Kampala – Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda (CCBU) has today handed over a cheque of UGX 10M for the training and economic inclusion of women with disabilities.
The money, which was handed over to the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda’s (NUDIPU) CEO Esther Kyozira, will be used to support a project in which several women with disabilities will be trained to make reusable sanitary towels that will support retention of girls in school by promoting menstrual hygiene.
A study by UNESCO found that one in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa miss school while on their period with some girls are missing as much as 10 to 20 percent of school days during a school term.
This is why CCBU has implemented a multi-sector approach through which different organisations can collaborate to keep girls in school.
“We have a duty to contribute positively to society. We have supported a number of different collaborations, but we are honoured to be doing this with NUDIPU. It is a partnership that is close to our hearts,” said Kirunda Magoola, the CCBU public affairs, communications and sustainability director.
Esther Kyozira, NUDIPU CEO, said that people with disabilities, including herself who is visually impaired, are grateful for the collaboration that will not only improve women’s livelihoods but will also help to keep young girls in school.
Such collaborations, she said, should be adopted by other corporate organisations as a measure through which people with disabilities are equipped with skills to improve their disposable and household incomes instead of relying on handouts for survival.
“We are grateful that CCBU is making a difference in the lives of persons living with disabilities. This is a collaboration that will benefit many of our people for many years to come. Disability is not inability; we only need a helping hand, sometimes, to make our lives better, she concluded.
Speaking at the handover in Kampala, Magoola said Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda aimed to create greater shared opportunity for the business and the communities it served across the value-chain through economic inclusion initiatives such as the support for training and schooling of women and girls.
“Opportunity is more than just money, it’s about a better future for people and their communities everywhere on the African continent,” said Magoola.
“We aim to create inclusive growth opportunities for women, youth, and people with disabilities by defining a consistent way of implementing economic inclusion programmes, drawing on leading practice for implementing our programmes.
“Whether donating money, our time or our expertise, we take our responsibility to the communities we call home seriously,” Magoola said.
Whereas CCBU will be providing funds to support sourcing of trainers, purchase of project inputs, promote branding and visibility, NUDIPU will be tasked in ensuring proper implementation of the project through identifying and registering women with disabilities to participate in the activities of the project, distributing re-usable sanitary pads to the selected schools, and demonstrations on how re-usable sanitary pads are made, will be conducted to realise a multiplier effect.
