Kampala:  Women Democracy Group, an NGO, has launched a campaign to train 3,000 women who are to contest for various seats in the forthcoming general elections. The coordinator of the organisation, Ms Rita Aciro, said the programme is aimed at equipping woman candidates in the 2011 general elections with fundraising, management and publicity and public speaking skills among others.

Speaking during the launch of a workshop for trainers for the project in Kampala on Monday, Ms Aciro said: "Women find a lot of difficulty, both social and economic, when participating in politics."

"In most instances a woman has to get permission from the husband, family and sometimes relatives to contest for a political seat. We are here to give them (women) skills that will enable them compete with men."

The workshop attracted 40 women from NRM, FDC, JEEMA, DP, UPC and PPP. Ms Aciro said the training will cover 70 districts. The Former Minister of Ethics, Ms Maria Matembe, urged women vying for political seats to advocate policies and legislation that improve the livelihood of women.

"A number of women join politics because a district has been created and they sing yellow, yellow, yellow. This is nonsense when we have 16 women who die every day while delivering," she said.