"Address challenges faced by women in mining – MPs, activists ask government"

Members of Parliament and human rights activists have asked government to enforce the laws in the mining sector to protect the right of women in the sector. [They]...said women in the minerals sector face a lot of challenges, which need to be addressed...Nivatiti Nandujja, Human Rights Coordinator at Action Aid Uganda (AAU)...explained that the few women employed in mines are working under inhuman and poor working conditions with meager pay. “Women working in mines do not enjoy the entitlement provided for by the law. They don’t get maternity leave or sick leave, but instead, when they get pregnant, they are simply laid off,” Nandujja said...

Catherine Nyakecho, a Geologist working with Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development...said women in mines have been exposed to more poor working conditions than men. For instance in stone quarrying, she said women and children are engaged in crashing stones with their bare hands, which exposes them to accidents and a lot of dust, which affect their lives. Despite spending a whole day crashing stones, women get meager pay. “Stone quarries lack toilets and therefore women during menstruation periods have to travel back home for health break – wasting a lot of their valuable time and when they fall sick, they get no payment,” she said.