RABAT, Morocco – Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has called for a ‘special fund’ to cater to women raising families in refugee settlements.
Kadaga made the call while attending the 14th session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Conference in Rabat, Morocco.
The fund, Kadaga said, will save women who are facing difficulties the settlements.
“Motherhood in refugee camps is a devastating experience; single mothers in conflict areas are faced with the difficult task of raising families because the fathers are either dead or active combatants,” she said.
The Speaker added, “let us create a special fund and ensure that we eliminate their suffering and make life better for them.”
The conference, which brought together Speakers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Parliaments, also discussed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on how to bring an end to wars, death and suffering in those troubled areas.
Kadaga emphasised ensuring opportunities at home for youths dying in the conflicts, as well as those taking dangerous journeys to flee the wars as the main solution.
Referring to the Mediterranean as the “graveyard of troubled young people from our countries who have been denied opportunities”, the speaker said there is a need for introspection to address the causes of those conflicts, which create refugees.
Uganda has been hailed for being receptive to refugees with an influx of close to two million refugees.
In 2017, a Uganda Solidarity Summit on Refugees was held on the sidelines of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa, to raise funds for Uganda’s refugee hosting activities.
Speaker meets Qatar counterpart
On the sidelines of the conference, Kadaga held talks with the Speaker of the Shura Council of Qatar, Ahmed Abdullah bin Zaid, where the two agreed to closer engagements in future.
Kadaga welcomed Qatar’s support to African countries, saying with more opportunities, the continent stands to register progress and accelerate its journey to self-dependence.
“Africans never want to leave their countries; it is only pressures like unemployment, conflict…opportunities are what the African people are looking for,” she said.
Uganda’s Ambassador to Morocco, Mr John Alintuma Nsambu was part of the meeting.
Kadaga is leading a delegation comprising MPs Latif Sebaggala (IND, Kawempe North), Sarah Nakawunde(NRM, Mpigi), and Zaitun Driwaru (IND, Yumbe).
Others are Ogama Alli Ismail (NRM, Lower Madi County), Abbas Agaba (NRM, Kitagwenda) and the Clerk to Parliament, Jane Kibirige.