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News release

Ugandans applaud government efforts to promote gender equality, but want more

7 Feb 2023 Uganda
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News release
Key findings
  • More than eight in 10 citizens (84%) say women should have the same chance as men to be elected to political office (Figure 1).
  • While respondents overwhelmingly believe that a woman and her family will gain standing in the community if she runs for election (90%), notable proportions also consider it likely that she will be criticised, called names, or harassed by others in the community (51%) or will face problems with her family (46%) (Figure 2).
  • A slim majority (55%) of citizens endorse gender equality in hiring, but more than four in 10 (43%) instead say that when jobs are scarce, men “should have more rights to a job” than women. Among men, a majority (54%) would give priority to male applicants (Figure 3).
  • Seven in 10 Ugandans (69%) say women should have the same rights as men to own and inherit land (Figure 4).
  • More than eight in 10 Ugandans (83%) applaud the government’s performance in promoting equal rights and opportunities for women (Figure 5).

Most Ugandans believe the government is doing a good job of promoting equal rights and opportunities for women, but a majority say greater efforts are needed, Afrobarometer findings show.

An overwhelming majority of citizens also say women should have the same chance as men of being elected to public office, rejecting the idea that men make better political leaders and should thus be given priority as candidates.

But while most citizens believe that female candidates and their families will gain standing in the community, many also consider it likely that these women will be criticised or harassed.

More than two-thirds of Ugandans say women should have the same rights as men to own and inherit land, but a far slimmer majority endorse gender equality in hiring.

Ugandans consider gender-based violence the most important women’s-rights issue that the government and society must address.