UN Resident Coordinator Remarks at Launch of the Uganda National SDGs Roadmap

Acknowledgements:

The Right Honourable Prime Minister,

The Minister for General Duties and Focal Point Minister for SDGs,

Your Excellencies, the Ambassadors present

The Chairperson of the National Planning Authority (NPA)

Heads of other Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)

Development Partners

Representatives from the Private Sector

Representatives from Civil Society

Colleagues from the UN system

The Media

Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the entire United Nations System in Uganda, I am delighted to be part of this important occasion, when we are launching the National Roadmap for implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Uganda. This is testament to the Government of Uganda’s commitment to implementing Agenda 2030, our global community roadmap for achieving sustainable development.

I wish to acknowledge the leadership of the Office of the Prime Minister for putting in place the necessary enabling structures and frameworks to deliver on the SDGs, which are also Government’s promise to the people of Uganda and the global community to pursue development that responds to the social, economic and environmental tenets of sustainable development.

Distinguished participants,

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound and negative impact on the capacity of nations to achieve their plans for socio-economic and environmental transformation, worsening the already slow progress against sustainable development targets. On the African continent, for example, pre-COVID19 estimates indicated that by 2030 we will have 390 million people were expected to be in poverty (using US $ 1.9 in 2011 PP)[1].  With the impact of the pandemic, that figure is now estimated to be 452 million people who are expected to be in poverty. And very sadly that will mean Africa is expected to be home to 80% of the global poor in 2030.[2]

In Uganda we see a reduction in the poverty headcount from 21.4 percent in 2016/17 to 20.4 in 2019/20. Yet, absolute figures indicate an increase in the number of poor people from 8 million to 8.3 million.[3] These are numbers none of us can be happy about.

 Over all, the situation we are now facing calls for truly extraordinary measures if we are to catch up to the implementation of the SDGs as detailed in our development plan. The situation we find ourselves in calls for;

1. Identifying the key accelerators to inform re-prioritization for the third National Development Plan (NDPIII), which was prepared shortly before the pandemic. This re-prioritization process should build on the 2020 integrated Sustainable Development Goals (iSDG) modelling exercise that identified environment, governance and industry as the key SDG accelerators for Uganda, while ensuring that no one is left behind. A great opportunity is the backward and forward linkages that can be built if the Agro-industrialisation programme of the NDPIII is fully implemented.
2. Refocusing efforts towards growing household incomes and ensuring a shift towards better redistribution of wealth among the population, with a particular focus on those who are most vulnerable to shocks and are likely to be left behind – such as women, youth, and refugees. With higher incomes and mechanisms to protect against shocks, the people can be in a better position to meet their health, education and food needs with less burden to Government directly. The proposed Parish Model can definitely be an entry point to reaching the most vulnerable, and the implementation modalities to enable its effective and efficient implementation need to be clarified.  Increasing per capita income levels will also require better management of the population dynamics, to ensure a well-planned population growth.
3. We also need to recognize the crucial role of an effective data ecosystem in the sustainable development journey. To improve efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of the Country’s development agenda, timely data is required to measure and report progress across the goals so as to identify gaps and inform decision making. With advancement in technology, there are opportunities for cheaper and more timely means of generating data such as the use of big data and radio mining. The UN family looks forward to conversations with Government and other stakeholders on how best the data ecosystem can be improved in order to ensure the Country’s ability to track its progress on the Goals.
4. Building stronger and more effective partnerships for development. We appreciate the ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to develop an integrated Financing Strategy for the NDPIII, and as the UN, we look forward to engaging with and contributing to this process. Perhaps Government could also look into reforming the current development cooperation architecture as required so that it responds to the evolving development cooperation landscape. In addition, the UN is also committed to strengthening the coordination of the 29 agencies that are signatories of the UN Sustainable Development Coorperation Framework, which is in full alignment with NDPIII. And one of the key instruments for that will be the joint annual steering committee meeting, under your leadership Rt. Honourable Prime Minister.

As I conclude, I wish to congratulate the Government of Uganda and its partners for having put in place the National SDG Roadmap, for commiting to nurture an environment that ensures SDG progress. I reiterate our UN commitment to its implementation as a tool for creating an enabling environment for sustainable development in Uganda and ensuring that no one is left behind.

Thank you

[1] While Uganda’s national poverty line is $1 a day, $1.9 is the global poverty line

[2] Africa 2030: SDGs within social boundaries. Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa, 2021

[3] https://www.ubos.org/explore-statistics/33/