Gulu, Uganda: A total of 140 Focal Point Persons under the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprise (GROW) Project have completed a three-day training in grievance redress mechanisms to strengthen the project’s implementation in northern Uganda.
The training, held at Bomah Hotel in Gulu City from Monday, August 18 to Wednesday, August 20, brought together personnel from 40 districts and three cities across the sub-regions of Lango, Acholi, West Nile, and Karamoja.
According to Ekwang Henry Cilo-dyang, the GROW Project Regional Officer for northern Uganda, the trained personnel include District Community Development Officers (DCDOs), District Labour Officers (DLOs), and District Commercial Officers (DCOs) who serve as focal point persons for the project in their respective districts.
He explained that the training covered various components, including entrepreneurial development services, gender-inclusive infrastructural grants, information sharing with local leaders on how to apply for business grants, and a deeper understanding of GROW products and services.
“We want people to get the right information on what entails the GROW Products and what are the eligibility to benefit from the project,” remarked Ekwang.
He clarified that the project funding is not universally distributed to all women, but specifically targets women in business. “The GROW money is not being given to every woman, but to women in business—a misconception that the interested parties should know,” he added.
Zoning for Better Access
Ekwang noted that since the project began loaning funds to entrepreneurs in 2024, several complaints had emerged, particularly from rural women in northern Uganda who said they were struggling to access the funds. To address this, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) introduced a zoning mechanism to decentralize access.
Currently, there are 19 zones across the country, with northern Uganda divided into five: Acholi, Lango, West Nile 1 (all districts except Adjumani and Moyo), and West Nile 2 (covering Adjumani and Moyo).
“The primary aim is to reduce the complaints of difficulty in accessing the services,” Ekwang emphasized.
By December 2024, at least 2,175 women entrepreneurs had already benefited from the project across 84 districts of Uganda, though the specific breakdown per region was not disclosed.
The GROW Project is a USD 217 million World Bank initiative aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs, including refugees and persons with disabilities, and is being implemented by MGLSD in partnership with the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU).
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