (WASEU)
Contact: john.mutebe@waseu.org / 0775268014

 


Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
ShareTweetSendShare

Related Posts

National

Fr. Musaala’s Hypocrisy: Demanding Museveni’s Confession While Silent on His Own

30th May 2025 at 20:56
President Museveni, MP Luttamaguzi and Haji Faruk Kirunda
Op-Ed

FARUK KIRUNDA: MP Luttamaguzi will be judged by his fruits

28th May 2025 at 07:35
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
News

PHILLIP R. ONGADIA: Father! Arbitrate or Else Fire Will Scorch the House

27th May 2025 at 19:31
Next Post
MP Jonathan Ebwalu

"Ugandans Should Brace for Worst Election Malpractice"- MP Warns After Museveni's Vote Rigging Claims

  • Prostitution in Uganda- Courtesy Photo

    10 dangerous hotspots known for prostitutes in Kampala

    1031 shares
    Share 412 Tweet 258
  • Sudhir’s son Rajiv Ruparelia perishes in fatal motor accident 

    50 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13
  • Has Billionaire Sudhir Ruparelia Replaced Rajiv with Sister Sheena in Managing the Ruparelia Group of Companies?

    20 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5
  • Why Would Rajiv Ruparelia Be Cremated on Tuesday?

    15 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4
  • Retired civil servant reaps big from coffee farming, credits President Museveni’s visionary leadership 

    14 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4
Facebook Twitter

Contact Information

Watchdog Uganda is a portal for solution journalism, trending news plus cutting edge commentaries in the fields of politics, security, business, tourism, entertainment, technology, agriculture, climate change, environment, public health et al. We also give preference to Ugandan community news and topical discussions. The portal also publishes community news and topical discussions.

Email: editorial@watchdoguganda.com
To Advertise:Click here

Latest News

Big Hearted Ugandans: The Race to Save Cedric Babu attracted Ugx200 million

1st June 2025 at 15:23
The victorious Ugandan scholars being awarded by The Ugandan Ambassador in Guangzhou China, Ms. Judyth Nsababera and the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education and Sport, Dr. Kedrace Turyagenda who represented the First Lady and Minister of Education

Ugandan Students Showcase Innovation and Talent at the Global Finals of Huawei ICT Competitions 2024-2025

31st May 2025 at 13:25

Check out

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Minister Muruli Mukasa

LIST: New salary structure for civil servants starting July 2020 out; scientists, lecturers get juicy pay rise

24th May 2020 at 10:45
Pregnant woman

Shock as 17-year old boy impregnates his two sisters during Covid-19 lockdown 

17th June 2020 at 08:17
Sudhir Ruparelia has dominated the Uganda rich list for more than a decade

Billionaire Sudhir’s wisdom on how to invest in real estate

0

How a boy’s destiny turned from cotton grower to communications guru

0

Big Hearted Ugandans: The Race to Save Cedric Babu attracted Ugx200 million

1st June 2025 at 15:23
The victorious Ugandan scholars being awarded by The Ugandan Ambassador in Guangzhou China, Ms. Judyth Nsababera and the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education and Sport, Dr. Kedrace Turyagenda who represented the First Lady and Minister of Education

Ugandan Students Showcase Innovation and Talent at the Global Finals of Huawei ICT Competitions 2024-2025

31st May 2025 at 13:25

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda