Uganda, March 11 -- I attended the Empower Her event, a Nation Media initiative to advance an equal future for women, last Thursday. The event that was on the eve of International Women's Day was a great opportunity to recognise the work of organisations that advance women through structural and systemic actions as well as application of strategic options. A total of 19 awards were given in two categories.

Awards always have a special place in recognising initiatives that impact lives. When the call was run, someone asked me, what does it mean to empower women? They asked me if I even needed empowerment.

At the time I thought I did not, because the concept implies uplifting people from difficult situations. But when you look into it fur...