The 1995 constitution of the Republic of Uganda has various articles that support the attainment of the gender equality goal. Article   33 spells out the right s of women including being accorded full dignity with men, the right to equal treatment and the right to affirmative action and stresses that the state shall provide facilities and opportunities for the  welfare of women. Further Article 78 (1) (b) provides for " one woman representative per district"  while article 180 (b) provides that "one third of  membership of a local government  council shall  be reserved for women" At the local government  level, the local government Act 1997 aims to "establish a democratic, political and gender sensitive  set up in local governments" (Objective 2).

Gender is conceptualised as socially constructed roles between men, women, girls and boys. These differences change over time across culture and levels of development. According to 2014 Uganda Population and Housing Census, Budaka district had a total population of 207,597of which 100,620 were males and 106,977 were females. Budaka is one of the rural districts in Uganda whose main livelihood activity is subsistence agriculture where annual crops are grown and animals reared. However, it is important to note that it is mostly women who participate greatly in subsistence farming. Majority of the men in Budaka district participate in petty business activities. The petty business activities are basically agricultural out related. Therefore, women's participation in economic activities in Budaka district is often in the informal sector and is largely invisible. For example, they contribute over 70 percent to the total agricultural labour force and perform many of the domestic tasks of family caring and maintenance.

The workload of women in the District ranges typically from 12 to 18 hours per day. The food women produce is basically for household consumption and therefore generates no income, none of these are remunerated; hence the contribution of women is not recognised in economic terms. Moreover, despite these contributions, they have little control over and ownership of productive resources. Land ownership in the District is a male domain. The shortage of fuel wood and its effect on women's time-usage is a concern which needs to be addressed.

The Patriarchal tendencies are very strong in Budaka district. This phenomenon puts men in a superior position in society in terms of decision making, although women shoulder most reproductive, productive and community management responsibilities. Most activities carried out by women in Budaka district are not remunerated or reflected in the District's statistics. Women's productivity is further hampered by inadequate access to credit and general lack of skills and appropriate technology due to high levels of illiteracy, poverty and inadequate flow of access to information.

Fewer women get loans from the traditional financial institutions because they do not have collateral security. The lower status of women in the District in comparison to men is due to gender imbalances that arise from the unequal opportunities and access to and control over productive resources and benefits.

There is therefore need for gender responsive development where gender concerns are routinely addressed in all planning activities as well as in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programme performance. The relationship between men and women, boys and girls are to be examined during planning, programming, monitoring and evaluation. The specific focus is to be on the most vulnerable members of the community to ensure that neither gender is being marginalised nor being disproportionately marginalised.     

Socially, women are being sensitized on their rights, on gender inequality and communities are being encouraged to involve women in decision making in matters concerning them. A number of initiative in the District  have in the last two decades taken advantage of the favourable national  and global  gender policy  framework to pursue a gender equality agenda.

A persistent problem relates to the extent, to which policies and laws are known and understood, especially those newly formulated.  Other relevant laws and policies are not translated into local languages, and efforts to disseminate information and provide education on laws and policies is inadequate. In addition, resources available to monitor compliance with conventions are still wanting in the case on Budaka District.

Particular problems are evident at the district and sub-county levels with inadequate staffing to realise all gender focused functions, with many local governments not having gender focal point officers for the various gender mainstreaming function. The extent to which gender focal point officers are involved in local government planning varies, but is generally minimal and funds allocated to gender mainstreaming activities by district are very limited.

Overall, it is acknowledged that there are several actors in the sector but there is limited inter and intra-sectoral linkages, thus making it difficult to ascertain the scale of activities and impact. Such shortcomings are to be addressed through the Development Plan and there are plans to undertake a sector audit to map stakeholders, a sector public expenditure review to assess performance and continuing gender mainstreaming and budgeting  in all the development process of the District.

Planned medium-term expenditure framework
The District Community Based Services will continue receiving grants to support the vulnerable groups relating to women, elderly, youths, children, FAL and PWDs. However, the major activities for the department are attributed to the following: Operation of the community based office including payment of staff salaries.  Conduct probation and welfare support services. Support to community development services for extension staff. Support adult Learning (FAL) services.  Carry out gender mainstreaming activities in all sub-county and District annual work plans. Support to Youths, disability and elderly council activities.  Representation of Women Councils and community development services to LLGs. Facilitation and motivation of FAL instructors. Conduct FAL performance review meetings at SC level. Conduct monitoring and support supervision in LLGs. conduct trainings and refreshers for FAL instructors on existing and modified curriculum and instructional materials including  procurement of teaching/learning materials (chalk, chalk boards, dusters, primers). Carry out quarterly review and advocacy meetings. Conduct coordination meetings.

Carry out consultations and follow ups with Line Ministry and other government agencies. Participate in the commemoration of International Literacy Day. Operation of community based development at Ush 41,551,000 including salaries of 40,051,000 per annum for five years . Probation and welfare support at Ush 44,960,000 per annum including support to OVC under USAID-SDS funding for five years. Community development services at Ush 1,140,000 per annum for five years. Support to adult learning at Ush 14,555,000 per annum for five years. Support to gender main streaming activities for District sector and sub-county work plans and budgets at Ush 800,000 per annum for five years. Support to youth councils 4,100,000 epr annum for five years. Support to the Disabled and elderly at Ush 31,430,000 per annum. Support to women councils  representation at Ush 5,466,000 per annum for five years. Support to community development service for LLG's at Ush 56,806,000 per annum for five years.