Opening Remarks at the National Joint Steering Committee Meeting on the UN Cooperation Framework

Salutations:

• Right Honourable Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja;

• Honourable Ministers;

• Honourable Members of Parliament;

• Senior Government Officials;

• Members of the Diplomatic Corps;

• Heads of UN Agencies;

• Distinguished Representatives from Civil Society, Private Sector, Faith-based Organizations, Youth, Academia;

• Ladies and Gentlemen.

I have the immense pleasure of welcoming you all to the fifth Joint Steering Committee (JSC) for the United Nations Cooperation Framework 2021-25. The Joint Steering Committee is the forum that oversees the UN and Government Cooperation Framework design, implementation and accountability. It brings together Government ministries, departments and agencies, development partners, and the UN. It is to review results, unblock bottlenecks, and agree what we will deliver next. Today’s event will consider the 2024 UN Country Results Report and the 2026–2030 Cooperation Framework. It will confirm our collective achievements and priorities, set milestones, and define a more appropriate partnership strategy. The JSC is where we align with national plans and hold ourselves accountable for measurable results for people in Ugandan, especially the most vulnerable.

At this point, I would like express my profound appreciation to the Government of Uganda for our partnership over the years, and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) for the excellent working relations. I thank the Right Honourable Prime Minister, the Deputy Head of Public Service, the Permanent Secretary, and the Strategic Coordination Unit of OPM for their collaboration throughout the year. Together, we prepared the UN Country Results Report 2024, convened policy dialogues with partners, and drafted the new Cooperation Framework.

At our last Joint Steering Committee, we committed to tighten coordination under one entity: the Office of the Prime Minister, align with the Parish Development model, innovate in delivering social and protection services and lifting delivery where it matters, strengthen early warning systems and keep our focus on people most at risk. Let me report on that:

• One: the UN Resident Coordinator Office’s has forged a stronger collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister where the two teams are now working as one on multiple fronts including planning, policy dialogues and the National Partnership Forum. We have had two (2) OPM-UN Country Team check-ins between March and September 2025. 

• Two: UN support is embedded in parish structures with ongoing capacity-building. The new Cooperation Framework is set to use the PDM platform for local delivery.

• Three: On social and protection services, beyond 9.7 million children reached, digital health tools were scaled. Electronic community health information system rollouts boosted timely reporting. Adolescent-friendly platforms delivered integrated HIV, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and nutrition services through city and municipal systems.

• Four: on innovation and lifting delivery where it matters, our partnerships with all of you moved into green industry. Youth groups repurposed solar e-waste into second-life batteries. Over twenty thousand households adopted energy-saving solutions across Teso, West Nile, and the Central Cattle Corridor, creating demand for clean tech and local jobs.

• Five: Early warning systems on climate-risks are being taken to scale. The UN collaboration with local government ensured districts used climate information to guide micro-watershed works and small-scale irrigation. Communities acted earlier and with better targeting.

The design of the new Cooperation Framework shifted from consultation to co-creation and co-leadership. Government, UN entities, development partners, civil society, youth, women’s groups, and organization of people with disability helped set three priorities and six outcomes, with a stronger monitoring, evaluation, and learning system for course correction. You have the final draft, and we would like to receive your comments and feedback. By next week, we hope the new Cooperation Framework will be signed by Government of Uganda. The next steps after the signing will be finalizing the joint workplans, funding framework, and the monitoring, evaluation, and learning schedule with line ministries.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Development Cooperation has been pushed to its limits over the last decade. It looks different now, and it demands that we change how we plan, finance, and deliver. The UN is no exception. The ongoing UN@80 initiative is UN’s response to this shift. It is a system-wide reform to make the Organization leaner, faster, and fit for purpose as it enters its 80th year and in a completely different world to the one in 1945 when it was established.

The UN in Uganda is alive to the global shifts. At our recently held annual UN Country Team retreat, we agreed to organize our work around three (3) streams: Integrated Delivery and Joint Programming, Lean and Efficient Operations, and Smarter Financing and Partnerships. This means consolidating scattered projects into joint programmes, aligning to NDP IV, using one set of results and data tools, and running quarterly delivery reviews with clear accountabilities. It means a tighter UNCT that avoids duplication, expands common services under business operations, uses UN premises and facilities, and drives efficiencies that free resources for delivery. It also means mapping and blending finance, domestic, external, climate, and private, and using pooled funds where helpful to deliver more with less. We are not waiting for global reforms to land. We are anticipating them by acting where we have control at country level, staying fit for purpose despite headwinds. The core message remains unchanged, multilateralism is the only path to solving big problems, and financing is the fuel that moves us from commitment to results. 

Our next Cooperation Framework is for period 2026 to 2030 – the last in our push for the 2030 Agenda. It is our shared plan with all of you. It aligns to NDP IV, Uganda’s Vision 2040, Africa Agenda 2063 and the six (6) SDG transitions. It narrows the UN’s focus to catalytic shifts with the highest payoff, transformative education and skills, food systems, decent and green jobs, gender equality and disability inclusion, digital and data for governance, climate resilience and energy access. It amplifies delivery as one, a stronger monitoring and learning system, and a financing drive that blends public, private, and climate funds with south-south and triangular cooperation.

As I close, I would like to call on the Government to lead us in a single implementation and financing compact for the NDP IV. Popularize your programme coordination platforms as the only place for multi-stakeholder coordination on the NDP IV and all other related programmes. 

• To our bilateral and multilateral partners, back joint programmes, use budget support and pooled funds in line with the efficiency drive of the Government. 

• I would like to see Private Sector partners invest more alongside the NDP IV in productive value chains, green jobs, and climate resilience, and partner through public-private-partnership and blended finance to crowd in capital where it delivers measurable results. 

• To all other non-state actors including NGOs, we are all in this together. Let us coordinator and focus on the last-mile delivery, avoid duplication, and use national systems to reach those furthest behind.

Thank you all.