Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698929291948.pdf (Uganda)
I 6 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT F'OR EMPOWERMENT (SAGE) SCHEME OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO PARLIAMENT NOVEMBER, 2018 I d\+ 0 t, vg .

1.O INTRODUCTION On 17ft July, 2Ol8 during the Plenary Sitting; the Rt.

Hon.
Hon.

Deputy Speaker directed the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development to develop proposals for a national roll-out of the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) Scheme.

The directive was made after the State Minister of Finance (Planning), Hon.

David Bahati, had informed the House that Government plans to phase out the SAGE Programme due to lack of Shs 317 billion needed to ro11 it out countrywide.
2.O BACKGROUND On 16tr June 2OIO, Cabinet approved a S-year Expanding Social Protection (ESP) Programme with the aim of establishing a national social protection system as a key strategr for fostering a more inclusive socio-economic transformation as articulated in Uganda's Vision 2O4O Framework.

The 5 years (2OLO-2O15) constituted Phase 1 of the programme which was the pilot phase.
Phase 1 of the programme aimed at: a Building Government capacity in social protection; Developing a National Social Protection Policy; a Increasing awareness about the strategic importance of social protection The programme was piloted in 15 districts and had two components, Senior Citizens Grant and Vulnerable Family Grant.

The Senior Citizens Grant targeted older persons who were 65 years and above and those who were 6O years and above in Karamoja region.
The Senior Cttizens Grant which was initially Shs 23,000 but was increased to Shs 24,OOO and eventually Shs ff 1. t< " lW* I a 25,000 reached over 123,OOO beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries were paid using MTN Mobile Money service.

The pilot districts included: Kyenjonjo, Kyegegwa, Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Apac, Kole, Katakwi, Kaberamaido, Moroto, Napak, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Nebbi, Zombo and Yumbe.

The Vulnerable Family Grant was piloted in 25 sub-counties in 6 of the 15 pilot districts.
The grant for vulnerable families has since been abolished.

Phase 2 of the programme which started in July, 2Ol5 is being funded by the Government, the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Irish Aid.

The Government is supposed to provide Shs 149 billion while the development partners committed to provide E67.6 million (Shs 331.24 billion) on condition that Government provides the counterpart funding.

During Phase 2, tLl.e programme is supposed to be rolled out to 4O districts.
The roll-out targets lOO eldest persons per sub-county who should have national identity cards.

PostBank is being used to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries during this phase.

PostBank Uganda came on board at the beginning of 2016.
PostBank came on board as a result of lack of a mobile money regulatory mechanism in the country that made it difficult for the Ministry of Gender to execute any legal action against MTN in the event of breach of contract since it is not authorised to offer bank-related financial services under the law at the moment.

This financial year 2Ol8l 19, the number of beneficiary districts has reached 50.
However, of the 50, there have been 8 break-away districts, bringing the total number of beneficiary districts to 58.
The beneficiary districts include: Abim, Adjumani, Agago, Alebtong, Amolatar, Amudat, Amuria, Amuru, Apac, Bugiri, Bundibugro, Dokolo, Gulu, Kaabong, # M-s 2 W a Kabale, Kaberamaido, Kamuli, Kasese, Katakwi, Kayunga, Kibaale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Koboko, Kole, Kotido, Kumi, Kween, Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa, Kyenjonjo, Lamwo, Ma5ruge, Moroto, Moyo, Mubende, Nakapiripirit, Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Namayingo, Napak, Nebbi, Otuke, Pader, Pallisa, Sheema, Ssembabule, Yumbe and Zombo.
The 8 break-away districts include: Nabilatuk, Omoro, Pakwach, Rubanda, Rukiga, Kagadi, Kakumiro and Butebo.

According to the 2OI4 National Population and Housing Census, the projected mid-year population of Uganda for 2O18 is 38.8 million of which an estimated 1.6 million persons are aged 60 years and above.

This accounts for 4.1% of the total population of Uganda.

A detailed breakdown of the number of older persons per district in the country is provided as Annex 1 to this report.
Based on the 2016117 Uganda National Household Survey, about 2l.4oh of Ugandans are poor, which is about 8 million people.

Annex 2 shows the percentage of poor persons per district in the country.

3.O OBJECTIVES While executing the assignment, the Committee was guided by the following Terms of Reference.
(i) To assess the Management and Administration of the SAGE Programme with specific reference to the following: o Administrativestructures o a Registration and enrolment Complaints-handling mechanism Payment 3 ff <+ wb* (ii) To establish the need for a national roll-out of the SAGE Programme by showing the: a a o a Legal and policy framework for social protection in the country Compliance of the programme with Gender and Equity provisions, Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights Benefits of receiving the Senior Citizens Grant Challenges faced by older persons in society o Contribution of older persons to development (iii)To develop proposals for a national roll-out of the SAGE Scheme (iv)To establish the likely impact of failure to roll out the Senior Citizens' Grant 4.O METHODOLOGY 4.1 Meetings The Committee held meetings with the following entities a Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) a Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED) a Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Social Protection (UPFSP) a Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) a National Council for Older Persons a o National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) Equal Opportunities C sion (EOC) 4 # W l&u q^, a HelpAge International o o National Network of Older Persons of Uganda Uganda Reach the Aged Association a SAGE donors -DFID & Irish Aid Postbank Uganda, the payment service provider for Phase 2 of the programme, was invited but did not turn up.
4.2 Field visits The Committee carried out oversight visits to the following districts: SAGE beneficiary districts Nakapiripirit, Nabilatuk, Pallisa, Kyegegwa, Agago, Lamwo and Kitgum.

Non-SAGE beneficiary districts Serere, Rubirizi and Lwengo.

Reports from the field visits are attached as Annex 3, Annex 4 and Annex 5 to this report.

4.3 Intenriews The Committee held interviews with older persons at the district headquarters.
4.5 Document review The Committee reviewed and made reference to the following documents: o Constitution of the Republic of Uganda o National Social Protection Policy, 2OI5 o National Policy for Older Persons, 2OO9 o Uganda Bureau of Statistics - 2014 National Population and Housing Census Report o Uganda Bureau of Statistics - 2016 Uganda National Household Survey Report a Uganda V 2040 *#' 5 U-#t-" 4 W \,['.

1e qJ^ o National Development Plan II (2OI5l 16 - 2Ol9 l20) .
Social Protection Gender and Equity Strategr o June-August 2Ol8 Senior Citizens Grant Pay Point Exit Survey 5.O FINDINGS, OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE SAGE SCHEME 5.

1.

1 Administrative structures The Committee made the following observations in regard to the management and administration of the programme.

The programme is heauilg-staffed, but the personnel do not reach out to the older persons at the grassroots.
The officers usually interface with the beneficiaries on pay day.

There is no monitoring and eualuation mechanism for the programme The Committee recorrurtends that: The Communitg Deuelopment Officers should work uith the Loco,l Council 7 Dxecutilrc to reqch out to the older persons at the grassroots.

A Monitortng and Eaaluation frameutork should be deaeloped for the prog rclmme ond follouted strictlg.
5.1.2 Registration and enrolment of beneficiaries The Committee found out that registration was conducted in two ways: Community Registration Model and the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) mass registration exercise.

The Community Registration Model involved setting up of an adhoc committee a calendar of historical events, identification documents to vet applicants 6 t # W like voter's card, baptism card, marriage certificate and passport.
Successful applicants were re-verified by a team comprising the district community development officer, senior community development officer in charge of SAGE, sub-county community development officer, SAGE staff and adhoc committee of older persons at the sub-county.

Those who qualified were issued with registration forms and their details sent to the Programme Management Unit in Kampala.

There are two ways of enrolment.


The first method involves providing a beneficiary list to the project management unit by the Local Government/Regional Technical Support Unit staff while with the second method, a beneficiary list is generated by the Project Management Unit from Kampala and verified by the local government staff.
The Committee obserued that: The NIRA registration method lefi out many potential beneficiaies because their finger pints could not be captured by the machines or their faces could not be recognised.

For those whose fingerprints taere captured, the NIRA machines failed to recognise them afier some time, hence the enlisted beneficiaries were remoued from the list.

Giuen the poor death reporting culfitre, manA beneficiaies die and the records are not updated accordinglg.
Some ineligible beneficiaries are receiuing the grant.

This includes those taho are under-age, pensioners and those who are well-to-do.

The Committee recommends that: The death reporAing mecltanism should be strengthened bg inaoluing grassroot sttttctures right fron the LC7 leael to the sub-countg leael so that records are updated accordinglg.

# 7 [$"* There should be automr:tic replacement of those utho die bg those who haae been utalting to be enrolled.
.IWRA should conduct fresh registration of older persons bg applging all possible wags of recognising people as stipulated in the releaant lauts.

5.

1.3 Complaint-handling mechanism The Committee was informed that a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) was established to handle complaints.
Complaints are classified into two: payment complaints which are related to issues surrounding the beneficiaries'access to their funds such as absence of money on account and biometrics failure while programme complaints are related to eligibility of the beneficiary and their status on the programme payroll like names missing on payroll, death reporting, alternative beneficiary fraud and such other matters.
The second complaint mechanism in the operation and redress process involves collection, documentation and provision of feedback.

The exercise takes place both at the pay point and the post-pay point centres with pay point administrators, the Parish Chief or Sub-county chief as the custodian and manager of complaints.
The complaints are then compiled and validated at the Expanding Social Protection head office, entered into the Programme Management Information System for escalation to the officer in charge.

Houteuer, the Committee obserued that delegation of the component of the complaint mechanism dealing with non-programme related complaints to the payment seruice prouider, Post Bank Uganda, makes monitonng and eualuation of the said complaints anmbersome and dffiatlt to follou up.
The Committee recommends that non-programrrte related complaints should be ho;ndled bg the programme staff not PostBank emplogees.

# 8 @ og [4-- R- 5.1.4 Payment The Committee was informed that pay day is a highly-anticipated event that brings a smile on the faces of the older persons.

However, arrears had become the order of the day with beneficiaries waiting for up to 6 months to receive the money.
The Committee made the following obseruations in relation to the pagment process: There are distant pag points of more than 10km from the older persons' homes.

This forces tlrc recipients to inanr expenses of a bodaboda.

Afier payment, some older persons haue been unforhtnate to haue their moneA stolen.
During the raing season, the pagment exercise ls disrupted alongside other actiuities like pre-pagment address, complaints handling and meetings for other Go u ernment p r o g r amme s. Long uaiting time for the payment uan to arriue.

Sometimes, the beneficiaries haue utaited for a full day before the PostBank uan arriues.
The Committee recommends that: The progrclrrtme implementation gutd.elines should be reuised so thqt the home of the furthest older person is at leq.st Skm from the Pag Point, The Project Management Unit and Regional Technical Support tlnit staff should step up their monitoring role bg ensuring that the pagment aans arriae on time so that the beneJiciaries do not utait for an entire dog.
5.2 NEED FOR A NATIONAL ROLL.OUT OF SAGE 5.2.1Legal and policy framework for social protection Constitution of the Republic of Uganda # 9 g'r' #f^ W The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda under National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, Objective VII states that: "The State shall make reasonable provision for the welfare and maintenance of the aged."

Article 32 of the Constitution provides for affirmative action in favour of marginalised groups.
Article 32(1) states that, "Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the State shall take affirmative action in favour of groups marginalised on the basis of gender, dga, disability or any other reason created by history, trad.ition or custom, for the purpose of redressing imbalances which exist against them."

By virtue of their age, older persons in the country are marginalised and therefore require affirmative action.
Provision of a cash transfer is one way of ensuring that the welfare of the aged is taken care of.

National Social Protection Policy The Policy was approved by Cabinet in 2O15.

It seeks to promote coordination and harmonisation of social protection in the country.

As an integral part of Vision 2O4O, the policy outlines a vision and strategic framework for a well- coordinated national social protection system.
The objectives of the policy are: (i) Increase access to social security (ii) Enhance care, protection and support for vulnerable people (iii) Strengthen the institutional framework for social protection service delivery.

The priority areas of focus are: (e) Expand access to direct income support by vulnerable groups (0 Strengthen family and community capacity to provide care for groups in need of 8 h@- 10 (.
K*L (g) Enhance institutional capacity for provision of comprehensive social protection services Provision of a cash transfer to older persons will be in line with the National Social Protection Policy.

National Policy for Older Persons The National Policy for Older Persons (2OO9) provides for equal treatment, social inclusion and provision of livelihood support for older persons.
It identifies provision of direct income support and social insurance as key social protection instruments for addressing the needs of older persons.

Rolling out of the Senior Citizens Grant will go a long way in helping the older persons meet their basic needs.

Uganda Vision 2O4O The Uganda Vision 2O4O underscores the importance of social protection in addressing risks and vulnerabilities.
It recognises the need to provide assistance to people who are rendered vulnerable by &ge, social class, disability, gender, disaster or limited livelihood options.

The Vision envisages a social protection system that includes a universal pension for older persons.

Older persons are vulnerable and they face many risks.

Provision of a grant will reduce their level of vulnerability.
National Development Plan ll l20l5l L6 - 2Ol9 l2Ol The National Development Plan II (2ol5lt6-2ol9l2O) highlights social protection as one of the key strategies for transforming Uganda to a modern and prosperous middle income country.

It recognises that social protection contributes to human capital development by promoting inclusive growth.

Rolling out of the grant therefore, will ensure that the vulnerable persons in society benefit from country's growth.

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5.2.2 Compliance with Gender and Equity provisions, Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights Gender and Equity provisions The Committee observed that the Constitution, Public Finance Management Act,20 15 and other laws require the State to comply with Gender and Equity provisions while designing and implementing programmes for social-economic development.
The Committee notes that the majority of beneficiaries of the SAGE Programme are vulnerable people whose concerns are categorised under Gender and Equity matters.

Therefore, this programme will assist the country to meet the requirements of gender and equity.

Sustainable Development Goals The Government participated in the development of Sustainable Development Goals.

Furthermore, the Government committed to have these goals implemented by adopting a multi-sectoral approach.
Rolling out of the Senior Citizens Grant will be a fulfilment of the SDGs below.

Goal 1 - End poverty in all its forms ever5rwhere.

Goal 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Goal 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Goal 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) provides for everyone's right to social security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, \ # 1,2 N6 3 widowhood, old-age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond one's control.
According to that declaration, Uganda is mandated to uphold and promote the rights of vulnerable persons in general and those of older persons in particular Rolling out the SAGE Programme, therefore, will be one way of promoting the rights of older persons to social security.
5.2.3 Benefits of receiving the Senior Citizens Grant The Committee was informed that at the beginning of the programme, the older persons were forced to buy animals like cows, goats, pigs and chicken so as to make the programme look impressive.

However, this deprived them of access to basic necessities because the animals are expensive.

The Committee found out that there are numerous benefits accruing to the beneficiaries of the Senior Citizens Grant.

Some of the benefits are explained below.


Poverty Reduction There has been a reduction in the general poverty levels of the older persons in districts enrolled under the SAGE programme so far.

The Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) data found that "between UNHS 2OO9l10 and UNHS 2016l 17 , poverty headcount in SAGE districts fell by nearly 7 percentage points.
Noteworthy, the proportions of persons that fell into poverty did not increase in SAGE districts whereas in non-SAGE districts poverty increased between 2Ol2l13 and 2016l2Ol7."

Boosting of local economies The local economies have been boosted as a result of the cash transfers.

For example, in July 2018, a total of Shs 1,146,156,000 was paid to beneficiaries in Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk.

That money was used to purchase basic consumer items from local traders.
In Pallisa, a total of Shs 1,578,895,950 has # W 13 \( I a so far been paid from March 2016 to June 2OI8.

When the grant is not paid on time, they get the items from the shops at a debt and pay later when they receive the money.

Reduction in f'emale Genital Mutilation There is reduction of Female Genital Mutilation in Karamoja region.

This is because some of the beneficiaries were former surgeons in Moruita Sub-county in Nakapiripirit district.
Linkage with other Government programmes The Senior Citizens Grant acts as a linkage with other Government programmes and programmes for non-governmental organisations (NGO).

On a Pay Day, beneficiaries discuss Government programmes like Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and Operation Wealth Creation.

Sight Savers, an international NGO which offers free eye services signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the programme to offer eye checks, treatment and referrals during pay days.
In addition, Pay Day has become a reunion for older persons who meet and interact with their peers on that day.

Caretakers of orphans and vulnerable children Many orphans and vulnerable children are able to attend school because their grandparents/guardians can take them to UPE schools, feed them and buy for them scholastic items.

This has promoted school retention, especially at the primary level.

It has also improved family cohesion.


Regaining of social respect The older persons have been able to regain their social respect.

They are no longer socially-excluded, do not beg and are increasingly participating in community affairs like taking up leadership positions on the Local Council improved food security among the older persons because Executive.

There # , r-xfuq $N" W \ with the money they receive, they are able to hire local labour to tilt their gardens.
5,2.4 Challenges faced by older persons The following are some of the challenges faced by older persons during consultations with the various stakeholders.

Climate change and drought leading to food insecurity The Committee observed that climate change has had negative impact on older persons in beneficiary and non-beneficiary districts.

The older persons noted that climatic seasons are no longer reliable for cultivation and this has led to sustained droughts and food insecurity.
Illiteracy Many older persons are illiterate and this makes them rely on others for support to conduct some activities.

In Kyege$M&, 62'/o of persons aged 60 years and above are illiterate.

Due to illiteracy, they always need a helper to aid them as they carry out certain activities like going to hospital, shopping, collecting money on Pay Day.

Disability Old age makes a person weaker, leads to certain diseases and causes some deformities which may not be rectified.
This leads to disability of the older persons.

They include eye problems, back pain, inability to move with ease and so many others.

Social rejection There is a breakdown in the traditional family setting where older persons used to be automatically catered for by the young folks is making ageing more of a burden.

It is now becoming common for older persons to be abandoned.
This is made worse by the community isolating the NS tr 15 W \Hn" 19 Dependants Although weak and frail, older persons have dependants who are usually their grandchildren.

The dependants have to go to school and need all other basic necessities.

The HIV/AIDS scourge in many districts around the country has left a big burden on the older persons yet they do not receive the Senior Citizens Grant.
Lack of and limited health care In many rural areas, health centres are few and located far away from people's residences.

The sick people have to travel long distances to get health care and if it is an older person, it is more difficult for them.

Poor road networks and lack of transport facilities make it harder for them to seek health care.

Due to poverty, they cannot afford to hire motorcycles commonly known as bodabodas to take them to the heath units.
Lack of security for land and property Some older persons own large tracts of land but since they are old, relatives or other unscrupulous people take advantage of that and grab the land.

This leaves them with no factor of production yet land is sometimes, the only asset the old people have.
Lack of facilitation for structures of older persons The councils for older persons at the Village, Parish, Sub-county and District level have not been fully filled and facilitated yet they are key in mobilising the Senior Citizens and advocating for their interests.

This further disadvantages the older persons.

Old age poverty There are older persons cannot health, social exclusion and lack engage in any productive activity due to ill of opportunities.
This leads to poverty yet old age requires substantial financial resourc es for a # 15 @ lb* ) 5.2.5 Contribution of older persons to development The following are some of the contributions of older persons to development as mentioned by stakeholders during consultation on the subject matter.

Lobbying for popular causes The older persons act as advocates for popular causes like the fight against Female Genital Mutilation, school-going campaigns, preservation of cultural values and health matters.
For instance, in Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk, they have championed the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Advisors and arbitrators The Committee was informed that older persons act as advisors to politicians, civil servants and the community at large; are involved in arbitration and mediation of land disputes, serve on district committees like land committees, HIV/AIDS committee, gender, sexual reproductive health and education committees.
Caring for orphans and vulnerable children Due to the HIV/AIDS scourge, older persons have many orphans under their care whom they have been able to raise up and educate.

The orphans eventually become responsible adults.

Household heads Many households are headed by older persons who provide guidance, counselling and leadership and groom the young people for the world ahead of them.

They are also role models to the younger generation who look up to them.
Farming and trade Some older persons are engaged in farming and thus produce food for their households and for sale.

For example, in Lwengo, matooke is a staple food crop which is exported to other districts.

In Kyegegwa, in Ruyonza, Mpara, W 17 @ rt Hapuuyo and the Town Council, many older persons are farmers.

Also, other older persons are prominent businessmen, employing many people, paying taxes and taking care of many dependants.

This has boosted the economy in their areas.
5.3 PROPOSALS FOR A NATIONAL ROLL-OUT OF SAGE The table below shows the various roll-out options NO AGE NUMBER OF COST PER COMMENT GROUP BENEFICIARIES YEAR (Bn) 90+ 85+ 8O+ 75+ 7O+ 87,820 83.65 l45,699 lo2.t2 292,367 t42.46 460,779 t92.69 770,856 278.70 65+ 1, 109,040 373.36 6O+ l,60l,g52 524.90 Few beneficiaries and affordable Few beneficiaries and affordable Fair number of beneficiaries and relatively affordable Fair number of beneficiaries and fair cost Large number ol beneficiaries but slightly expensive Large number of beneficiaries but expensive Large number of beneficiaries but very expensive # @ {\d.ep 18 Uk:* t The Committee stronglg recommends a national rollout of the Progrdmme ulth effect from the Financial Year 2O19/2O2O subject to the following conditions.
7.

The new beneficiaries in the neut districts should be 8O gears and aboae.

2.

Current beneficiaries uho are 65 gears and q.boae and those uho are 60 gears and aboue in the KaramoJa region in the 58 beneJiciary districts utill continue receiuing the grant.

3.

The Goaernment should come up utith a roadmap for reducing the eligibilitg age from 8O gears to 6O and 65 gears within 3 gears from the gear of the national roll-out.
The roadmap should be presented to Parllqment in the first quanter of the next Financial Year afier roll-out.

4.

There should.

be a reuieu of the national roll out after eaery tuto gears.

5.

The roll-out plan should, take into account Committee recommendations on the current SAGI9 Programme.

6.

In addition to rolling out the SAGD Progrannme, the Goaernment should initiate policg reform.s to address the challenges faced bg older persons, including those highlighted in this report.
In the long rttn, the reform.s should include setting up regional homes for older persons utho are homeless, d,estitute or haae no one to look afier thetn, The homes should be operated 6ts one-stop centres for all programrnes qnd actiuities of old,er persons.
# Mh 19 ua,,* 5.4 IMPACT OF FAILURE TO ROLL OUT THE PROGRAMME The Committee was informed about the likely impact of failure to ro11 out the Senior Citizens Grant and it is explained below: Increase in poverty rates Although some beneficiary districts have a lower poverty rate compared to non- beneficiary districts, the levels in the latter are still going up because of old age poverty.
Higher dependency burden With the cash transfer, the rate of dependency of older persons on their children and grand children reduces hence easing the burden on the working population.

Political discontent Since all special interest groups in the country like women, youths and persons with disability have a special fund which covers the entire country, the older persons feel they need a national fund to uplift their economic status.
Additionally, those who are not receiving the grant feel they are being sidelined by the Government.

Loss of dignity by older persons The older persons' grant has numerous benefits to the beneficiaries.

This in turn boosts their sense of self worth and belonging in society.

Without the cash transfer, some older persons have lost their dignity because they beg a lot and live in deplorable conditions.

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6.O CONCLUSION The Committee strongly recommends a sustainable national roll-out of SAGE with effect from the Financial Year 2OI9l2O2O.

The Committee appeals to the Executive to ensure that the roll-out plan is reflected in the next Budget Framework Paper as already promised.

Attached to this report as Annex 6 and Annex 7 are letters from the Minister of Finance and Minister of Gender respectively promising to implement the national roll- out.
W w t 21. w -i t\a D SIGNATURE LIST FOR THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON PROPOSALS FOR A NATIONAL ROLL-OUT OF THE SAGE SCHEME No NAME CONSTITUENCY SIGNATURE Hon.

Ndeezi Alex PWDs (Central) Hon.

Atim Beatrice Anywar Kitgum Municipality 4.

Hon.

Okabe Patrick Serere County Hon.

Mwine Mpaka Youth (Western) Hon.

Arinaitwe Rwakajara Workers'Rep Hon.

Asamo Hellen PWDs (Eastern) Grace Hon.

Kamara John Bufumbira North Nizeyimana Hon.


Kesande G Bataringaya DWR Rubirizi Hon.

Osoru Mourine DWR Arua 10 Hon.

Rwabogo Sylvia DWR Kabarole 11.

Hon.

Kitatta Aboud Bukoto West t2 Hon.

Aol Jacqueline DWR Nebbi Rama 13 Hon.

Bigirwa Norah DWR Buliisa Nyendwoha t4.

Hon Lubogo Bulamogi County 22 {*4- t Kenneth 15 Hon.

Mbwatekamwa Kasambya County Gaffa 16 Hon.

Akello Lucy DWR Amuru t7 Hon.

Anywarach Joshua Cater Padyere 18.

Hon.

Ktiza Stella DWR Kyegegwa t9 Hon.

Wekomba DWR Bulambuli Sarah 20 Hon.


Winnie Kizza DWR Kasese 23 AN/N I=X I ANNEX ll: PROJECTED POPULATTON oF PERSONS BY DISTRICT.

2018 AGE GR(ruP RE6ION BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA EUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA EUGANDA BUGANOA EUGANDA BUGAI.IDA BU6ANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN SR NO.
8 9 10 1t 12 13 t4 15 15 t7 18 19 20 )1 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 otsTRrcr @-54 65-59 70-74 75-?9 8&84 85-89 NAKASONGOLA 2,315 1,283 L,474 819 786 RAKAI 4,724 2,7N 2,953 L,464 L,337 SSEMSABUTE 4,087 2,322 2,441 t,217 1,118 323 460 425 90 years and above ML 7L6 650 Total 60+ 7,441 14.354 '12320 taoc4 KAYUNGA wAt(so s,616 3,774 3,757 1,913 1,894 623 r,067 19,870 LL,L45 ro,754 6,320 5,535 2,29L 3,537 591452 LYANTONDE 1,390 77L 831 419 428 143 293 4,275 MITYANA 5,445 3,2s4 3,510 2,063 1,853 684 1,019 L7,828 NAKASEKE 3,009 1,598 1,825 1,021 1,062 8Ur(WE 5,866 3,243 3.623 r,740 t,797 EUKOMANSIMBI 2,577 L,7OL 1,926 1,115 BUTAMSATA BUWMA GOMBA KALUNGU LWENGO KYOTERA 920 525 170 936 1,539 1,126 873 490 1,087 430 2.799 1,634 1,804 582 154 934 3,205 2,036 2,279 r,324 1,2L9 4,375 2,820 2,893 7,570 1,316 2.394 2.492 1.304 412 57t 308 182 46 295 475 508 5 16 865 9,793 1,151 17,99r 435 251 L94 451 543 6s3 697 s,083 5,049 2,5L0 8,8s3 '[,oar 14136 L2.439 5U8.
?OTAL r1I.544 64,717 s6,73e 1$,553 34,11{ 12,7??
21.5S8 148,89* BUGIRI BUSIA IGANGA JINJA KAMULI 5,547 3,202 3,422 1,7L0 1,648 58s 1,030 4,575 3,0s8 2,848 1.755 1,536 651 638 77;\44 ' u;06r :: 4,329 2,3U 2,893 1.380 1,381 537 1,481 .14,385 5,566 3,274 3,367 1,59s 1,601 579 789 : 16,971 3 6,954 3.981 4,838 7,228 2,O28 763 1,315 :2ZiLOl (APCHORWA r,676 1,085 1,095 663 576 3,930 2,53s 2,W5 t,75t L,522 25L 559 424 621 5,770 'r ir863 i (UMI UBOS August 14, 2018 15 rL,*" ANNEX ll: PROJECTEO pOpULATION OF OLDER PERSONS BY OISTRICT,2O18 AGE GROI,P REGION sR. lro.
orsTflcr 6G64 6s-69 70-74 75-79 8G84 85-8t' EASTERN 31 MBATE ?,906 4,833 5,299 3,034 2,s61 EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EAsTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN 32 33 34 35 35 37 38 39 40 4L 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 s4 55 90 ycars and above 988 568 583 995 497 522 350 516 520 543 L44 517 418 361 539 419 619 374 502 443 525 199 5s2 539 305 749 539 Total 6O+ 25,515 1L88s .1 L3,427 t 21,847 ' .1935r' ,' ,L6,82 l 8,949 11323 11,492 12,15i 3,680 L2A18 ' 11,315 9,144 13,000 11268 -' PATLISA 50ROTr TORORO MAYUGE SrRON(O AMURIA BUDAKA EUOUDA BUK€D€A SU(WO BUTALEJA (ALIRO 3,381 2,263 2,s01 1,493 1,182 3,996 2,685 2,765 1,538 1,310 550 8,541 5,4U 5,474 3,237 2,775 1,099 t,L37 6148 3,509 3,998 1,845 1,60S 620 1,625 4,871 3,150 3,485 2,154 1,831 2,6N L,769 1,848 1,019 899 3,181 2,096 3,1* 2,L70 2,477 2,3U L,290 1,263 1,470 1,251 3,329 2,264 2,570 1,525 1,409 L,ZLz 709 674 385 356 3,789 2,37t 2,539 1,470 3,403 2,t37 2,490 1,181 1,240 1,L47 MANAFWA 2,831^ 1,859 t,743 1,246 799 NAMUTUMBA 3,977 2,363 2,780 1,331 t,26L BULAMBULI 3,7tL 2,t25 2,142 1,252 1,080 BUYENDE 4,525 2,371 3,005 1,34s LAO2 494 1,153 L4.296 KISUKU KWEEN LUUKA 2,976 1,855 2,274 1,09s 1,321 807 629 4t7 3,496 r.,965 2,383 1,090 NAMAYINGO 2,647 L,474 NGORA SERERE BUTEBO 2,470 1,515 4,341 2,a44 2,094 1,320 1.331 1.828 3,027 1,637 742 1,123 t,u2 980 377 984 665 942 1,522 921 800 NAM6INDWA 3,447 2,202 2,066 1,335 1.149 UBOS August
 14, 2018 388 168 350 248 477 601 30s 504 564 237 563 344 337 591 583 438 10,142 3,9s5 10,831 7,452 8,632 L4,768 1,660 L1,141 16 &Ph ANNEX II: PROJECTED POPULATION OF OLDER PERSONS BY DISTRICT ,2419 AGE GROUP REGION sR. NO.
DrSTRtcr SUS.TOTAi 5,G64 65-69 7G74 75-79 8$84 85.89 90 yeafs and lbo{re Total 60+ r2b,ll4 77,569 84,658 46,454 il1,0g3 16,31C 21,35€ 4 1f,,8i4 NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERtI NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTTIERN 56 57 58 59 60 51 62 63 64 65 56 67 58 69 70 7L 72 73 74 75 76 77 ADJUMANI 2,768 1.533 1,268 681 501 200 22s 7,276 11,355 7,950 6,321 3.529 2,319 957 1,409 .
13p40 ARUA GULU (ITGUM (oTtDo LIRA MOYO PADER ABIM AMURU DOKOLO 3,444 2.108 t,925 1,268 3,089 2,046 1,819 t,L70 2,t47 L,327 1,184 s75 9s8 858 368 5,552 3,684 3,145 1,843 1,521 2,ML t,402 2,t82 1,580 1,4(x 950 1,M6 1,383 767 536 899 512 692 766 AMOTATAR 2,045 1,338 1,L75 2,351 1.528 1.317 2,850 1,942 L,7L9 1,105 KAABONG 2,617 L,407 KOBOKO 2.529 1,651 MARACHA 3,014 2,407 1.132 t,297 1,E14 540 685 878 OYAM AGAGO s,730 4,O29 3,232 2,236 L,626 3,063 2,193 t,778 L,zLO ALEBTONG 3,895 2,533 2,2L8 1,358 LAMWO NWOYA OTUKE OMORO PAKWACH UBOS 1,929 L,457 1,162 2,475 1,825 t,7tt t,282 2.447 1,699 1,363 1,118 1,400 931 918 710 950 August 74,2078 323 719 410 s55 545 840 377 473 622 858 927 634 579 49t 589 553 437 215 700 .142 707 628 393 860 154 332 1,019 26t 4LL 418 345 405 249 279 194 24t 273 3s2 160 176 253 75t 367 428 269 276 2L7 280 10,963 ]..0,047 5,209 ..17,315 5,644 8.114 4,508 6,458 7,310 9,153 5,638 7,060 9,777 1,O87 :rAlOf 4U 533 277 409 t97 431 9,9s3 7t,992 6,859 7,831 5,840 7,895 t7 I*f\vr ANNEX lt: PROJECTED POPULATION OF OLDER PERSONS BY DISTRICT.2Ol8 AG€ GROUP REGION sR. No.
78 DTSTRtCT 60-64 2,287 6s-69 3,1rt4 70-74 1,470 90 years and 73-'19 8&e4 85-89 above 282 504 199 808 Total 60+ 8,794 WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTTRN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WES]ERN 79 80 81 82 83 u 85 85 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 9UB.IOTAt 73,*l 51,Jr1 41,254 14.800 t7.a97 7,992 11"463 i27,6?8 BUNDIBUGYO 3,569 1.887 L,957 821 839 BUSHENYI 3,551 2,403 2,723 1,521 1,359 HOIMA KAEALE d045 2,701 2,558 1,558 1,312 4,797 2,606 2,888 L,457 t,4u KABAROLE 4,738 3,Or5 3,145 1,512 1,599 297 509 s2s 531 780 492 888 555 941 913 9,852 "12,954 i 1337d L4acA 1s932 KASESE KIBAATE KISORO 10,020 5,015 s,710 2,28s 2,555 762 1,589 27,g4$ L,654 974 1,0L2 545 518 215 274 5.t92 5,105 2,918 3,224 1,488 r.,565 578 t,275 16.154 MASINDI 3,582 2,499 2,394 1,319 1,160 410 551 12,015 MBARARA 5,545 4,2L6 4,24?
2,286 2,355 957 1,524 NTUNGAMO 7,885 4,894 4.991 2,497 2,480 849 1,574 -22.131 : 2-5,r2t i RUKUNGIRI 5,535 3,585 3,879 2,059 L,826 742 1,333 19,060 (AMWENGE 5,802 3,846 3,s80 1,606 1,425 542 1,090 KANUNGU 4.266 2,780 2,430 t,282 L,202 BULIISA IBANDA rstNGrRO L,547 857 814 4L2 358 4,OgL 2,560 2,554 1,394 L,?02 7,581 4,615 4,4t6 2,132 2,019 799 1,777 23,340 i KIRUHURA 5,30s 3,178 3,339 r,499 L,624 645 1,267 L6,857 BUHWUU 1,736 1,029 1,105 KIRYANDONGO 3,287 1,980 1,742 627 923 413 803 MITOOMA 3,On 2,O22 2,199 1,160 1,139 497 145 487 755 355 7U :18.
891 : 13,213 4,489 13,072 77L 283 381 92 474 434 682 119 5,549 9A52 10,660 2,770 WESTERN 100 NTOROT(O 945 495 591 2L2 236 WEST€RN RUBIRIZI UBOS August L4,zOtB 18 It tzr4 ANNEX ll: PROJECTED POPULATION OF PERSONS BY DISTRICT, 2018 AGE GROI.IP REGION sR. NO.
101 olsTRlct 6().64 2,094 6s-69 r,324 7l8.74 7S-79 1,392 5s3 8&84 579 8s-89 224 90 Yeani and abore 274 Total 6Oi 6,540 WESTERN 102 SHEEMA 1,497 2,428 2,s62 1,439 1,203 WESTERN 103 KAGADI 4,687 2,513 2,457 1,175 1.132 WESTERN L04 XAKUMIRO 4,272 2,471 2,254 t,157 WESTERN 105 RUBANDA 3,318 1,900 1,929 945 WESTERN 106 BUNYANGABU 2,707 t,7U 1,853 1,m4 WESTERN L07 RUKIGA 2,1t9 1,234 L,225 690 989 953 887 g1 WESTERN 108 KASSANDA 4,0&4 2,452 2,434 L,2L8 1,104 WESTERN 109 BUGWERI 2,454 1,358 1,594 WESTERN 110 KAPELEBYONG 1,309 807 832 824 458 WESTERN 111 KWANIA 2,462 3,284 1,695 1,178 WESTERN trz NABII.ATU( 1,341 1,179 705 300 786 436 877 L97 523 413 344 147 372 278 434 283 181 360 87 WESTERN 113 KIKUUEE 1 2,259 2,137 1.014 992 371 929 702 53r.
690 493 4t2 563 613 148 476 !72 567 12,581 13,079 12,040 10,082 9,020 6,605 12,389 8,022 4,t7t 10,332 3,981 10,961 SUB.ICTAL )7 rJg 85,1]1 8fi,687 4!.764 46,386 15,515 16,423 ,132.041 iJ6ANOA Source: 4 Nafional Population rl9z,8rl 186 3 7 168,{12 1jt6,S68 57 87 1.601.814 UBOS August 14,z0tg 19 Ilr'x &gNEX a ANNEX lll: PROPORTTON OF THE POOR BY USTRICT fiE6tON SR. NO.
DISTRICT HEAD COUNT POVERTY BUGANDA BUGANDA EASTERN EASTERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN WESTERN WESTERN BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA sAGE DISTRICTS t2 13 74 15 KIBOGA KYANKWANZI KABERAMAIDO KATAKW AMUDAT APAC KOLE MOROTO NAKAPIRIPIRIT NAPAK NEBBI YUMBE ZOMBO KYEGEGWA KYEf\TJOJO REST OF THE DISTRICTS 16 BUIKWE L7 BUKOMANSIMBI 18 BUTAMSALA 19 BUVUMA 20 60M8A 2L KAI.ANGAI.A 22 KALUNGU 23 KAMPALA 24 KASSANDA 25 KAYUNGA 26 KYOTERA 27 LUWERO 28 LWENGO 29 LYANTONDE 30 MASAKA 31 MIWANA UBOS August 14,2OLB L5.2 16.5 43.4 39.9 : 64,3 i' 22.4 23.7 65.X,I .
;r53.11 "6.2 i 34.8 28.9 34.0 14.3 15"2 L2.4 14.0 72.4 13.2 15.0 t: ?2 14.0 ,.,2-6 15.4 18.1 11.3 L2.L 15.3 13.2 :';:q,t,, L2,2 20 &f'i* BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA ANNEX lll: PROPORTIoN OF THE POOR BY DISTRICT 32 MPIGI 33 MUBENDE 34 MUKONO 35 NAKASEKE 36 NAKASONGOIA 37 RAKAI 38 SSEMBABULE 39 WAKTSO BUGANDA EUGANDA BUGANDA BUGANDA EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN EASTERN Ito 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 r+8 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 55 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 59 70 7t AMU RIA BUDUDA BUGlRI BUGWERI BUKEDEA BUKWO BULAMBULI BUSIA EUTALUA EUTEBO _ BUYENDE IGANGA JINJA KALIRO KAMULI KAPCHORWA KIBUKU (UMI KWEEN- LUUKA - MANAFWA MAYUGE MBALE NAMAYINGO NAMISINDWA NAMUTUMBA NGORA PALLISA SERERE SIRONKO soRoTt 11.8 14.9 8.9 L2.6 14.0 17.0 14.8 '2-7 , 0 34.1 27.L 30.0 *45.3 30.9 19.5 32.4 35.9 35.0 38.3 3s.0 42.6 i48.2 !
39.7 29.7 30.4 35.9 35.5 42.3 34.8 40.6 39.3 ,',.49.2 41.2 31.0 UBOS August 74,2018 21 {}}ryr EASTERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN NORTHERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN OF THE POOR BY 72 TORORO 73 ABIM 74 ADJUMANI 75 AGAGO 76 ATEBTONG 77 AMOTATAR 78 AMURU 79 ARUA 80 DoKOTO 8I.
GULU 82 UASONG_ 83 KTTGUM 84 KOBOKO 85 t(oTtDo 85 rwaMn 87 LAMWO 88 URA 89 MARACHA 90 MOYO 91 NABITATUK 97 NWOYA 93 oMoRo 94 OTUKE 95 OYAM 96 PADER 97 PAKWACH 98 99 100 101 102 103 to4 10s 106 LO7 108 109 110 BUHWEJU EUUtSA BUNDIBUGYO BUNYANGABU BUSHENYI HOIMA IBANDA tStNGtRO KABATE KABAROI-E KAGADI KAI(UMIRO KAMWENGE UBOS August t4,2O1g 30.6 42,g 35.7 47.2 30.s 23.5 29.L 24.4 27.7 15.4 i3.g I 33.8 23.3 733 .
27.3 32.0 18.s 34.4 77.0 .t73.1'' 26.0 27.7 30.2 28.4 39.0 30.s 17.4 t7.2 11.3 72.5 5.9 72.O 10.0 13.1 10.8 8.7 14.7 74.3 15.4 22 &r+,- :.

'::: .,.4.

.,:.
ANNEX III: WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN \,VESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WESTERN WE5TERN Source: 7 OF THE POOR BY DISTRICT 111 KANUNGU 712 KASESE 113 114 KIBAALE KIKUUBE 115 116 7L7 118 119 na 721 L22 KIRUHURA KIRYANDONGO KSORO MASINDI MBARARA MITOOMA NTOROKO NTUNGAMO 123 RUBANDA RUBIRIZI RUKIGA 724 t25 726 L27 SHEEMA Household RUKUNGIRI & 4 UBOS August t4,2}1,g tL.2 L7.L t2.7 74.4 8.2 16.6 t3.2 L3.4 7.0 10.6 t2.3 11.3 13.1 73.4 10.9 8.9 5.9 23 I!
'p^ AN}NFL7 PARTIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON A FIELD VISIT TO NORTH.EASTERN UGANDA OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO PARLIAMENT NOVEMBER, 2018 0 1.O INTRODUCTION On 17tr July, 2Ol8 during the Plenary Sitting, the Rt.

Hon.
Hon.

Deputy Speaker, Jacob L'okori Oulanyah, directed the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development to develop proposals for a national roll-out of the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) Scheme.

After constitution of sectoral committees and consideration of Committee workplans, the Committee prioritised execution of the above assignment.

Meetings were held at Parliament with various stakeholders.
After the meetings, it was deemed necessary to conduct field visits countrywide to beneficiary and non-beneficiary districts so as to assess the SAGE programme and establish the need for the programme in districts whose older persons are not receiving the Senior Citizens Grant.

In accordance with Rule 156 (c) and (d) and 185(a) (b) and (e); the Committee conducted an oversight field visit to Kyegegwa, Rubirizi and Lwengo districts in September over the issue of the older persons'grant.
2.O BACKGROUND In June 2OlO, Cabinet approved a proposal to implement a five-year pilot project for the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment Scheme under the Expanding Social Protection Programme (ESP) in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

Under SAGE, two social protection instruments were piloted: The Senior Citizens Grant which targeted persons aged 65 years and above and persons aged 60 years and above for Karamoja region and the Vulnerable Families Grant.
In Karamoja, all persons who were 6O years and above were enrolled onto the programme.

According to the United Nations, older persons are defined as people aged 60 years and above.

The Senior Citizens Grant aims at providing income security to older persons by providing direct cash transfers every two months.

Phase 1 of the programme aimed at: o a Building Government capacity in social protection; Developing a National Social Protection Policy; 1 .
Building and testing delivery systems, generating evidence of impact and administrative feasibility of direct income support as a policy tool; o Increasing awareness about the strategic importance of social protection.

From 2OlO to 2015, the programme was piloted in 15 districts namely: Apac, Kole, Amudat, Moroto, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Kyegegwa, Kyenjonjo, Nebbi, Zornbo and Yumbe.
In July 2015, the Vulnerable Families Grant was phased out because it was expensive, difficult to implement especially in terms of targeting and was not understood by the communities.

At the beginning of the programme, beneficiaries were paid Shs 23,000.

This was increased to Shs 24,OOO and finally to Shs 25,000.

The payments were channelled through MTN Uganda up to the end of 2015.
The Senior Citizens Grant reached over 123,O0O beneficiaries with Shs 25,000 monthly grant which amounted to Shs 87.2 billion.

The beneficiaries were paid using MTN Mobile Money service.

Owing to the numerous benefits accruing to the older persons as a result of the Senior Citizens Grant, Government decided to roll out the progamme for the next five years to 40 districts.

The roll-out targets 100 eldest persons per sub- county who should have national identity cards.
PostBank is being used to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries during this phase.

It came on board at the beginning of 2Ot6.

That roll-out represents Phase 2 of the programme.

However, the criteria for rolling out the programme cannot be clearly explained by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
It is important to note that the second phase of the programme is co-funded by donors, DFID & Irish Aid who committed to provide to provide iOZ.O million (Shs 331.24 blllion) on condition that Government provides the counterpart funding of Shs 149 billion.

2 At the moment, 58 districts are benefitting from the programme.

Plans to roll out countrywide have not yet been developed and the donors have not shown any commitment to fund a countrywide roll-out plan.
Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk districts Nakapiripirit is among the 47 beneficiary districts.

The programme started in the district in October 2OIl by way of a phased roll-out to the seven sub- counties.

The first beneficiary sub-counties were Lolachat and Moruita.

By 2012, older persons in the seven sub-counties and one town council were enrolled onto the programme.

By the end of the pilot phase, the programme had reached a total of 7,692 persons of which 5,159 were females and 2,533 were male.
Currently, the beneficiaries are drawn from eight sub-counties of the two districts of Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk namely: Namalu, Loregae, Kakomongole, Moruita, Nakapiripirit Town Council in Nakapiripirit district Lolochat, Lorengedwat, Nabilatuk and Nabilatuk Town Council in Nabilatuk district.

Pallisa district Older persons in Pallisa district were enrolled onto the programme in the Financial Year 2Ol5l16 when 20 new districts came on board.
The district has 19 sub-counties and each sub-county has 50 beneficiaries.

A total of L,782 are benefitting from the Senior Citizens Grant of which 903 are female and 879 are male.

The first payments were made in August 2016.

Serere district Serere district is located between Soroti, Ngora, Pallisa, Kaliro and Buyende.

Pallisa is a beneficiary district.

The poverty level in the district is at... .....

Older persons in the district live in dire conditions.
According to the 2OI4 Uganda Population and Housing Census, there are 12,622 persons aged 60 years and above in Serere.

Beneficiary districts have problems which they want rectified while non- beneficiary feel the countrywide roll-out of the programme is long overdue.

It is upon that background therefore, that the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development conducted a field visit to the afore-mentioned districts.
3 3.O OBJECTIVES OF THE FIELD VISIT In carrying out the field visit, the Committee was guided by the following terms of reference.

(i) To establish the challenges faced by older persons (ii) To assess the contribution of older persons to the development of their communities (iii)To find out the benefits accruing to the older persons as a result of receiving the Senior Citizens Grant (iv)To analyse the administration and management of the SAGE programme with specific reference to the following .
Administrativestructures .

Record-keeping o Complaint-handling mechanism o Payment .

Role of Post Bank (v) To develop proposals for a national roll-out of SAGE (vi)To establish the likely impact of failure to ro11 out the programme Countrywide.

4.O METHODOLOGY In pursuit of the objectives above, the Committee applied the following methods: Meetings The Committee held meetings with district officials, SAGE focal point persons and older persons at the district headquarters.
Document review 4 The Committee reviewed and made reference to the following documents o Constitution of the Republic of Uganda o National Social Protection Policy o National Policy for Older Persons 5.O FINDINGS, OBSERVATTONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 CHALLENGES FACED BY OLDER PERSONS The Committee found out that there is a change in the traditional family setting whereby young members of the family no longer feel obliged to look after older persons.
This leaves a good number of older persons with no choice but to struggle with the challenges that come with old age.

These challenges include but are not limited to: poor health conditions which are exercabated by poor health facilities upcountry and lack of special treatment facilities for them at the health centres.
This is made worse by the fact that despite their frail state, the older persons have to travel long distances to the nearest health centre yet some have become Persons with Disability due to old age ailments.

Poor road networks and lack of transport facilities make it hard for them to seek health care.

Due to poverty, they cannot afford to hire motorcycles commonly known as bodabodas to take them to the heath units.
Some older persons live in old, dingr & ramschackled houses which strip them of their dignity.

Many have orphans and vulnerable children to look after whose parents died of HIV/AIDS or who were abandoned by their parents.

Most of the administrative structures for the older persons at the village, parish and sub-county level are not functional because the posts have not been filled and no funds have been availed to operationalise them.
Cases of grabbing land and other property belonging to the older persons are common yet sometimes land is the only asset the old people have.

This has led to suicide of some of the older persons.

5 The changing nature of society has seen some older persons being socially- excluded; something which makes them depressed and weakens their immune system.

Lack of income.
Lack of income.

While pensioners and SAGE beneficiaries receive some money, non-pensioners do not receive any money yet they have many problems like looking after orphans whose parents died of HIV/AIDS, displacement by the war in northern Uganda and failing health.

The Committee recomfitends that: There should be afJirmatiae action for older persons in Goaernment Programmes.

iVGOs operating in districts should haae action plans for older persons.
5.2 CONTRIBUTION OF OLDER PERSONS TO DEVELOPMENT The Committee was informed that older persons act as advisors to politicians, civil servants and the community at large; are involved in arbitration and mediation of land disputes, serve on district committees like land committees, HIV/AIDS committee, gender, sexual reproductive health and education committee.
In Serere, older persons serve on the following committees: Public Accounts, HIV/AIDS, District Service Commission, District Land Commission and the Advisory Board to the LC V Chairperson.

The older persons act as advocates for popular causes like the fight against Female Genital Mutilation and Go to School, Back to School and Stay in School campaigns.

In Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk, they have championed the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
This is because they receive the Senior Citizens Grant and have been enlightened about the dangers of the practice.

Many orphans and vulnerable children are under the care of older persons.

This requires some funds because the children have to be fed, clothed, taken to school and provided with medical care.

Older persons own land in Serere.

Over 8O%o of the land in Serere is owned by older persons.
6 5.3 BENEFITS OF RECEIVING THE SENIOR CITIZENS GRANT The Committee found out that there are many benefits accruing to the beneficiaries of the Senior Citizens Grant.

The older persons have been able to regain their social respect.

They are no longer socially-excluded, do not beg and are increasingly participating in community affairs like taking up leadership positions on the Local Council Executive.
The number of older persons begging for money within the district offices and trading centres has reduced drastically.

There is reduction of Female Genital Mutilation because some of the beneficiaries were former surgeons in Moruita Sub-county in Nakapiripirit district.

The local economies have been boosted as a result of the cash transfers.

For example, in July 2OI8, a total of Shs 1,146,156,000 was paid to beneficiaries in Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk.
That money is used to purchase basic consumer items from local traders.

In Pallisa, from March 2016 to June 2018, a total of Shs 1,578,895,950 has been paid.

On payment days, there is a big boost in sales at local markets.

Many orphans and vulnerable children are able to attend school because their grandparents/guardians can afford to pay their school fees, feed them, buy for them scholastic items and take them for medical attention when need arises.
This has promoted school retention, especially at the primary level.

There is improved food security among the older persons because with the money they receive, they are able to hire local labour to tilt their gardens and buy farming inputs.

The Senior Citizens Grant acts as a linkage with other Government programmes and programmes for non-governmental organisations (NGO).
On a Pay Day, many senior citizens, both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries come together to discuss common issues like health, land matters and caring for orphans and vulnerable children.

They discuss Government programmes like Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and Operation Wealth Creation.

Sight Saves, an international NGO which offers free eye services signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the programme to offer eye checks, treatment and referrals during pay days.
7 Pay Day is a reunion day for older persons to meet and greet and find out what is taking place in each other's lives.

5.4 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGAMME 5.4.

1 Administrative structures There are 58 beneficiary districts and each district is under the Regional Technical Support Unit (RTSU).

Nakapiripirit is under the Moroto RTSU and Pallisa is under the Kamuli RTSU.

The Regional Technical Support Units provide support to the districts under their jurisdiction.
The focal point person of the programme at the district is a Community Development Officer (CDO) who works hand in hand with the RTSU.

The sub-county chief addresses the beneficiaries on Pay Day.

The LC 1 chairperson notifies the the LC 2 Chairperson and LC3 Chairperson of any occurrence of death in their areas.

The responsible officers need transport means to be able to reach the beneficiaries.

However, motorcycles were last provided in 2OI2.


The Committee obserued that the administratiue stntcture of the programme has manA responsible officers, but the ones at the grassroots are not well-facilitated to exeante their duties.

5.4.2 Registration The Committee found out that registration of beneficiaries was conducted in two ways: Community Registration Model and the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) mass registration.
In Nakapiripirit district before the NIRA registration exercise, an adhoc committee was set up to vet older persons.

The committee screened the people using a calendar of historical events, identification documents like voter's card, baptism card, marriage certificate, passport and driving permit.

The adhoc Committee had two women and three men or three women and two men and would also screen those who lacked identification documents.
For an applicant 8 to be approved without identification documents, the person had to be a resident in that village for 10 years.

Due to old age, fingerprints of some older persons could not be captured by the machine NIRA was using; hence they missed getting national identity cards.

The Committee was further informed that some older persons take on nicknames and put aside the official names yet the latter appear on all official documents.

This leads to confusion on Pay Day.


The NIRA exercise was successfully implemented in Serere District.

Those who were not registered were negligent, sick, discouraged by their children, their thumbprints were not captured or had political disorientation towards the programme.

The district officials were very instrumental in mobilisation and monitoring of the exercise.
After registration of the older persons by NIRA, the list was sent to the Project Management Unit at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in Kampala to generate a beneficiary list.
While some people die and the family members fill in a Death Notification Form and Family Resolution Form nominating alternative recipients to receive outstanding balances on the deceased's account before it is closed, there is no automatic replacement of those who have died yet every year, people become eligible for enrolment by attaining the age of 60 or 65 years.

The Committee found out that some under-age persons are beneficiaries of the programme.
However, no explanation was provided regarding how this happened.

Some other people can register in more than one district and hence receive a double grant.

The Committee was informed that death registration is a bad omen in Teso region, and therefore, very people will report that someone has died.

Some unscrupulous people issue false death notifications because of ulterior motives.
This denies beneficiaries their cash stipend because the records cannot be corrected in one day to enable them receive payment again.

The Senior Citizens Grant is meant to uplift the standard of living of poor older persons but some pensioners are among the beneficiaries.

They claim that while they worked for their pension, the cash transfer is an entitlement by virtue of them having reached the retirement age.
9 Old age comes with numerous health challenges and some sick people miss out on payments because they have not nominated alternative recipients and the payment method does not have provisions of taking the money to the people in places like homes or hospitals.

In Nakapiripit during enrolment, the district officials were informed about infirm cases which qualify for home visits.

The Committee was further informed that in 2014, a validation exercise of the beneficiaries was conducted on PayDay.
Following that exercise, a total of 600 older persons were readmitted to the programme.

5.4.3 Enrolment process The Committee discovered two ways of enrolment: providing a beneficiary list to the project management unit by the local government/regional technical support unit staff and getting a beneficiary list from the project management unit and carrying out the verification afterwards.
In Nakapiripirit, mobilisation of potential beneficiaries was done through political and technical structures for a meeting at a central point in a parish.

It is at that point that infirm cases were nominated for home visits.

At the parish, verification of documents and generating a list of potential beneficiaries was done after which the older persons filled in the registration forms.

The list was then sent to the project management unit which shares it with Post Bank for assigning accounts.
For Pallisa, the PMU requests for data from NIRA which is run through the Management Information System and the beneficiary list developed.

The lists/registers are then sent to the district for registration of the beneficiaries.

After that, all potential beneficiaries are mobilised and registered at designated registration points and present their national identity cards.

Post Bank then carries out the enrolment.


According to the programme implementation guidelines, in Karamoja region, 1O0 older persons per sub-county are supposed to be enrolled onto the programme annually.

However, this was done for only two years.

10 5.4.4 Complaint-handling mechanism The Committee was informed that on Pay Day, a complaints handling desk is set up at the pay point.

The desk is manned by local government and RTSU staff.
The LG staff receive complaints and document them in the complaints form, copies of which are circulated to the beneficiary, sub-county chief and RTSU for follow-up.

Major complaints include names missing on pay roll, delay in paying next of kin and wrong death notification.

Depending on the circumstances surrounding the complaint, some complaints are responded to while others are forwarded to the RTSU or PMU.
5.4.5 Payment The Committee was informed that pay day is a highly-anticipated event that brings a smile on the faces of the older persons.

However, the insufficient releases by the Ministry of Finance towards the programme have made it impossible to have known pay days throughout the year.

After funds are released, the payment plan is drawn up by the PMU in consultation with PostBank, RTSU and LG staff.
Mobilisation of the beneficiaries is done through radio stations informing them about the pay day, pay point and time to report for payment.

According to the programme implementation guidelines, pay points should not be more than 10km from the beneficiary.

Some pay points are located very far away from the older persons' homes; hence they travel very long distances or hire a bodaboda at Shs 30,0OO.

By the time they reach the pay point, they are very tired and hungry.
Far away pay points make the old men and women vulnerable to thieves who can steal their money when they are returning home if they were not accompanied by someone.

Beneficiaries are supposed to be paid Shs 50,000 every two months.

However, arrears have become the order of the day with beneficiaries waiting for up to 6 months to receive the money.

The rainy season makes payments very hard since the exercise is usually conducted outside because of the many activities involved like pre-payment t1.
address, complaints handling, verification of beneficiary details, actual payment and meetings for other Government programmes.

For urban older persons, the Shs 25,000 is little.

The Committee was informed that there are two beneficiaries who refused the money because it is little.

5.4.6 Role of Post Bank The Committee identified the following challenges in relation to the role of Post Bank in implementation of the programme.
However, attempts to get a response from them were futile since they received an invitation to appear before the Committee but never turned up.

Uncollected funds A beneficiary list is pre-determined but on payment day, the turn-up is less than looo/o.

That leaves some uncollected funds.

Accounts of beneficiaries Beneficiaries are supposed to have accounts with Post Bank.

However, the type of account held was not clearly explained to the Committee.
5.5 IMPACT OF FAILURE TO ROLL OUT THE PROGRAMME The Committee was informed that due to failure to roll out the Senior Citizens Grant to non-beneficiary districts and non-benefitting citizens; the following are the repercussions.

Increase in the poverty rate Although some beneficiary districts have a lower poverty rate compared to non- beneficiary districts, the levels in the latter are still going up because of old age poverty.
Increase in mortality rate of older persons Old age has numerous health challenges which require the victim to have a source of income, feed well and have a peace of mind.

The grant to the older persons enables them to seek health care, hire labour to tilt their land, buy food and some medicine.

Without such a lifeline, many older persons live in squalid conditions and die earlier.
t2 Increase in dependency burden With the cash transfer, the rate of dependency of older persons on their children and grand children reduces hence easing the burden on the working population.

Political discontent Since all special interest groups in the country like women, youths and persons with disability have a special fund and the fund covers the entire country, the older persons feel they need a national fund as well to cater for their unique interests.
They feel they are being deliberately sidelined by the Government.

Loss of dignity by older persons The older persons'grant has numerous benefits to the beneficiaries.

This in turn boosts their sense of self worth and belonging in society.

Without the cash transfer, some older persons have lost their dignity because they beg a lot, live in deplorable conditions.

5.O CONCLUSTON The Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment Scheme is a lifeblood for the people.

It is like a salary for the beneficiaries.


Older persons in non-benefitting districts want to move to districts whose older persons are benefitting.

13 AssEX + PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA REPORT OF THE COMMIT"TEE ON GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON A FIELD VISIT TO CENTRAL & WESTERN UGANDA OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO PARLIAMENT NOVEMBER, 2018 0 1.O INTRODUCTION On 17u, July, 2018 during the Plenary Sitting, the Rt.

Hon.
Hon.

Deputy Speaker, Jacob L'okori Oulanyah, directed the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development to develop proposals for a national roll-out of the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) Scheme.

After constitution of sectoral committees and consideration of Committee workplans, the Committee prioritised execution of the above assignment.

Meetings were held at Parliament with stakeholders.
After the meetings, it was deemed necessary to conduct field visits countrSrwide to beneficiary and non- beneficiary districts so as to assess the SAGE programme and establish the need for the programme in districts whose older persons are not receiving the Senior Citizens Grant.

In accordance with Rule 156 (c) and (d) and 185(a) (b) and (e); the Committee conducted an oversight field visit to Kyegegwa, Rubirizi and Lwengo districts in September over the issue of the older persons'grant.
2.O BACKGROUND In June 2OIO, Cabinet approved a proposal to implement a five-year pilot project for the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment Scheme under the Expanding Social Protection Programme (ESP) in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

Under SAGE, two social protection instruments were piloted: The Senior Crtrzens Grant which targeted persons aged 65 years and above and persons aged 60 years and above for Karamoja region and the Vulnerable Families Grant.
According to the United Nations, older persons are defined as people aged 60 years and above.

The Senior Citizens Grant aims at providing income security to older persons by providing direct cash transfers every two months.

Phase 1 of the programme aimed at: a Building Government capacity in social protection; a Developing a National Social Protection Policy; 1 .
Building and testing delivery systems, generating evidence of impact and administrative feasibility of direct income support as a policy tool; o Increasing awareness about the strategic importance of social protection.

From 2OlO to 2015, the programme was piloted in 15 districts namely: Apac, Kole, Amudat, Moroto, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Kyegegwa, Kyenjonjo, Nebbi, Zornbo and Yumbe.
In July 2015, the Vulnerable Families Grant was phased out because it was expensive, difficult to implement especially in terms of targeting and was not understood by the communities.

At the beginning of the programme, beneficiaries were paid Shs 23,000.

This was increased to Shs 24,OOO and finally to Shs 25,OO0.

The payments were channelled through MTN Uganda up to the end of 2015.
The Senior Citizens Grant reached over 123,000 beneficiaries with Shs 25,000 monthly grant which amounted to Shs 87.2 billion.

The beneficiaries were paid using MTN Mobile Money service.

Owing to the numerous benefits accruing to the older persons as a result of the Senior Citizens Grant, Government decided to roll out the progamme for the next five years to 4O districts.

The roll-out targets 100 eldest persons per sub- county who should have national identity cards.
PostBank is being used to deliver the funds to the beneficiaries during this phase.

It came on board at the beginning of 2016.

That roll-out represents Phase 2 of the programme.

However, the criteria for rolling out the programme cannot be clearly explained by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
It is important to note that the second phase of the programme is co-funded by donors, DFID & Irish Aid who committed to provide to provide iOZ.O million (Shs 33 1.24 billion) on condition that Government provides the counterpart funding of Shs 149 billion.

2 At the moment, 58 districts are benefitting from the programme.

Plans to ro11 out countrywide have not yet been developed and the donors have not shown any commitment to fund a countrywide roll-out plan.
It is upon the background above therefore, that the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development conducted a field visit to Kyegegwa, Rubirizi and Lwengo districts.

3.O OBJECTIVES OF THE FIELD VISIT In carrying out the field visit, the Committee was guided by the following terms of reference.
(i) To establish the level of vulnerability of older persons (ii) To assess the contribution of older persons to the development of their communities and the districts in general (iii)To find out the benefits accruing to the older persons as a result of receiving the Senior Citizens Grant (iv)To analyse the administration and management of the SAGE programme with specific reference to the following .

Administrativestructures o Registration and enrolment o Complaint-handling mechanism o Payment .
Role of Post Bank (v) To develop proposals for a national roll-out of SAGE (vi)To establish the likely impact of failure to ro11 out the programme countrywide 3 4.O METHODOLOGY In pursuit of the objectives above, the Committee applied the following methods: Meetings The Committee held meetings with district officials, SAGE focal point persons and older persons at the district headquarters.
Document review The Committee reviewed and made reference to the following documents o Constitution of the Republic of Uganda o National Social Protection Policy o National Policy for Older Persons 5.O FINDINGS, OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 VULNERABILITY OF OLDER PERSONS The Committee was informed about the following problems which older persons face: Failure to be enrolled onto the SAGE Programme Older persons who clock 65 years after enrolment has taken place in their districts miss out because there is no automatic enrolment.
Even when some beneficiaries die, they are not replaced by those who are still alive yet the deceased has been budgeted for.

Illiteracy In Kyegegwa, 62%o of persons aged 60 years and above are illiterate.

Due to illiteracy, they always need a helper to aid them as they carry out certain activities like going to hospital, shopping and collecting money on pay day.

Some helpers are registered as alternative recipients but they do not hand over all the money they get on behalf of the older persons.
4 Disability Old age makes a person weaker, leads to certain diseases and causes some deformities which may not be rectified.

This leads to disability of the older persons.

They include eye problems, back pain, inability to move with ease and so many others.

Social rejection The breakdown in the traditional family setting where older persons used to be automatically catered for by the young folks is making ageing more of a burden.

It is now becoming common for older persons to be abandoned.
This is made worse by the community isolating the older persons.

Dependants Although weak and frail, older persons have dependants who are usually their grandchildren who have been abandoned by their parents or their parents have passed on.

The dependants have to go to school and need all other basic necessities of life.

The HIV/AIDS scourge in Lwengo has left a big burden on the older persons yet they do not receive the Senior Citizens Grant.
In Kyegegwa and Rubirtzi, there is a programme run by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development called Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC).

However, it runs in an adhoc manner.

Lack ofadequate health care In many rural areas, health centres are few, poor equipped, poorly-staffed and located far away from people's residences.

The sick people have to travel long distances to get health care and if it is an older person, the journey is more challenging.
Lack of security for land and property Some older persons own large tracts of land but since they are old, relatives or other unscrupulous people take advantage of that and grab the land.

This leaves them with no factor of production.

In areas where the older persons receive the Senior Citizens Grant, the money is stolen on pay day because of lack of a helper to protect the person from thieves on their way back home and the long distances moved to and from the payment point.
Lack of funds for structures of older persons Structures of older persons exist from the village to the district level.

However, their functionality is affected by lack of funds to enable them operate yet they are key in mobilising their folks and advocating for their interests.

5 Old age poverty Some older persons cannot engage in any productive activity due to ill health, social exclusion and lack of opportunities.
This leads to poverty yet old age requires substantial financial resources for a person to survive and thrive.

The Committee recommends that There should be o;utomatic replacement of older persons uho die if there is a proper and accurqte utag of recording deaths.

The communitg should be sensitlsed bg the leaders so that theg do not isolate old.er persons and those uthose relatlaes are old.

should be encouraged to look afier them.


The Mtnistry of Pttblic Seruice and Local Goaernment should budget for sttttctures of older persons so that funds are provided to enable them functlon.
Giaen the fact that the public heqlth cqre sgstem in the country is uteak, local leqders should lobbg non-gooernmental organisations like Rotary International, Sight Sauers and others to conduct heath co;m,ps in their r e sp e ctiae lo calitie s. District local goaernments should enact bge-lauts uthich ensure that the propertg of older persons is protected.

This should be follouted bg massiae sensitisation so that the old.er persons know uthat to do in case their propertg is stolen.
5.2 CONTRIBUTION OF OLDER PERSONS TO DEVELOPMENT The Committee was informed about the following contributions of older persons to the development of their areas: Trade In Lwengo, some older persons are prominent businessmen, employing many people, paying taxes and taking care of many dependants.

This has boosted the economy in that area.


6 Caring for orphans and vulnerable children Due to the HIV/AIDS scourge, older persons have many orphans under their care whom they have been able to raise up and educate.

The orphans eventually become responsible adults.

Farming It is common for older persons to engage in farming and thus produce food for their households and for sale.

When they sell, they pay taxes.

For example, in Lwengo, matooke is a staple food crop which is exported to other districts.
In Kyegegwa, in Ruyonza, Mpara, Hapuuyo and the Town Council, many older persons are farmers.

Heading households Many households are headed by older persons who provide guidance, counselling and leadership and groom the young people for the world ahead of them.

5.3 BENEFITS OF RECEIVING THE SENIOR CITIZENS GRANT The Committee found out that there are numerous benefits accruing to the beneficiaries of the Senior Citizens Grant.

The benefits are explained below.


Improved family cohesion Older persons are taking care of their grandchildren and this has promoted family cohesion.

Social acceptance Receiving the grant has given older persons a sense of belonging in the community.

They can talk and be listened to.

They no longer beg, can take care of other people and look after themselves.
Reunion day Payment day acts as a reunion for most older persons to revive their relationships and reminisce about old times because they take long to move out of their homes and interact with their peers.

Increased savings Recipients of the grant have joined savings and credit groups to keep some of their money and borrow in case the payments delay.

7 Hiring farm labour Sine old people are sometimes frail yet they have gardens to look after, they have been able to hire labour to till their gardens.
This has boosted their food security.

Animal husbandry The Committee was informed that at the beginning of the programme, the older persons were forced to buy animals like cows, goats, pigs and chicken so as to make the programme look very impressive.

The older persons obliged and bought those animals although they are expensive and made the recipients forego some basic necessities.

5.4 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGAMME 5.4.
1 Administrative structures The Committee made the following observations in regard to the management and administration of the programme.

Although there is a large number of managers and administrators, reaching out to the older persons is still a challenge.

The time they usually interface with the administrators is on pay day and that is if they have been mobilised.
The Community Development Officer has many tasks to run and is usually under- funded hence reaching out to all older persons is a challenge.

Some older persons stay far away from the sub-county offices, district headquarters or designated pay points.

This makes access to the authorities harder in case the older persons have a problem.

Despite the existence of heavily-staffed structures, there is no monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the programme.
5.4.2 Registration The Committee was informed that in the initial beneficiary districts, the Community Registration Model was used.

The model involves identification and verification of all older persons in the district who are 65 years and above.

The identification documents included: voters' cards, birth certificates, baptism certificates and peer verification at the village level.

Infirm beneficiaries were also nominated at the village level.
8 A11 successful older persons were re-verified by a team comprising the district community development officer, senior community development officer in charge of SAGE, sub-county community development officer, SAGE staff and adhoc committee of older persons at the sub-county level.

Those who qualified were issued with registration forms and their details sent to ESP PMU.
The Committee was further informed that beneficiary deaths are usually reported when the relatives need a death certificate for legal purposes.

The bereaved report to the sub-county chief.

The list of all beneficiaries is contained in a Management Information System which is managed at the Project Management Unit in Kampala.

5.4.3 Enrolment process The Committee was informed that in the initial beneficiary districts, the community registration model was used.
The model involves identification and verification of all older persons in the district who are 65 years and above.

The identification documents included: voters cards, birth certificates, baptism certificates and peer verification at the village level.

Infirm beneficiaries were also nominated at the village level.
All successful older persons were re-verified by a team comprising the district community development officer, senior community development officer in charge of SAGE, sub-county community development officer, SAGE staff and adhoc committee of older persons at the sub-county level.

Those who qualified were issued with registration forms and their details sent to ESP PMU.
A list of successful beneficiaries was generated from the ESP PMU and shared with the district for enrolment with the payment service provider.

A11 potential beneficiaries were mobilised through radio announcements, parish chiefs, local council leaders and other avenues like places of worship.

Potential beneficiaries are called to turn up with identification documents at designated points for account opening with the payment service provider.
Their images and finger prints are captured and an account opened.

They are issued with account cards indicating account number and their names.

9 The Committee further discovered that although a number of beneficiaries die, there is no provision for their replacement yet every year, many older persons qualify for the programme.

The costs not withstanding, the Committee recorrtmends that home uisits should.

be conducted for those uho qualifg as beneticiaries if theg fail to appear for enrolment.
5.4.4 Complaint-handling mechanism The Committee found out that a complaints'handling desk is set up on pay day to enable the beneficiaries get solutions to their problems.

The types of complaints received are usually about: Alternative recipients who do not remit all the money to the beneficiaries, Long distances to the pay points, Delayed and unpredictable payments and exhausting pay day.
The Committee obserued that uhile it is a good idea to receiue and handle complaints on paA day, the time is not adequate to Lrcar all complaints.

This is because some recipients may choose to first go for tlrc pagments before forutarding the complaints or some may decide to ignore the complaints because tlrcy uant to receiue the moneA.

The Committee recofiurtends that a complaints desk should be stationed.
at the sub-countg headquarters so that beneficiaries can haae their issues handled uith eo,se and at their own conoenience.

5.4.5 Payment The Committee found out that although payments are supposed to start at 8.30 a.m. and end before 5 p.m.; sometimes, the beneficiaries have had to wait for a full day before the payment van arrives.
The Committee further discovered that while alternative recipients are sent by a beneficiary who is unable to reach the pay point, the person who has been sent is sometimes not registered and consequently, is denied access to the funds.

Lack of shelter at some pay points makes the exercise very unpleasant on rainy days.

10 Older persons are frail but the Committee was surprised to find out that some beneficiaries have to travel for about 10km or more in order to receive the bi- monthly payments.
This takes a toll on the health of the beneficiaries.

The Committee obserued that older persons do not register alternatiue recipients because tlrcg are not fullg au)are of the procedures.

Giuen the unpredictable pattern of deliuering the payments, making a person miss is a huge setback in their liues because theg may haue borrouted moneA from a SACCO or receiued goods from a shopkeeper on credit or needed to buy some medicines for their failing health.
5.4.6 Role of Post Bank The Committee identified the following challenges in relation to the role of Post Bank in implementation of the programme.

Late-coming Before pay day, the beneficiaries are mobilised to turn up for payments on time at designated pay points.

However, sometimes, Post Bank officials arrive late for the payment exercise.
This is very unfortunate because the older persons have travelled long distances to the pay point and they have to travel the same long distances on their way back yet their security is not guaranteed.

Some older persons have been robbed of their money because they cannot fight off the thieves.

To make matters worse, there is no provision for refreshments for the beneficiaries and given their frail state of health, some may end the day when they are unwell.
A case in point was when the payment van arrived in the evening and the beneficiaries had been waiting the entire day.

Charges The Committee found out that since beneficiaries open up accounts with Post Bank, they are subjected to withdrawal and service charges.

These charges substantially reduce the net amount of money the recipients get.
Uncollected funds The Committee was informed that there are two categories of uncollected money; a) Beneficiaries who did not turn up in previous payment cycles 11 b) Deceased beneficiaries who have outstanding balances on their accounts For category a), the beneficiaries may turn up in subsequent payment cycles to receive their payment.

However, not all of them turn up.

For category b), a Death Notification Form and Family Resolution Form have to be completed before payment is effected.
There is a provision that a next of kin cannot access funds worth more Shs 1 million or more.

5.5 PROPOSALS FOR A NATIONAL ROLL.OUT OF SAGE The Committee established that there is a great need for a national roll-out of the programme.

Since the programme is being implemented in 50 districts, 80 districts are not benefitting.

The 8O districts can be enrolled onto the programme in the next 2 years.

A total of 40 districts can be financed in the first year by enrolling 10 districts per quarter.
Subsequently, the remaining 40 can be enrolled in the second year.

The targeting can be for those who are 70 years and above.

A top-bottom approach (oldest to youngest) can be used to select those who are eligible 5.5 IMPACT OF FAILURE TO ROLL OUT THE PROGRAMME The Committee was informed that due to failure to ro11 out the Senior Citizens Grant to non-beneficiary districts and non-benefitting citizens; the following are the repercussions.
Increase in the poverty rate Although some beneficiary districts have a lower poverty rate compared to non- beneficiary districts, the levels in the latter are still going up because of old age poverty.

Increase in mortality rate of older persons Old age has numerous health challenges which require the victim to have a source of income, feed well and have a peace of mind.

The grant to the older persons enables them to seek health care, hire labour to tilt their land, buy L2 I food and some medicine.
Without such a lifeline, many older persons live in squalid conditions and die earlier.

Dependency burden With the cash transfer, the rate of dependency of older persons on their children and grand children reduces hence easing the burden on the working population.
Political discontent Since all special interest groups in the country like women, youths and persons with disability have a special fund and the fund covers the entire country, the older persons feel they need a national fund as well to cater for their unique interests.

They feel they are being deliberately sidelined by the Government.
13 SPI zY- 5 PARLIAMINT OI IIII BEPUALIC OF UGANDA REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON GENDER, LABOUR AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE OVERSIGHT VISIT TO NORTHEN UGANDA OFFICE OF THE CLERK TO PARLIAMENT, PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINGS, P.O BOX 7L78, I(AMPALA NOVEMBER, 2018 1 1.O INTRODUCTION On 17ft July, 2Ol8 during the Plenary Sitting, the Rt.

Hon.
Hon.

Deputy Speaker, Jacob L'okori Oulanyah, directed the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development to develop proposals for a national roll-out of the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment Scheme (SAGE).

The Committee started execution of the assignment by conducting meetings at Parliament with various stakeholders.
After the meetings, it was deemed necessary to conduct field visits countr5rwide to beneficiary and non-beneficiary districts so as to assess the SAGE program and establish the need for the program in districts whose older persons are not receiving the grant.

In accordance with Rule 156 (c) and (d) and 185(a) (b) and (e); the Committee conducted a field visit to Lamwo and Agago districts in September over the issue of the older persons' grant.
2.O BACKGROUND In June 2O1O, Cabinet approved a proposal to implement a five-year pilot project for the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment Scheme under the Expanding Social Protection Programme (ESP) in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Socia-l Development.

Under SAGE, two social protection instruments were piloted: The Senior Citizens Grant which targeted persons aged 65 years and above and persons aged 60 years and above for Karamoja region and the Vulnerable Families Grant.
According to the United Nations, older persons are defined as people aged 60 years and above.

In Uganda, the population of older persons is estimated at about 835,000 which represents 2.4%o of the people.

The Senior Citizens Grant aims at providing income security to older persons by providing direct cash transfers every two months.
In July 2015, the Vulnerable Families Grant was phased out because it was expensive, difficult to implement especially in terms of targeting and was not understood by the communities.

At the beginning of the programme, beneficiaries were paid Shs 23,000.

This was increased to Shs 24,OOO and finally to Shs 25,000.

The payments were channelled through MTN Uganda up to the end of 2015.

The money would be put on the beneficiaries' mobile phones.
Owing to the numerous bene{its accruing to the older persons as a result of the Senior Citizens Grant, Government decided to ro11 out the progamme for the next five years to 20 districts.

That roll-out represents Phase 2 of the programme.

However, the criteria 2 for rolling out the programme cannot be clearly explained by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

A new payment service provider, PostBank Uganda, came on board at the beginning of 2016.
PostBank Uganda catne on board as a result of the lack of a mobile money regulatory mechanism in the country that made it difficult for the ministry of Gender to execute any legal action against MTN in the event of breach of contract, as it is not authorized to offer bank-related financial services under the law at the moment.

The roll-out for 2015116 to 2ol8l19 and the plan for 2OI9|2O is shown below in Table 1.

This financial year, 50 districts are have been targeted to benefit from the program.
However, of the 50, there have been 11 break away districts that shall bring the total of beneficiary districts to 61 districts in the FY 2ol8l2ol9.

Plans to roll out countrywide have not yet been developed and the donors have not shown any commitment to fund a countrywide roll-out plan.

Annexure "A" indicates the beneficiary districts, the year of enrollment as well as the RSTU under their supervision.
Northern Uganda Uganda has experienced a steady reduction in the incidence of poverty in recent years, from 38.8%o in 2OO2l3 to 24.5oh in 2OO9I1O and 1,9.7o/o in 2OI2ll3.

Despite the general decline in poverty rates, the Uganda Household Survey Report of 2Ol2ll3 indicates that around 2Oo/o of the population, representing some 6.7 million people, is living below the poverty line.
Despite this steady reduction in poverty rates, there is wide regional disparity with the northern region suffering a 43.7oh poverty rate, compared to 4.7oh in Central region, 83% in Western and 24.5o/o in Eastern regions.

A further 43oh of the population in Uganda, although living above the poverty line, is at risk of succumbing to poverty in the event of socio-economic shock, mostly in the northern region.
It is therefore imperative that the SAGE program be rolled out nationally, more so in the Northern region.

Lamwo and Agago Districts The Committee undertook study visits to selected districts in Northern Uganda, particularly Lamwo and Agago, to assess the impact of the SAGE program on the ground and inquire from the both elder persons and the local leaders about the SAGE program in general and how it can be improved upon to ensure an efficient national ro11-out.
3 Both Lamwo and Agago Districts joined the program in the FY 2015116 and are attached to the Gulu RSTU.

3.O OBJECTIVES OF THE FIELD VISIT In carrying out the field visit, the Committee was guided by the following terms of reference.
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) To establish the level of vulnerability of older persons To assess the contribution of older persons to the development of their communities and the district in general To find out the benefits accruing to the older persons as a result of receiving the Senior Citizens Grant To analyse the administration and management of the SAGE programme with specific reference to the following;- o Available records .

Administrative structures o Complaint-handling mechanism .
PayDay o Role of Post Bank (v) To establish the likely impact of failure to ro11 out the programme countrywide 4.O METHODOLOGY In pursuit of the objectives above, the Committee applied the following methods: Meetings The Committee held meetings with district officials, SAGE focal point persons and older persons at the district headquarters.
4 Document review The Committee reviewed and made reference to the following documents;- a) Constitution of the Republic of Uganda b) Vision 2O4O c) National Development Plan d) National Social Protection Policy e) National Policy for Older Persons 0 The NRM Manifesto g) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) h) The Social Protection Gender and Equity Strategy under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development i) Highlights of the June-August 2018 Senior Citizens Grant Pay Point Exit Survey.
j) "The economic impacts of a social pension on recipient households with unequal access to markets in Uganda" - Maria Klara Kuss, Patrick Llewellin and Franziska Gassmann, United Nations University and Maastricht University.

5.O FINDINGS, OBSERVATTONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 LEVEL OF VULNERABILITY OF OLDER PERSONS Climate change and Drought leading to food insecurity.
The Committee observed that climate change has had a direct and real impact on the elderly in 5 Lamwo and Agago Districts and has made the issue of food security paramount to the livelihood of the elderly.

The Elderly in the districts of Agago and Lamwo noted that seasons are no longer reliable for cultivation and this has led to sustained droughts and food insecurity.

Change in the traditional family setting.


The Committee found out that there is a change in the traditional family setting whereby young members of the family no longer feel obliged to look after older persons.

This leaves a good number of older persons with no choice but to struggle with the challenges that come with old age.

Poor health conditions.


These challenges include but are not limited to: poor health conditions which are exercabated by poor health facilities upcountry and lack of special treatment facilities for them at the health centres and hospitals.

This is made worse by the fact that despite their frail state, the older persons have to travel long distances to the nearest health centre yet some have become Persons with Disability due to old age ailments.

Poor road networks and lack of transport facilities.
These make it hard for them to seek health care.

Due to poverty, they cannot afford to hire motorcycles commonly known as boda bodas to take them to the heath units.

Poor and inadequate housing.

Some older persons live in old, dingy & ramschackled houses which strip them of their dignity.

Many have orphans and vulnerable children to look after whose parents died of HIV/AIDS or who were abandoned by their parents.

Inadequate administrative structures for elders.


Most of the administrative structures for the older persons at the village, parish and sub-county level are not functional because the posts have not been filled and no funds have been availed to operationalise them.

Insufficient policy measures targeting the elderly.

A good number of development projects in the districts target young people, thereby leaving out the older persons.
5.2 CONTRIBUTION OF OLDER PERSONS TO DEVELOPMENT The Committee was informed that older persons act as advisors to politicians, civil servants and the community at large; are involved in arbitration and mediation of land disputes, serve on district committees like land committees, 6 HIV/AIDS committee, gender, sexual reproductive health and education committee.

Many orphans and vulnerable children are under the care of older persons.
This requires some funds because the children have to be fed, clothed, taken to school and provided with medical care.

Beyond improving the livelihoods of the elderly, SAGE has also had a positive impact on local enemies as the elderly spend their incomes from SAGE on purchasing loca1 commodities like sugar and salt.
In both Lamwo and Agago Districts, the Committee observed that the distance between the town centres and the closest town centre, Kitgum Municipality, was so long that the elders have no choice but to spend their incomes on the local traders who provide the basic amenities.

5.3 BENEFITS OF RECEIVING THE SENIOR CITIZENS GRANT The Committee found out that there are many benefits accruing to the beneficiaries of the Senior Citizens Grant.

Poverty Reduction.
Poverty Reduction.

There has been a reduction in the general poverty levels of the elderly in districts enrolled under the SAGE program so far.

Indeed, the Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) data found that "between UNHS 2OO9l10 and UNHS 2016117, poverty headcount in SAGE districts fell by nearly 7 percentage points.

Noteworthy, the proportions of persons that fell into poverty did not increase in SAGE districts when in non-SAGE districts poverty increased between 2Ol2l 13 and 2016l2OI7" .
Resurgence of social reputation for the elderly.

The older persons have been able to regain their social respect.

They are no longer socially-excluded, do not beg and are increasingly participating in community affairs like taking up leadership positions on the Local Council Executive.

The number of older persons begging for money within the district offices and trading centres has reduced drastically.

Reduced mortality rate.


There is a reduced mortality rate among the older persons compared to the time before the program.

This reduction is as a result of availability of food and change of diet and access to health services.

Many orphans and vulnerable children are able to attend school because their grandparents/guardians can afford to pay their school fees, feed them, buy for 7 them scholastic items and take them for medical attention when need arises.
This has promoted school retention, especially at the primary level.

There is improved food security among the older persons because with the money they receive, they are able to hire loca1 labour to tilt their gardens.

The Senior Citizens Grant acts as a linkage with other Government programmes and programmes for non-governmental organisations (NGO).
On a Pay Day, many senior citizens, both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries come together to discuss common issues like health, land matters and caring for orphans and vulnerable children.

They discuss Government programmes like Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and Operation Wealth Creation.

Sight Saves, an international NGO which offers free eye services signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the programme to offer eye checks, treatment and referrals during pay days.
Pay Day is a social day for older persons to meet and greet and find out what is taking place in each other's lives.

5.4 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGAMME 5.4.

I Administrative structures There are 6l beneficiary districts and each district is under the Regional Technical Support Unit (RTSU).

Lamwo and Agago are under the Gulu RTSU, which covers Lamwo, Agago, Gulu, Kitgum, Aleptoy, Otuke, Kole, Apac, Pader and Amuru.
The role of the RTSU is to coordinate SAGE activities in the region under their supervision and to act as a point of contact for any program-related complaints.

The focal point person of the program at the district is a Community Development Officer (CDO) who works hand in hand with the RTSU.

The CDO is responsible for The sub-county chief addresses the beneficiaries on chairperson notifies the LC 2 Chairperson and LC3 occurrence of death in their areas.

Pay Day.
Pay Day.

The LC1 Chairperson of any 5.4.2 Records of beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries 8 The Committee found out that registration of beneficiaries was conducted in two ways: setting up of an ad-hoc committee to vet older persons and the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) mass registration (how was data from the two reconciled?)
Registration of Ugandan citizens started with the National Identification Security Information System which later became NIRA and it included older persons whose finger prints had to be captured just like the others.

There were few offices countrywide and many older persons in remote areas were not registered hence they lack national identity cards.

Getting registered after the national exercise is almost impossible because NIRA does not have offices in all districts.
The alternative is to come to Kololo in Kampala by 5a.m which is hard for an old person.

Due to old age, fingerprints of some older persons could not be captured by the machine NIRA was using; hence they missed getting national identity cards.

The Committee was further informed that some older persons take on nicknames and put aside the official names yet the latter appear on all official documents.
This leads to confusion on Pay Day because the records with the district officials and Post Bank staff have different names.

After registration of the older persons by NIRA, the list was sent to the Project Management Unit at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in Kampala to generate a beneficiary list.

However, some people who are under- age are beneficiaries of the older persons' grant.
While some people die and the family members fill in a Death Notification Form and Family Resoiution Form nominating alternative recipients to receive outstanding balances on the deceased's account before it is closed, there is no automatic replacement of those who have died yet every year, people become eligible for enrolment by attaining the age of 60 or 65 years.

Some unscrupulous people issue false death notifications because of ulterior motives.
This denies beneficiaries their cash stipend because the records cannot be corrected in one day to enable them receive payment again.

The Senior Citizens Grant is meant to uplift the standard of living of poor older persons but some pensioners are among the beneficiaries.

They claim that while they worked for their pension, the cash transfer is an entitlement by virtue of them having reached the retirement age.
9 Old age comes with numerous health challenges and some sick people miss out on payments because they have not nominated alternative recipients and the payment method does not have provisions of taking the money to the people in places like homes or hospitals.
5.4.3 Enrolment process The Committee discovered two ways of enrolment: providing a beneficiary list to the project management unit by the local government/regional technical support unit staff and getting a beneficiary list from the project management unit and carrying out the verification afterwards.
5.4,4 Complaint-handling mechanism In Lamwo and Agago Districts, the Expanding Social Protection Program introduced a Complaints and Grievances (C&G) instrument to ensure that the beneficiaries are not in any way defrauded, cheated, or left disgruntled with unresolved issues.

The Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) is a benchmark to ensure that Ministry of Gender goes beyond the basic provision of the cash transfer (SCG).
This new innovation therefore is a direct initiative by the Ministry of Gender to fight corruption.

The Program has classified the complaints into two i.e.

Payment complaints, related to issues surrounding the beneficiary access to their money such as an absence of money on account, challenges of the biometrics failure, and the Program complaints related to the eligibility of the beneficiary and their status on the Program payroll e.g.
names missing on payroll, death reporting, alternative beneficiary fraud, and such other matters.

The second complaint mechanism in the operation and redress process involves collection, documentation and provision of feedback.

The exercise takes place both at the pay point and the post pay point centres with pay point administrators or the Parish Chief or Sub county chief as the custodian ad manager of complaints.
The Process Programme related complaints are compiled and & validated at the ESP head office , entered into the Programme Management Information System for escalation to the officer in charge .

However, the Committee further observed that the delegation of the component of the complaint mechanism dealing with non-program related complaints to the payment service provider, Post Bank Uganda makes monitoring and evaluation of the said complaints cumbersome and difficult to follow up.
The Committee was further informed that on Pay Dry, a complaints handling desk is set up at the pay point.

The desk is manned by local government and 10 RTSU staff.

The LG staff receive complaints and document them in the complaints form, copies of which are circulated to the beneficiary, sub-county and RTSU for follow-up.

Major complaints include names missing on pay roll, delay in paying next of kin and wrong death notification, among others.
Depending on the circumstances surrounding the complaint, some complaints are responded to while others are forwarded to the RTSU/PMU.

5.4.5 Pay Day The Committee was informed that pay day is a highly-anticipated event that brings a smile on the faces of the older persons.

However, the insufficient releases by the Ministry of Finance towards the programme have made it impossible to have known pay days throughout the year.
After funds are released, the payment plan is drawn up by the PMU in consultation with PostBank, RTSU and LG staff.

Mobilisation of the beneficiaries is done through radio stations informing them about the pay day, pay point and time to report for payment.

Some pay points are located very far away from the older persons' homes; hence they travel very long distances or hire a bodaboda at Shs 30,000.

By the time they reach the pay point, they are very tired and hungry.
Far away pay points make the old men and women vulnerable to thieves who can steal their money when they are returning home if they were not accompanied by someone.

According to the programme implementation guidelines, beneficiaries are supposed to be paid Shs 50,000 every two months.

However, arrears have become the order of the day with beneficiaries waiting for up to 6 months to receive the money.
The rainy season makes payments very hard since the exercise is usually conducted outside because of the many activities involved like pre-payment address, complaints handling, verification of beneficiary details, actual payment and other meetings for other Government programmes.

5.4.6 Role of Post Bank L1.

The Committee identified the following challenges in relation to the role of Post Bank in implementation of the programme.
Uncollected funds A beneficiary list is pre-determined but on payment day, the turn-up is less than lOOo/o.

There is no way of reaching out to those who did not turn up apart from waiting for the next payment day which may happen after 6 months or less.

After that, another batch of beneficiaries may not turn up and the cycle goes on and on.
Capturing fingerprints Some older persons did not get national identification cards because their fingerprints could not be captured by NIRA but Post Bank makes payments after recognising the fingerprints of beneficiaries.

Accounts of beneficiaries Beneficiaries are supposed to have accounts with Post Bank.

The type of accounts is not clear yet all accounts are supposed to have minimum balances and attract some charges.
5.5 IMPACT OF FAILURE TO ROLL OUT THE PROGRAMME The Committee was informed that due to failure to ro11 out the Senior Citizens Grant to non-beneficiary districts and non-benefitting citizens; the following are the repercussions.

Increase in the poverty rate Although some beneficiary districts have a lower poverty rate compared to non- beneficiary districts, the levels in the latter are still going up because of old age poverty.
Increase in mortality rate of older persons Old age has numerous health challenges which require the victim to have a source of income, feed well and have a peace of mind.

The grant to the older persons enables them to seek health care, hire labour to tilt their land, buy food and some medicine.

Without such a lifeline, many older persons live in squalid conditions and die earlier.
Dependency burden 1.2 With the cash transfer, the rate of dependency of older persons on their ' children and grand children reduces hence easing the burden on the working ' population.

Political discontent Since all special interest groups in the country like women, youths and persons with disability have a special fund and the fund covers the entire country, the older persons feel they need a national fund as well to cater for their unique interests.
They feel they are being deliberately sidelined by the Government.

Loss of dignity by older persons The older persons' grant has numerous benefits to the beneficiaries.

This in turn boosts their sense of self worth and belonging in society.

Without the cash transfer, some older persons have lost their dignity because they beg a lot, live in deplorable conditions.
6.O CONCLUSION The Committee notes that, over all, while the SAGE progrzrm has had a numerous bureaucratic challenges and requires further improvement in its implementation strategr, it has over all had a positive impact on the residents of Agago and Lamwo District that can be employed as a reference point in the national ro11 out of the program.
The Committee further notes that more needs to be done to ensure that the administration of SAGE at a national level is well-managed and clear and transparent mechanisms have been put in place to counteract any likely financial hemorrhage caused by a bigger budget in the national rollout of SAGE.
1,3 MB urcArxril(rBrn Htonfrict3 l':'1":"' Zglli/16 2olr,ttl I I zWUtl, z(nrfle 2st9,l20 I TELEPHONE: SWITCHBOARDi O4L4347854 Apr*zf + 041-4 347855 PERMANENT SECRETARY: 0414 343572 FAX; E-MAIL: WEBSITE: ln any correspondence on 041256374 os@mglsd.po.ul http//www.mglsd.go,ug rhis subject please quote ruo.
PER 1351264104 THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA 08ft November, 2018 The Chairperson Gender, Labour and Social Development Committee Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, KAMPALA Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development P.O.

Box 7!36 Kampala, Uganda.


SUSTAINABLE NATIONAL ROLLOUT OF THE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS FOR EMPOWERMENT TO ALL DISTRICTS IN THE FY2019t2020 Following the directive of your committee to the Ministry of Finance to provide for a national rollout of the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment, my technical team met with the technical team of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to discuss feasible options for a national roll-out of SCG.
In the discussions, the option of rolling SAGE to all older persons aged 65years and above would cost Uganda Shillings 339bn was found to be unfeasible in the current fiscal space.

The option of starting a national roll out to all older persons aged 80 years and above next year financial year was agreed upon.

This option would cost Uganda Shillings 142.468n.


It has therefore been agreed that MFPED can go ahead and allocate these resources in the ceiling of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
The purpose of this letter therefore, is to request your committee to support the Ministry in sensitizing other Members of Parliament to appreciate the option of starting a national roll-out of SAGE to all older persons aged 80 years and above in the FIY 201912020 and keep reducing the threshold as more funds are secured.

Hon.
Hon.

Mutuuzo Peace Regis (MP) MINISTER OF STATE FOR GENDER AND CULTURE AFFAIRSiHOLDING PORTFOLIO OF THE MINISTER OF GEIIDER LABOT]R AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT cc The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development Telephone Fax Email Website i 256 41 4707 000 :256 41 4232095 ,256 41 4230 163 :256 41 4343 023 i25641 4341286 firancc@)finente.eo.uq www.finance.qo.ug In any correspondence on this subjcct prease quote xo.
ISS 52/255/A1 THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development Plot2-12, Apollo Kaggwa Road P.O.Box.8147 Kampala Uganda l0m October, 20.IB AgNffi E The Choirperson, Gender ond sociol Development committee of por.lioment, KAMPATA ACTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABTE NATIONAL ROLL OUT OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT FOR EMPOWERMENT (SAGE) PROGRAMME TO ALL DISTRICTS As you will recoll, on 23,d August 2018, this Ministry oppeored before the Porliomentory Committee on Gender ond Sociol Development regording the Notionol Rollout of SAGE Progromme os well os interventions thol my Minisl{r hos instituted for o sustoinoble finoncing of the SAGE Progromme once the finoncing by the Development portners phoses out.
As port of the discussion, this Ministry mode reference to the stotement on SAGE Progromme thot hod eorlier been submitted to Porlioment under our letter of even reference doted 25mJuly,20lB (copy offoched foryoureose of referencel.

Arising out of the discussion, o number of proposed octioni come up to pove woy for the notionol rolloul of SAGE in oddition lo sustoining the piogromme once the finoncing by the Development Portners phoses out.
However, the committee requested thot this Ministry shoutd be communicoting the proposed octions in writing.

Accordingly, this is to submit the proposed follow-up octions os per the discussions with the Porliomentory Committee on Gender ond Sociol Development, os follows: I ) As o meosure to mointoin the stotus quo on funding for SAGE os per the MoU between GoU ond the Development Portners, on odditionol provision of Ushs.
7 -46bn will be provided in the course of this Fy 201 gl19; 2) ln FY2018119, SAGE Progromme will continue to operote in SZ Districts ond my Ministry will ensure thot oll the funds opproprioted by Porlioment in Fy 201g1?

ore releosed in full.

Secondly,-my Ministry further confirms thot, to dote, there ore no outstonding oneors on SAGE.
All the oneors under SAGE were releosed in FY20l7 /18; 3) For o sustoinoble roll oul of SAGE, the Ministry of Gender, Lobour ond Sociol Development will, in consurtotion with my Ministry, ensure thot: I .
o) Government comes up with vorious sustoinoble SAGE Rollout finoncing ' oplions by odjusting the eligible oge upwords to o finonciol position thot is feosible or sustoinoble within the qvoiloble resource of the some time toking into considerotion the tokeover by Government when ihe finoncing by Development Portners phoses out; b) SAGE Rollout will be explicitly documented in the Sociol Developmenf Sector Budgel Fromework Poper for FY 2Ol9/20 to pove woy for its incorporotion in the Notionol; Budget Fromework Poper for FY2019l2O qnd over the medium lerm.
c) ln the course of FY 2018/19, o Notionol rollout plon for SAGE Frogromme will be finolized in preporotion for its implementotion in FY2ol g/20, within the ovoiloble resources; d) As port of the rollout plon, the beneficiories curently receiving the support will be moinloined on the poyroll.
Any new entront will be bosed on eligible oge thot will hove been sel under the roll out plon; e) ln oddition to the eligible oge for on old person to occess support under SAGE, Governmenl will come up with olher policy considerotions oimed ot ensuring thot.the support under SAGE Progromme torgets lhe older persons lhot ore in o dire need ond without ony form of sociol security support; ond, f) Bosed on the doto under Ugondo Bureou of Stotistics (UBOS), the rollout plon sholl explicitly stote the number of older persons occessing support under SAGE Progromme clossified by geogrophicol oreo (district, Sub'county ond LC1) for eose of follow-up by the MPs in their respective Constituencies ; ond, The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to submit the proposed follow-up octions towords the rollout of the SAGE Progromme os instructed during the meeting with the Hon.
Members under the Porliomentory Committee of dender ond Sociol Development.

By copy of this letter, the Hon.

Minister of Gender, Lobour ond Sociol Development (MGLSD) is occordingly informed ond requested to institute the necessory follow- up oclions towords finolizing the rollout plon for the SAGE progromme.

(M.P; '', INANCE, PLANNING AND ECONOMTC DEVELOPMENT Hon.
Minister of Gender, Lobour ond sociol Developmenl, Permonent Secretory/Secretory to lhe Treosury, Permonent Secretory, Ministry of Gender, Lobour ond sociol Devt The The \.
'r="l'* /ffi .lffi 1 M 2 ADJUMANI 3 AGAGO 4 ALEBTONG 5 AMOLATAR 6 AMUDAT 7 AMURIA 8 AMURU 9 APAC 10 BUGIRI 11 BUNDIBUGYO 12 DOKOLO 13 GULU 74 KAABONG 15 KABALE 1.6 KABERAMAIDO 17 KAMULI 18 KASESE 19 KATAKWI 20 KAYUNGA 27 KIBAALE 22 KIBOGA 23 KtsoRo 24 KITGUM 25 KOBOKO 26 KOLE 27 KOTIDO 28 KUMI 29 KWEEN 30 KYANKWANZI 31 KYEGEGWA 32 KYENJOJO 33 LAMWO 34 MAYUGE 35 MOROTO 36 MOYO 37 MUBENDE 38 NAKAPIRIPIRIT 39 NAKASEKE 40 NAKASONGOLA 47 NAMAYINGO 42 NAPAK 43 NEBBI 44 OTUKE 45 PADER 45 PALLISA 47 SHEEMA 48 SSEMBABULE 49 YUMBE 50 ZOMBO Grand Total u*.
".,,,"ffi1imu;- LIST OF SCG BENEFICIARIES 449 237 629 462 1,015 1,554 697 207 4,397 550 739 3s0 616 1,038 1,028 2,8s6 632 1,027 3,478 511 1,596 2,621.
599 394 403 3,424 546 776 495 2,817 2,687 5,107 463 730 1-,847 286 495 2,180 727 547 577 2,466 5,083 237 936 973 863 331 3,328 3,697 69,s81 November 2018 765 306 984 636 L,23s 2,675 909 279 6,238 532 775 446 959 7,480 1,440 4,528 670 8s8 5,480 420 7,914 2,876 829 559 322 5,790 640 890 727 3,270 3,287 7,012 676 607 2,989 298 469 4,485 743 s62 420 5,016 8,497 362 1,485 977 1,020 204 5,196 7,268 100,933 1,,2L4 543 1,613 1,098 2,2s0 4,239 1,605 486 70,629 1,082 1,5L4 796 1,,575 2,578 2,468 7,384 7,302 1,885 8,9s8 931 3,510 5,497 7,428 9s3 725 9,214 1,186 1.,606 7,276 6,027 5,974 1"2,179 1,139 7,337 4,836 584 964 6,665 7,470 1,103 937 7,482 13,580 599 2,427 L,944 1,883 s35 8,524 10,96s L7O,5L4