Uganda’s Miss Curvy Pageant Will Go Ahead

Uganda’s Minister for tourism Godfrey Kiwanda last week announced plans to launch a ‘Miss Curvy Uganda’ beauty pageant. Speaking at the launch, he was quoted as saying, “We have naturally endowed nice looking women that are amazing to look at. Why don’t we use these people as a strategy to promote our tourism industry?”

The announcement has sparked a strong reaction from female activists, however, who have criticised the move that could be seen to objectify women. In response to calls for the scheme to be scratched Kiwanda claims he has no power, stating "These are private initiatives. Tourism is everybody's business. You are allowed to bring in your ideas and we give you support. There is no way we are parading women as tourism attraction. But then, it's very difficult to talk about a country's tourism without talking about its people.”