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The event, which took place at the Golf Course Hotel Kampala, attracted media practitioners from over six media houses.
Key challenges discussed included restricted access to funding, a lack of information and understanding about procurement processes, and discrimination and bias towards women-led businesses.
The media practitioners also discussed the media’s role in advocating for inclusive public procurement, looking at issues such as telling success stories of women-led businesses and highlighting some of the barriers faced by women.
The event comes against the backdrop of a new study conducted by the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC), in which a report released thereafter revealed that less than 1% of women-led businesses are contracted by governments in East Africa.
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The study, which was conducted in about five African countries in eastern Africa, such as Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, sought to uncover the challenges and solutions that prevent women-led enterprises from participating in public procurement processes.
"Gender inequality is a major challenge that concerns everyone; however, without tackling its root causes, the journey will be longer and more tedious. The study finds, among others, that whereas governments spend nearly 60% of their national budget every year, women-led businesses take less than 1% of the contracts," the report reads in part.
While giving an address during the event, AFIC executive director Gilbert Sendugwa revealed that women-led businesses in the region have participated less in public procurement processes because of a number of factors, which include restricted access to funding, a lack of information and understanding about procurement processes, and discrimination and bias towards women in the procurement sector.
He added, "There are policy gaps in the countries where this study was conducted. In two of the five countries we studied, there was no affirmative action to help women-led businesses. The study also found that implementation is a big challenge. The way information about procurement is being captured is in a discriminatory way."