GIZ Opens New Office in Mbale
On August 15, 2018, a new Mbale GIZ office was opened by H.E. Dr. Albrecht Conze, the German Ambassador to Uganda, the District Chairperson (LC5) for Mbale, Hon. Mujasi Bernard, and Mr Thomas Tiedemann, acting Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Uganda.
The new regional cooperation office will mainly focus on strengthening governance and civil society in Eastern Uganda through implementation of the “Civil Society in Uganda Support Programme” (CUSP). The programme is co-funded by the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany and implemented by GIZ, which stands for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, one of the implementing agencies of the German Development Cooperation. The EU is funding “CUSP” with a 25million Euros grant, with German Government funding amounting to 5.3million Euros, the whole amount being equivalent to 128.3 billion Uganda shillings.
More than 100 guests were present at the opening ceremony, mostly from district authorities and civil society organizations in Eastern Uganda. The event was graced with a short cultural performance, followed by welcoming remarks by the LC I Chairperson, Nankupa Cell and by Dr. Eckart Bode, the GIZ Portfolio Manager in Uganda. Hon. Mujasi, Ambassador Conze and Mr Tiedemann underscored the importance of civil society to Uganda’s development, praising the close collaboration between Uganda, Germany and the European Union