Amongi in Luxembourg for Global Government Summit

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Gender, Labour, and Social Development Minister Betty Amongi is in Luxembourg to scale up actions on Sustainable Development Goals and recommit to the second World Summit for Social Development.

The summit aims to advance African priorities, including poverty eradication, employment, decent work for all, inclusivity, and social integration, leaving no one behind, and achieving SDG 2063.

Amongi said Africa has set a bold agenda under Agenda 2063, which Uganda is a party to, focusing on implementing African Union resolutions on SDG Agenda 2063.

She recognized that rebuilding from the pandemic requires increased and targeted investments in rural development. That's why, post-COVID-19, Uganda has designed a rural-based capital financing program to support rural cooperative banks at the lowest level of community, known as the Parish Development Model (PDM).

This model is allocating financing of up to $500 million per year for agricultural value chain investments, targeting 39% of poor people to join the money economy and thereby eradicating poverty.

"We have focused government institutional interventions for development to become more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable," she noted.

She added that investing in agriculture, especially supporting household farming and boosting small-scale food production, allows rural people to benefit from free land and labor, which are their two main assets, and to raise their income and food security, leading to a reduction in poverty and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

She said with support from the World Bank, the government is implementing a women's entrepreneurship financing program worth $217 million to support micro and medium-sized women businesses in recovering.

Additionally, they have initiated a $200 million recovery fund, in partnership with commercial banks, to provide incentives for the private sector to support transformation and investments targeting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and rural economies to eradicate poverty.

"Our policy equally extends support to the private sector through the provision of low-interest and long-term credit," she noted.

Some of the credit programs include the Youth Livelihood Programme, Youth Venture Capital Fund, Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programmes, EMYOOGA, and agricultural value addition programs, partnering with private farmers to add value to agricultural produce through agricultural loan schemes at 12% per annum. The Uganda Development Bank also offers investment loans for manufacturers to spur job creation and poverty eradication.

Furthermore, she noted that Uganda has also put in place Social Assistance Grants for the Empowerment of Vulnerable Communities, targeting older persons aged 80 years and above with a monthly cash support, Special Grants for Older Persons for those aged 65-79 years for enterprise start-up, specifically those who have retired, Special Grants for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), and Special Grants for children with severe disabilities, as well as the Women Entrepreneurs Programmes.