Invest In Women, Accelerate Progress

By Mark Kaheru, Public Information Officer, RSCE

The Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) joined the world in celebrating the International Women’s Day under the theme: Invest In Women, Accelerate Progress.

On the first day of the week, staff were met at the entrance by a mirror, banner and a gratitude jar. The instructions were simple; Stop at the mirror, look at reflection and utter words of affirmation then place your signature on the banner as a commitment to invest in women and accelerate their progress before making use of provided post-its to write down at least one thing you are grateful for and leave in the gratitude jar.

The next day, the Women Focal Point Committee invited 10 female students from 5 different schools in Entebbe to a mentorship day. The 10 students shadowed 10 senior women and were not only given a glimpse of what the RSCE and the UN do to support peace but were also inspired to strive for leadership in the future.

Frista Birabwa from Entebbe Parents Secondary School shadowed Ms. Nalini Contreras, Deputy Director RSCE and she narrated how she was inspired by her mentor “She taught me to overcome challenges in this world. Ms. Nalini told me that the barriers we have are not about other people, but they start with our minds. Our minds are the blockades in our lives, we limit ourselves so we should learn how to break the barriers and we will succeed.”

Ronah Okwakunda from Air Force Secondary School mirrored this message and added that her mentor had advised her to “Focus on education for with education we can achieve greatness. Focus on your education, for nothing comes soft and you must work for it. Invest in yourself.”

On Wednesday staff were encouraged to practice self-affirmation activities and Thursday held a female solidarity walk around the UN Campus Entebbe.

The RSCE then invited 25 female students and five teachers from different schools in Entebbe to a townhall event to mark the occasion. In his opening remarks, the Director RSCE, Mr. Paulin Djomo pointed out that women play a big role in addressing solutions to the many challenges in today’s world as demonstrated during the recent pandemic and in the geopolitical and climatic situations facing us: “When we say, ‘Invest in Women’, we are majorly talking to the men. Invest in them to bring them closer to accelerate progress. If you put women in leadership, they will use their maternal instincts to resolve a lot of problems.”

The students were all given an opportunity to voice their experience of the mentorship and they all echoed the inspiration and motivation they gained from shadowing the RSCE female staff.

Mr. Djomo, in his last remarks, made another step to investing in women by donating 4 computers to each of the five schools represented at the Women’s Day celebrations and urged them to teach their fellow students how to type in preparation for the future.

Ms. Nalini Contreras narrated an inspirational story about her maid and the achievements she made over the years. A true story from zero to hero where the maid has managed to invest in herself and her children and has a child graduating from high school this year.

Her main message in her closing remarks were directed to everyone but especially the visiting students whom she urged to “Invest in yourself, invest in your children, and invest in women. There are many barriers and many challenges but break them down.” She concluded: “Imagine who you will become and become that person no matter the challenges or what may happen. Keep your eye on that goal. Push yourself until you become that person you want to be.”

She also applauded the Director RSCE for always supporting and investing in women n the UN Campus Entebbe and cited the recently opened Lactation facility for new mothers to express milk in a safe and secure environment as an example.

The RSCE Women Focal Point Committee that put together the week of celebrations concluded the event with a quiz for the students and handed each student a teacher a gift package with a school bag containing scholastic material.

All in all, it was a memorable week and the message to invest in women left an impression on many staff. Invest in women, accelerate progress for a better tomorrow.