KAMPALA – Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda (CCBU) has on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, handed over a cheque of UGX 10M for the training and economic inclusion of women with special needs.
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 special needs will be trained to make reusable sanitary towels that will support retention of girls in school by promoting menstrual hygiene.
NUDIPU is an umbrella organization that advocates for the inclusion of Persons with special needs and their concerns in the mainstream development processes.
The organization was established in 1987 to provide support to people with all forms of special needs such as the lame, deaf, visually impaired, and autistic among others.
A study by UNESCO found that 1 in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school while on their period with some girls missing as much as 10-20% of school days during a school term.
Speaking during the handover, Pearl Nimusiima, the CCBU Public Affairs and Communications Manager said the donation will help support the retention of girls in school by promoting menstrual hygiene.
“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 Nimusiima, adding that CCBU aims to create greater shared opportunity for the business and the communities it serves across the value chain through economic inclusion initiatives such as the support for training and skilling 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 Nimusiima.
“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 these programmes.
“Whether donating money, our time, or our expertise, we take our responsibility to the communities we call home seriously,” Nimusiima said.
On her part, NUDIPU CEO, Esther Kyozira said their umbrella association was 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 organizations 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.
Under the training, CCBU will provide funds to support the sourcing of trainers, purchase of project inputs, and promotion of branding and visibility while NUDIPU will be tasked with 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 realize a multiplier effect.
In 2022, CCBU supported the National Association of the Deaf in the Mukono district and Makerere Deaf Community with fridges as a way of improving their businesses and livelihoods.
