‘The ELSA programme boosted my self-confidence’

Jane Katusabe has been delighted that she could participate in the ELSA programme of Mondiaal FNV. “Thanks to the gained knowledge and the increased self-confidence, my union is now taking me seriously, I dare to initiate change and I have even been elected to the youth committee of our global trade union organisation.”

Jane Katusabe. Photo: Compass Media

Many unions in Uganda are still dominated by middle-aged or even older conservative men. This was also the case with the Ugandan trade union for workers in the hotel, food, tourism and supermarket sector (HTS-Union). "I was one of the few young women and I had the feeling that I wasn’t taken seriously because of this," 30-year-old Jane Katusabe tells, who earlier was working as an administrative assistant at the union. “Due to this situation, my work was very challenging.”

Safe atmosphere

The ELSA programme, however, brought a major change. “The trainers created a safe atmosphere in one-on-one conversations that allowed me to talk freely about the challenges that I faced within my union”, Jane tells. The Ugandan also learned about how to organise and professionalize a trade union. “This made me feel more confident.”

Thanks to her increased self-confidence, Jane dared to hold colleagues accountable for their responsibilities. “During the ELSA programme, I learned to communicate more clearly and not to be afraid to give feedback.” Jane also shared her gained knowledge with her general secretary, who started to take her more seriously. “He started to delegate more tasks to me and even promoted me to the position of research, data and documentation manager, six months ago.”

The importance of a management information system

Jane also learned about the importance of a management information system. “A trade unionist from Tanzania was invited to explain to us during the ELSA programme how the digital system helps his union to keep track of their members, track payments and to manage their overall financial administration.”

In collaboration with Mondiaal FNV, Jane implemented such a digital management system at her own trade union as well. “This system now helps us tremendously to further professionalise our union,” the young union talent says. “It helps us, for example, with preparing reports, but also with making official membership cards that our members really appreciate.

Financial reporting

Jane also did not understand much about financial reporting in the past. “However, during the ELSA programme we learned how to understand, for example, a balance sheet and other financial publications. That helps me a lot in my work now.”

Thanks to her boosted self-confidence, Jane even dared to run for East Africa representative for the pan-African branch of UNI, the global trade union organisation for the services sector. “It's fantastic to now represent an international trade union organisation,” the young trade unionist tells. Recently, she was for example allowed to attend a training course in neighboring Rwanda. “This allows me to exert influence, but also to learn a lot from my international colleagues.”