Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698835623541.pdf (Uganda)
t /: j /,' IO ?01'1" i\'] N.UU 3LCE\,\I ox 1 1tB €x PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA --.- /.,\:\ l: " ":..-.

.-"' ... ,.- , ;\.. 0 3 AU6 20t?


i f i I EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE STATE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN SELECTED SECTORS AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMMES '&-k,"'i a ) OFFICE OF THE CLERII TO PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENTARY BUILDINGS KAMPALA UGANDA *', AUGUST, 2022 \ @ $dP'tN- _a'[) 1 o Introduction The Committee on Equal Opportunities derives its mandate from Article 90 of the Constitution of tha Republic of Uganda and is established by Rule 156 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Uganda.
It is inter-alia mandated with monitoring and promoting measures designed to enhance the equalization of opportunities and improvement in the quality of life and status of a.ll peoples including marginalized groups on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reason created by history, tradition or custom for the purpose of redressing imbalances which exist against them (Rule i83).
2.O Background The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda puts Women and all the \,.ulnerable Ugandans in the prime light.

Chapter four of the constitution which stretches from Article 20 to 58 makes various provisions aimed at empowerment of Women, Children, Persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities among others.
Uganda population is estimated at 40 million people (UBOS 2019) out of which over 807o constitute the marginalized and r,rrlnerable g-roups to which Governmenl of Uganda has committed aJllrmative action programmes/ grants.
Regarding women that constitute 5270 government established the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship programme, for the youth that constitute 80% of the population, Government has instituted Youth Venture Capital fund and Youth Livelihood programme, orphans and other l.ulnerable children that constitute (557o) government put in place OVC programmes, programme for persons with disabilities have benehtted from the PWD Grant, for older persons the government instituted the Senior Citizens Grants (SCG) ard its roll out to the entire country and a number of programmes have been been put in place to support the other r,rrlnerable groups such as the ethnic minorities, the nrlal on living with HIV/AIDS among others.
4qual and urban poor and .fS- 6 2 V eN"N'' i)-t 1) eW\.X29 U opportunities Committee conducted an assessment on the va ous programs under Afhrmative Action.
Marginalisation, discrimination and inequalities have been the nation's narrative before and during colonial times, evidenced by high tevels of poverty, insecurity, inequitable an poor service delivery, sectarianism, stigmatization, property grabbing, low production levels, denial of opportunities in the various spheres of life and inequalities to mention but a few.
Uganda's history has been mared in a series of events that subjected some of its citizens such as ethnic minorities, persoo.s with disabilities, older persons, youth, women, the poor, orphans and ,,'ulnerable children, to higher level of !1rlnerability Articte 32(i) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda states that " notwithstanding anlthing in this Constitution, the State shall take affirmative action in favour of groups margina.lized on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reason created by history, tradition or custom for the purpose of redressing imbalances which exist agai[st them To promote Equal Opportunities for all Ugandans, the Governmeot has established Legal and Policy Framework, furthermore, the Government of Uganda (GOU) is a signatory to several International and regional instruments to promote Equal Opportunities for instance, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, the declaration on the Rights of Minorities 1992, lhe Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, the Convention on Elimination of all forms of discrimination against Women {CEDAW) 7979, t}le Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006, the Sustainable Development Goals 2015, the lees)NILe declaration on Elimination of violence against women (DEVAW, Iodigenous and tribal peoples C vention 1989 amo ng others ffi\.
"*^,- .t )- -W \,N n1 k-l .&-*kti-, 3.O SCOPE The geogaphical scope, the Committee was to visit selected districts in Central, Northern, Eastern and western Uganda.

The conceptual scope of the Committee was to; a).

assess the implementation of Social Development Sector programs like Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme(UwEP) Special Grant For Persons With Disabilities Programmes, Social Assistance Grant For Empowerment (SAGE).
The Youth livelihood Program (YLP) Youth Capital Venture Fund b) carry out held visits to assess the state of health care systems in District Hospitals and the lower health facilities ( selected Health Center ( HC) IV and Health Center III), the provision of Education services to the Community, Water and Environment Sector and Works & Transport sector c) Consider any such matters related to various programmes under Alfirmative Actions.
4.O METHODOLOGY 4.7 Meetlngs In performing its mandate, the Committee held meetings with the following; The Committee, held meetings with, i) Minister of State for Education ( Higher Education ) and Management of Higher Education Students Financing Board and r'r) .

the district Chairpersons and management of the districts of Kaliro, Ngora, Napak, Pader, Kole, Ibanda, Buhweju, Mitooma, \1.

{' 4 {}f, 1-t d$"-, I Sheema, Bushenyi and along with some of their district Councilors .
Health workers and officials at the following health Centers Nyamarebe HC III in Ibanda, Bushenyi HC lV, Mitooma HC IV, Sheema HC IV .

the school management of Bushenyi Primary School ( for disabled children) in Bushenyi district \ii) Observed the physica-l state of the amenities and the conditions of life of the people the Committee interfaced with.

4,2 Revieu ol Documents The Committee studied and made reference to various including; i.

The report of Equal Opportunities Commission 2O21, ii.
UBOS Report on Uganda Population documents 4.3 Field.
vtslts The Committee conducted field activities in the following districts; Pader , Agago, Alebtong , Kole, Napak, Ngora, Kaliro Sheema, Buhweju, Mitooma , Bushenyi and lbanda 5.0 FINDINGS, OBSERVATION AND RECOMENDATIONS The following key Findings, Observation and Recommendations have been identified for immediate action for various programmes under Affirmative actions and other equalization programmes to be implemented in the short medium term r\eqv @ v \ D 5.1 STATUS OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN N SECTOR The attainment of equality and inclusivity in development is significantly predicted on the state of wellbeing, skills and competitiveness of the various categories of individuals and groups in society as cited with the sustainable development goal 4,"quqlitg educqtion", While wellbeing is dependent on the quality of healthcare services available to the masses, skills and competitiveness is the aJtermath of the quality and coverage of education.
Considering that the government of Uganda has over the past decades made significant gains in education through inter-alia universalizing primary and secondary sctrool education, According to the recently released results, the performance of Primary Leaving Examination in the Northern Sub regions for instance stands below the national average.

The Committee noted the average distance travelled by students/ pupils to reach their respective schools.
Majority of the districts visited reported that students/ pupils moved a distance oI more than 5 km.

Learners complained about the long distance travelled from home to schools.

They reported that they had to wake up as early as 5:0oam and trek the long distances to make it to school on time.

This was associated with the challenges such as rape, late reporting to school, early departure and inability to complete the home school work due to fatique or late arrival at home.
Regarding access to the school environment especially for visually impaired learners, Members observed that most of them could not easily reach school since they lacked clear signs and landmarks, wheel chairs user also find difhculties to access education facilities in the districts visited tion Rt.

Hon- Speaker, distance to the nearest facility influences access to ed services.

The Ministry of Education standard is every parish should have a primary school and secondar:/ school at the sub county level.
This policy would mal<e education accessible at that level.

On other hand, secondary and 6 ).. Y .,.Fi.

i) tertiary institutions institutions were far arrd inadequate in many parts of the sampled areas.
This made it hard for most of the children from hard to reach areas to progress to secondary level, other children k€ep repeating primary seven because of no access to Secondary Education, Evaluating Sustainable development Goals, its only nine years to be achieved and districts are badly performing with one secondary school.
The teen age pregnancy has increased due to lockdown The Committee further observed that the cost of Education services is a key determinant in access to education, and many people pay highly for education in private schools, and those who did not pay any money to schools meet costs for scholastic materials, which was not affordable to the majority of the parents.

The cost is between UGX.100,000 to UGX.


15O,00O that is high for rural areas since most parents are engaged in subsistence farming on small fragmented pieces of land that could hardly sustain daily food intake.

In private schools especially in urban areas, the cost is much higher compared to government aided education facilities.
The Committee observed that drop out rates is very high for instance in Napak District at 84Yo The Committee also visited Special Need School in Bushenyi district, the school is dilapidated, no renovation done and most districts have no special need schools.
Speciflc observations Student Loan Scheme The Committee observed that in an effort to assess Regional balances in the operationalisation of Higher Education Students Financing Board (HESFB), a n Students Financing Act, statutory body established by the Higher Ed ) 1 No.

2 of 20 14 with the mandate to provide loans and scholarships to Ugandan Students seeking to purse higher education.
In Ngora District only 2 students benefitted, Kaliro only one, Kole only 3, Pader only 4 from the loan scheme in the current academic year and students from most Districts have failed to access the Loan Scheme due to little or no information given about the Loan Scheme The Committee noted that there is no regional balance in the awards for student's loans especially for Northern, Eastern and Karamoja vr'ith the lowest number of beneflciaries Staffing: Whereas schools had staJf establishment, less than 687o are stafhng level in most schools in the districts visited, with Napak district in KaramoJa having the less with 53% this adversely alfects the quality of teaching and learning, In Napak district teachers to pupils ratio was 1:91 High school drop out: the Committee observed the highest drop out rates for both boys and girls in Napak district, which stand at 84yo, alter Primary seven, they do not have were to go and others repeat P.7 four times, Their parents can not alford to pay for secondary education due to high poverty level and also distance to schools, children walk 14 Kms to go to school on a daily basis, even within Town Council children walk for over 13 Kms to go to school.
Do this children have bette!

opportunity for education?.
This lead to Birls to getting married early while boys end up in pursuit of livelihoods Inadequate furniture/ desk for pupils: there is need to procure more furniture to improve the learning conditions Seeds Secondary Schools, The Committee however noted that government has increased the number of Seed Secondary Schools in many sub counties and constr.rction was ongoing in most of the seed schools, the committee appreciates government efforts to ensure that there is atleast a Gov secondary school in every sub county t ts\ 8 ;.,..
-!

&A*.t, 5.1 I Committee Recommendations The Committee recommends that; i) Ministry of Education and Sports should provide Special needs for benefrt l$oan inclusive Education iil Wash rooms/ sanitary facilities fot Childten qrith disabilities be provided in all schools iiil Stud.ent Loan scheme should.
be mqd.e accessible to all Stud.eftts that intend to borrow the lund lor further stud.ies a d, more infor,,I.ation about the Lo@n scheme be gluefl to the public to eflable o.ccessibilitg iv) Distrlct Quota sgstem should be i^troduced.

lor higher student lifto,rtrci,trg Boqrd.

( Loqn scheme) IOES sho,rld p"iorities specicl need.s educq,tio'1-, Speciol needs vl should, be (rllocoted to q.ll d.istricts qnd regloflal Special need.s school be creq.ted.
at all regional leuel vi) Mirr]istry of Educatio'r qnd Sporas should.

ensure equitoble recruitmett of specialized tea.chers trained in hand,ling student-s who qre lioing uith d.lsabilities ifl all coverflment schools to ensure oaccess to Ed,ucq.tion The conmittee recommends tho.t MoES should ''loke a plan, settlng concrete taigeE lor lmproulng the qualitg o.f primqry education p(rrticulo:rlg in rural areasl red.ucing the hlgh dtopout rates in piimdry schools; improving litera.cg and.

numeracg dnd.
numeracg dnd.

increqslng enrohnent in secondary schools.

viil viii) coventne^t should.

esta.blish special educatlon cunlculum especiallg tor educatlon.

This d.evelopflent, the gouth toho can ^o longer join be d. uoca.tional school that ta.rge @ 9 { ,) ix) Ministry of Educq.tio',- o,tt,d Sports should explore the oia.bilitg of a.vqiling releuqnt textbooks to publlc schoots in sorne ol these margin@lized.

commu'nltles.

The ultimate goal o!


such iflteraentiotts should be to n.ot onlg lncreq,se enrollment but olso aid retention qnd improoe le@nlflg outcones q.t q.ll leaels of the educqtion vqlue chain.

x) MOES should.

impleme^t Gooern ,Ie,rt Policg ol hqving Gooern nent a.ided.
Primary School at qll P@rishes to red,uce Jor o.ccessibllitg 6.0 STATUS OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THD HDALTH SECTOR The 1995 Constitution of the Republic (as amended) provides that the state shall ensure that all Ugandans enjoy the ri8ht of access to health seryices.

The health of the Ugandan population is central to the social economic transformation of the country.
In Uganda, the health sector aims at producing a healthy and productive population that effectively coot.ibutes to Socio- economic growth, which is consistent with sustainable development goal number 3, 'Good.

health @nd uell-being", The Committee observed that the availability of health facilities has enhanced physical access to health care by communities, However:, the long distance to health facilities is one of the barriers to access health care serrices.
The Committee noted that most communities traveued more thar 5 kilometers from their households.

In Ngora district flot every sub county has HCIII, The policy of availability of Health Center III, in every sub counties should be implemented to reduce on the long distance There is need for affirmative action to be done to nstrr.rct health facilities in rural areas for the health facilities whose distance to the nearest health facility is still more than 5 kms.
Due to few facilities in other districts visited, the numbers of patients are overwhelming and in Bumanya HC IV Kaliro district, rooms, both women and m d Committee found patients sharing in Patients -he 10 1;#-' ,{; LJ sleeping admitted in one room.
In Kabwohe H.C IV in Ibanda District the Committee observed that building were in dilapidated state with no space for admission and no n-rnning water in place, water was being ferried in Jerrycane, Oxygen Cylinders were available but without heads hence non operational The delivery room in the Maternity was very small but two delivery beds were available which were very inadequate given the number of deliveries per day, the maternity was in a very bad shape.
Members noted that Government should provide all measures to ensure that no woman dies while giving birth, Ambulance services should be available for referral at all times.

The Committee noted that government should strengthened service delivery standards and systems to enhance the Health services delivered to Ugandans, especially the !.ulnerable and marginalized groups of people.
There should be equal access to opportunities across all aspects of life as a major prerequisite for inclusive growth, socio Economic transformation, and sustained Human welfare and development improvement.

It should be noted that Maternal Health should be improved, No woman should die while giving life to another persorr.
The Committee also observed that Government Policy was intended to have HCIII in every Sub Count5r and HCIV in every County or Constituency, this is not however the case in many Districts and there fore women are still dying while giving birth due to limited access to Health Facilities The Committee observed that the district has a training codmittee that coordinates career development activities of Health workers/staff.
The training committee reviews and assesses staff applications and recommends to the district service commission for authority to award study leave with pay as support or guide accordingly.

The Committee further noted that in an attempt to support e staff, tricts had limited or no flnanciaf capacity to support training but I the were ss 11 = @ (L" e"t!'4!

!u LI ) are granted permission when privately sponsored and many had benefitted under health sector specihcally General Hospitals.
The Committee also observed that there were many districts without district hospital for instance [banda, Mitooma, Sheema, Ngora and most of these districts are in hard to reach, the districts were us.ing H.C IV which were in dilapidated situation that needed overhaul, renovation or new buildings, staffing structures need to be revised and budget allocation be increased.
ln Napak district eleven Sub Counties were without HC III and two Lower Local Government were without any Health Center and the Committee noted that some HC II were working as HC III and the funds allocation were not increased.
The Committee further observed that MOH policy that only Health Center III, Health Center IV, district Hospitals should offer distribuLion of ARVS to person Iiving with HIV/ AIDS, in some districts such persons have to move more than 10kms to access ARVs, therefore some patients end up missing ARVS due to distance and stigma.

The Committee further observed that most Health Centers had very poor Hygiene and Sanitation.

6.

I Committee Recommendations The Commlttee recommends thd.t; i).
Health center IV seraing as distrlct Hospltql should be upgrqd.ed to d.istrict Hosplt@l MOH should protide temporary or Lou cost shelter to Bumqngo HCIV, t to stop Women and Ibaflda D Kq.liro district q.nd.
Ko.btoohe H,C Mn Men lrotrn shariag room lor ifl Pqtie^ts / ---1 12 q (, -< rca.,(_j lii) MOH should proold.e A,,rbulq.nce sen)ices to (Ill Regionq,l Referrol Hospitals, Distrlct Hospito.ls and, Heq.lth Center ,,'lorder to sdve lile especidlly to t tornen on Lo.bout io) MOH should ensure thq.t every Countg should haue q heqlth Center Iv utith fu ctionq,l Theqtres.

v) MoH should revise the stof!

structures for hedlth uorkers in District Hospltdls, Health Center IV, Health Ce ter III aftd.
Health Centel II vi) MoH sho,lld.

"eview the policg on distributlo^ o!

ARVS and.

enroll HC II especidllg in sub counties uithout HC III uii) MOH should ensure tha.t Ptbllc Heo.lth workers should.

be ad.

e quate lg lac lll tat e d.. 7.O WORKS AND TRANSPORT.

The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (as amended) mandates Government to take the necessary measures to bring about balanced development in a1l regions of the country, between rural and urban areas.
Constructions of bridges improve accessibility and inter connectivity between villages, sub counties, districts, sub- regions and regions.
The stratery enhances equal opportunities especially through equitable participation and beneht from socia.l economic activities from which the various categories of people realize livelihood, The Committee could not easily connect from Ibanda district to Buhweju district due to bad road network, the Committee had to travel back to Mbarara to connect to Buhweju, there should be possible ways in whi ch road network can be improved in those districts with very poor road network The Committee further observed that road connection from Ngora - Pallisa not accessible due to Aleles Bridge that needs upgrading and in Napak district ost roads e roads were very bad, it's worst during rainy season where 13 $ra"\r.$ MM,tt become impassable.
This hinder other services like access to Health facilities, ambulances can not be used to save life when roads are impassable.

Due to bad road network women hardly access Health Facilities and at times deliver at the road side, others were still using traditional birth attendants although government phased them out.
The Committee recornmends that; i) Ministry of trrorks and traEsport should evaluate the state of all the major roads and establish a re development strategy so as to improve accessibility and livelihoods ii) Gouennent d.eootes resources to the imptovernent of road.s in the said.

areas.

This is a precondition Io" the movenent of people, good.s and.

sentices qnd meq,ningful eagagement in productlort.
8.O THE trIATER AND ENVIRONMENT SECTOR The water and environment sector is guided by various national, regional and international laws and policies in the equitable delivery of its services to all Ugandans.

In effect, the guiding frameworks provide mechanisms for the realization of equal opportunities among the r,rrlnerable and marginalized groups to have access and utilize seruices provided by the sector.
Committee observed that other areas in the country lack clean water and access was not easy in Buhweju District, women moved many Kilometers to access water, in Napak district there is need for deep wells and during dry season the deep wells also run out of water hence more pipes have to be added tion is not fair to the community where 146 from time to time.Water dis / 14& r. villages do not have water sources, they obtain water from ponds which is not very clean or move very long distances to access water.
The Committee further observed that Latrine coverage in Napak district was at 37y" and most of the Community Members still practice open defecation and the poverty level is stilt very high The Committee recommends that; i).
Ministry of water and ervironment should make detailed assessmetrt on water scarcity ln hard to reach areas and provide posslble solution iil Ministry of Agriculture, A.Dimal IDdustry & fisheries (MAAIF) should support the marginalized groups lpith Improved seed6, seedlings and farming materials/ tools.
9.O SOCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 9.1 YOUTH LIVELIHOOD PROGRAMME (YLP} Youth Livelihood programme, was a rolling programme implemented under the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development that begun in the FY 2014/ L5.
Specific objectives of the programme include: 11 To provide the youth marketable vocational skills and tool kits for self- employment and job creation; To provide financial support to enable the youth establish income generating activities; To provide the youth with entrepreneurial and life skills as an integral part of their livelihood; To provide the youth with relevant knowledge and information for attitudinal change - pos t chan8e N / 15 Target Group ('t The principle beneliciaries of the programme were the unemployed and poor youth 18 to 30 years of age, specifica.lly: !
Drop-outs from school and training and training institutions; ) Youth living in slums, city streets, high risk and impoverished community; !

Youth that have not had any opportunity to attend any formal education; > Single parents'youth; > Youth with disability; !

Youth living with HIV/AIDS; D Youth who have completed secondary education or tertiary institutions, including the universities but remained unemployed.

There were two Programme components that is Skills development and Livelihood support.
Under skills development component, the youth receive support in form of the following: .

Vocational Skills Training; .

Startup tool kit; .

Entrepreneurship and Business Skills; .

Life Skills Training.

The livelihood support component finances viable income generating activities in the following areas 6 E .

Productive assets / critical inputs; .

Income generating enterprises; .

Entrepreneurship and business skills; .

Life skills training.


\ pv 16 _4- ,1,\ The Committee observed that; <l .U It is important to note that the youth livelihood programme was among the poorly performing prograrnme under equalization plogrammes.

I 11 111 It was also noted that there were no funds under the programme at the district level to polish recoveries.

This exacerbated the recovery challenges/difficulties.

The situation was compounded by COVID-19 pandemic related challenges in the economy.
The attitude of the community towards YLP, just like many other government programmes complicates the recovery process.

Communities mostly think that government must always provide them with free things, and that even revolving funds/loans should not be paid back.

Defaulting and delays in the payment of loans/revolving capital especially due to timing of the programmes, which in most cases happen during election period and beneliciaries take it as a 'thank you'for elected [,eaders.
The funds dwindle yet the districts were not informed of the dwindling funds and the reasoning behind to enable them plan accordingly.

Agago District had funded youth groups under YLP to a tune of UGX 1, 039,743,500 at the time of visiting in September, 2021.

Total recoveries of UGX 27 3,3oo,ooo had been realized between 2015-2019 and the whole amount had been wired to Central recovery account in Bank of Uganda.
In the FY 2O2O/21, the district approved 24 yo.ulh groups to be funded but MoGLSD sent no funds.

The challenge idenLified under the programme was that most youth groups that were funded had disintegrated, mal<ing recoveries very probtematic, if not impossible.
Since FY 2019/20 there had been no funding from the centre to the youth groups in the districts I 11 .W- sv i) <) '(-) man y districts the recovery rate The Committee also observed that in was very poor, in Napak district no recovery was made under YLP, some of the groups claim that the goats were stolen and others died, while in many district visited the lecoveries for YLP was very minimal, the Committee observed that Youth have to be empowered for wealth creation by first preparing them for mindset change.
Committee Recommendations The Committee recommends that; i).

Districts should develop recovery strategies and recover YLP fulds given to the youth ii) MGLSD shotrld.

e,tsure thqt WP guidelines qre revie@ed.

to protid.e for a speclfic threshold, lor gouth with disq,bilities.

For auoid.ance oJ d.oubt, d.t leas| 5%" o.f beneflciarles should be gouth s t0 ith d.i sd.bilitie s, iii) MGLSD eflstre that progrd.mme documents training modules qnd.
guid.elines are slnpllJTed, qnd trq sl(Ited in uarious languages, approprl.o.te lorrndts qn,d.

modes so .zs to tatget q.ll the beneficiaries.

iu) MGLSD should, eflsure that programme uses success.ful loccrl entrepreneurs to mold the gouth lnto the busizess of their cholce through apprenticeship ptogr<rmme belore theg are lelt to independefltlg rufl thelr aflalrs.
t) MGLSD should revisit the crlteria of group formqtTon to a smaller number thqt is 5.8 Members and (,,lsb be flexible ort mernbership oJ the group to extefld.

begond ulllo.ges to o.t least P.lrish leuel.

ott MGLSD should.

empowered the Youth for uealth creation and and.

recouer wP dlstricts should, d.euelop tecovery stra Junds ghten to the gouth.

18 1O.O YOUTH CAPITAL VENTURE FUND.


The youth capital venture fund started in August 2017 by the Gender, labour and social development Ministry in partnership with Centenary Bank, to provide, concessional loans to individual youths or groups.

Up to 32bn was made available for youth aged between 18 to 30 years seeking to work independently or as a group.

The funds are administered by Centenary Bank in form of loans of up to UGX 5m for individual and UGX 25m for small groups of five.
The fund attracts 119/o interest rate annually payable not exceeding two to four years.

Before accessing the fund, one must have proof of a business that has been in existence for at least three months and have two guarantors.
The Committee noted that some districts have not received Youth Capital Venture Funds like Napak district and many district leaders are not aware of Youth Capital Venture Fund Committee Recomme!dations The Committee recommends that; i) iil Sensitization be done by MOGLSD on Youth Capital Venture Fund MOGLSD should develop strategy to roll out Youth capltal veuture Fund to all districts 1O.2 UGANDA WOMEN ENTERPRDNUERSIIIP PROGRAMME (UWEPI ) Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme is an initiative of the Government of Uganda that is aimed at improving access to financial serices by women and equipping them with skills for enterprise grouth, value addition and marketing of their products and services in a concerted effort to address gender inequality and bring them into the money economy & 19 M. i\ t, The target beneficiaries of the programme are women within the age bracket of 18-65 years and they receive their support in form of Revolving Funds advanced through their women groups.
The prograrnme promotes the integration of unemployed women, r,'ulnerable groups like single mothers, widows and women with disabilities.
The major issues are delayed transfer of funds from Ministry to Local Government, poor pa1,.rnent of revolving funds, inadequate operational funds, transport facilitation for CDOS on follow up for recoveries is inadequate, lack of ownership of programs by the community and limited funding of the Special programs Committee Recommendations The Committee recommends that; i) ii) iit) iu) tt) MGI-SD shorJ.ld conduct more du)areness rd.ising sensitization and eftcourage u)or efl to diversilg bzsiness enterprises th.lt prouide high retttn on i'roest',re'rt.
McI-sD should be simplifg documents o.nd.

trd.

'rsldte them in uarious lqnguag€s so .rs to reach out to the oulnerdble rurd.l groups, non-elites arnong othe'.s since theg ate qmong the ,',,.ri,l tqrget groups of the programme.

MGLS.D should iflteraefte bg hold.tng pqrtnership meetings with the bqnk to enable taomen haue cheque books with saolngs (i.ccou,trt as uell as openiflg lor women group's a.ccou,rts uith tto ml,oimum bd.lance require d, Traflsport shorI.ld.
be av@ilq,ble lor CDO for tnobilLzatlon to Ioclli@te recovery a,1,d.

There should be timelV di lunds MGLSD engogement o.f stakehold.ers to en@ble mind set cha ,nent 20 -g)"* ,X ,/ 1O.3 SPECIAL GRANT FOR PERSONS UIITH D PROGRAMMES The government of Uganda introduced the special grant for persons with disabitities programmes targeting at improving their socio-economic arld emplo)rment opportunities through income generating activities since 2007.
Generally, person with disabilities are mlnerable by virtue of their impairment and negative societal attitudes arising from fear, ignorance, superstitions, neglect and lack of awareness.

As a result, PWDS have inadequate access to services; information, resource as well as limited participation in the socio- economic development process.
The Committee observed that other people with disabilities miss out on services due to communication challenges and there are no sign language interpreters in many public institutions hence the Government should develop comprehensive strategies to ensure that no one is left behind while prouiding essential social services to the communitv Committec Recotnmendatio[s Thc Committee recommends that; il covernment should developed a data bank (disaggregated datal on persons living with dlsability ii) Ministry of Public Service should ensure that every Public office should.
haue sign lqnguqge lnterpreters iii) specidl gtant lor persons ulth d,iso.bilities progrd.mrnes should.

be irlcreqsed -1 "1, 21 1O.4 SOCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT FOR EMPOWDRMENT (SAGE). "

I /t4e,k,, al The SAGE programme is designed to reduce old age poverty by providing a minimum level of income security to older persons- The programme does not segregate on Brounds of political party affiliation, sex, religion and tribe.

Beneliciaries of the citizen grant receive a monthly stipend of UGX 25,OOO/=.
Evidence from the SAGE pilot and other countries shows that even such small palrnent, if made regularly makes a huge difference to the lives of poor and r''ulnerable individuals and families The Committee also observed that women tend to age quickly compared to men due to hard work/ Labour and effects of child bearing, Government Policy provide the age of beneficiaries at 80 years old, however women need afhrmative action and their age be reduced from 80 years to 65 years The Committee observed that during registration by NIRA, many elderly people could not give their exact date or year of bidh and therefore could not established th€ir true age, hence the age recorded were not correct Committee Recommendatiorls i).
The cornmittee recommends that the age for the beneficiqries be reduced lrom 80 gears to 70 geors ii) AlJirrnative Action lor @ome^ bg reducing the age of the be^eJicia.ry lrom 80 geqrs to 65 gears old iii) There should.

be Arl'aual Increment to the monthlg pogment of UGX.
25,ooo/= bg a.t least Toyo due to btndtion ra.te il+* ji 22 M.!,a-.q, r 1.O OTHER ISSUES AFFECTING THE VULNERABLE GROUPS CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL DAYS The Committee observed that budgetary allocation to the \,'r.rlnerable groups has remained inadequate over a period of time, Youth in districts can not organize National Youth day, disable persons and older persons can not organize International day for disable persons and lnternational day for Older Persons.
International Women days are usually organized by Political leaders especially the Women Members of Parliarnent while Government through Ministry of Gender organizes only at National Level.
The Committee recommends that; cover'rtment should take up the responsibiliv of orgqnlzing such Intetu@tion,al d-ags like Internatioral Women's dqys, Iaternatioaal Youth dags, Internatlotal d.ag lot disabled person, old.er person,s d,qg at district leuel Ior accesslbilitg ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY The Committee also observed that Rural Electricification program (REA) has improved access to electricity in Rural Areas and the Committee appreciates the effort made however, in most rural areas there were issues of accessibilities, wires were passing by the trading centers but due to poverty level, many families could not access electricity, connection fees/ charges were high, YAKA cost is very high and the Policy that the Building to be connected should be permanent building not many families can aJford to build permanent houses in Rural Areas -1- (/ .''
23 \ ?

l The Committee recommends that; s(l Coflnection fees on,d electricitg cosf sholald.

be reduced.
to increase qccess to electrlcltg/ power Ministry of Energg should teuieu the Pollcg lor Pouer conflection in Rural Areas POWRTY RATE AND I]VSECURITY The Committee observed that the poverty rate in other districts is very high especially Karamoja sub region, in Napak where the Committee visited there was no Bank, no Court, no piped water, border conflict, the border conflict was allecting service delivery in districts for instance another district wants to provide seruices like immunization, conflict affects Seruice delivery The poverty rate is affecting recovery of funds such as disability funds, Youth Livelihood programe, UWEP and many other recoveries Poverty rate and insecurity was also a-ffecting staffing level in such districts Staff recmited take few years and leave the work place.
12.O Conclusion Rt.

Hon.

Speaker and Hon.

Members, the Government of Uganda should be able to ensure greater equity and inclusivity in all spheres of the management of public affairs through among others improving access to quality basic social services, improving livelihoods, ensuring equity and inclusivity in appointments to public offices and peaceful co existence.
There are regions that historically lagged behind in many aspects of socio economic progress that require more efforts to actually cause a qualitative improvement in household socio onomic conditions as a stratesT to enhance the feeling of nationhood amongst the citizen I beg to move that this be adopted subj ect to recommendations '.

'".l \.
'".l \.

24 SIGNATURE FOR MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES ON REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EQUALISATION OF .a_ c-) PROGRAMMES No NAME CONSTITUEN CY PARTY Sigaature Chairperson NRM V/Chairperson NRM x 1 Hon.

Alyek Judith - Chairperson Hon.

Acen Dorcas , Vice Chairperson Hon.

Bigirwa Norah Nyendwoha Hon.

Lubega Seempa Bashir Member Member Hon.

Later Sharon Balmoyi Member Hon.

Ssental Muhamad Hon.

Ogwal Moses Goli Hon.


Biraaro Ephraim GanshanRa Hon.

Bwiire Sanon Nadeeba Member Member Member Member Hon.

Kunihira Agnes Abwoli Member Hon.

Bainomugisha Jane Kabajungu Hon.

Otukol Sam Member Member Hon.

Agasha Juliet Bashisha Member Hon.

Chelangat Alinga Solomon Hon.

Reuben Paul Chelimo Hon.

Ezama Siraji Brahan Hon.

Kabahenda Flavia Rwabuhoro Hon.

Lamwaka Catherine Hon.

Mutiwa Geofrey Eric Hon.

Kintu Alex Brandon Hon.


Katali Loy Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member 25 ffi"^-.

"^ "J A /-) .,, '.

1 NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM NRM INDEP INDEP INDEP '{tb"a.-- ,1,0;- fr1ffi,i' INDEP INDEP --# (M INDEP FDC FDC FDC DP NUP NUP NUP NUP NUP -&k w -!-\h{L 22 Hon.

Kayogera Yona Member Hon.

Nyakikongoro Rosemary Member Hon.

Joram Ruranga Tibasiimwa Hon.

Kangwarye Stephen Rwakanuma Hon.


Komol Emmanuel Hon.

Musa Noah Hon.

Were Godfrey Odero Hon.

Mukhaye Miriam Hon.

Nantaba ldah Erios Hon.

Apolot Stella Isodo Hon.

Businge Joab Hon.

Isabirye David Aga Hon.

Okot Peter Hon, Mukasa Aloysius Talton Gold Hon.

Nakabuye Juliet Kakande Hon.

Kabuve Frank Hon.

Nandagire Christine Ndiwalana Hon.

Sekabira Denis Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member 26 27 2A 30 31 34 35 36 37 38 39 26