Kampala, (UG):- The Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Hon Betty Amongi, said Tuesday the Government of Uganda is committed to the sustainable development of the country’s economy through strong support and approval of Vision 2040, the East African Community’s Vision 2050, and the Africa Agenda 2063.
The minister was speaking at the opening of the Social Protection National Dialogue 2024 held under the theme “Social Protection as an Enabler for Human Capital Development Across the Lifecycle” at Kampala Serena Hotel on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.
Hon Amongi emphasized that these frameworks strongly feature in Uganda’s second and current National Development Plan III, whose overall goal is to transition Uganda into a middle-income country by strengthening the nation’s competitiveness for sustainable wealth creation, employment, and inclusive growth.
She added that through prudent macroeconomic and social policies, Uganda successfully reduced the number of its citizens living below the poverty line from 56% in 1992 to 20% in 2022, but recent data projects an increase in poverty to about 30%.
“Social protection is a critical component of Uganda’s national development strategy for inclusive socio-economic transformation as a strategic tool for reducing poverty, vulnerability, enhancing household resilience to shocks, and supporting human capital development for sustainable and inclusive growth,” Amongi said.
“Our social policies are focused on increasing access to social security through direct and contributory schemes, enhancing care and protection, ensuring equal opportunities, and providing affirmative action and support to vulnerable people,” she added
According to Ms Amongi, “Strengthening institutional frameworks for social protection delivery, targeting investments in human capital development, addressing vulnerabilities that affect boys and girls, men and women, and adopting a human rights-based approach among others are areas where the government is directing more focus.”
“Further, our lion’s share of the national budget is usually allocated to social programs, including free universal primary and secondary education, basic health improvement programs, water and sanitation, rural roads, and rural agricultural modernization,” she added.
The minister also highlighted additional initiatives such as the Social Assistance Grants for Older Persons, the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme, the Youth Livelihood Programme, the Generating Growth, Opportunities, and Productivity for Women Entrepreneurs (Grants from World Bank sh800b), the Parish Development Model, and Emyooga, among others.
Amongi stated that these programs often enjoy strong political support and align with the government’s development agenda, noting that most treasury bonds are purchased by the National Social Security Fund, which is considered the most efficient in Africa.
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