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The sound of intermittent beeps as ration cards are scanned signal it’s the dawn of a new era in Oruchinga refugee settlement, Southwestern Uganda. Gone are the days of flicking through reams of paper to verify and tick names off — from now on it will be a swift scan of a refugee’s ration card and irises to — bring up their biometric data and identify them for receiving food.

The Government of Uganda and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) with support from the World Food Programme (WFP) are working to biometrically verify all refugees in Uganda by the end of the year. The refugee biometric verification exercise currently underway in Uganda is the largest in history, and uses UNHCR’s biometric registration software to collect personal data about refugees, including iris scans and ten finger prints. WFP is using its logistical prowess and deploying rapid response teams to set up the sites for the country-wide verification exercise — and then use these centres for food distribution each month.

Oruchinga is the first-ever refugee camp in Uganda where a food distribution is being carried out using these biometric checks. A wave of calm order sweeps through the WFP tent where Congolese, Burundian and Rwandese families sit in the cool waiting area. Their laps and arms are laden with empty sacks and plastic bottles — to be filled from the vats of food awaiting in the corridors next door. Maria Macumi a Burundian mother of four, sits down in front of a WFP verification clerk and receives the iris scanner with both hands. With no fuss and less than a minute later, she is queuing up to collect her family’s monthly food from WFP.

“When my eyes and card are scanned, my photo comes up on the screen. I know it’s fair because WFP will give food to the right person,” explains Maria.

Maria then moves on to collect her food in scoops from WFP for the first time. Previously refugees in Uganda were collecting and sharing food out in groups of up to 30 people. Maria’s baby Remi sleeps soundly fastened on her back as she bends to hold the sack open for the beans to pour in.

“It was always a fight and a scramble — a real challenge when I had my baby on my back,” Maria says. “It is now a lot less hectic.”

Maria came to Uganda eight years ago, after her husband was brutally murdered by members of an opposing political party in Muyinga province, Burundi.

“I knew they were looking for me and my children too, so I ran to Uganda,” says Maria. “It’s been peaceful for us here and I can get some small money from farming for soap and clothes, but I still need the food from WFP to feed all my children.”

At the end of the corridor, Maria watches as each sack of food is weighed electronically.

“Before I never trusted the amounts I was getting — as people would interfere. Now I am sure I am getting the right amounts of food,” Maria says with a smile. “Just promise you won’t change things back to how they were.”

The reaction of all refugees to the new food distribution set-up and biometric checks make it clear these are changes for the better. As Maria leaves the WFP centre, her ration card is scanned one final time to confirm she has received the right quantities.

Going for gold

Matt Nims, acting director of Food For Peace, and Valerie Guarnieri, assistant executive director of WFP, came to visit the food distribution in Oruchinga. WFP has introduced the new food collection procedures to transform and take refugee food assistance to the best possible standard across the country — this includes the biometric data checks, a universal ration size, scooping and weighing the food on electronic scales. Nims labelled it a “gold standard,” and encouraged WFP to make it the standard for delivering food assistance to refugees everywhere in the world.

“For the past two years WFP has been calling for biometric registration of refugees in Uganda, and this became even more urgent last year — when Uganda became the largest refugee hosting country in Africa,” explains Guarnieri. “To be able to manage such a large caseload, we need to have a more modern and efficient system in place. This new system allows us to validate each person on site and make sure they get the assistance that they’re entitled to.”

Valerie sits beside Jenirose — a Congolese refugee, WFP ‘scooper’ and vice-chairperson of the Oruchinga community. Together they scoop beans into refugees’ bags and chat about the new changes and introduction of biometrics to Jenirose’s community.

“As a refugee, I would want fair treatment, I would want the humanitarian community to treat us with respect and to show compassion. The changes have shown that WFP loves us — I feel we have more dignity when we collect our food like this. My children are having three meals a day now because we’re getting the right amounts — and I am happy to see them grow strong.”

Communicating with communities

Telling the refugees about the new changes through a two-way and community-based approach is a big priority for WFP. As far as possible WFP is involving the refugees themselves in the outreach and messaging and tailoring the information campaigns to each settlement. In Oruchinga, a Congolese youth drama group toured the settlement — bringing the new scooping collection procedures to life by acting out scenarios and WFP messages in a role-play. This drama group also brought feedback for WFP to respond to on its public address system travelling around the settlements beforehand or on the day at the food distribution.

Scaling up

By the end of the food distribution on March 8, 6,710 individuals had been served out of 6,983 refugees verified by UNHCR. UNHCR handled 217 problem cases, where data in the system did not match the information being presented by the person coming to collect food. For the first time in Uganda, the Government could account for every single person who received food assistance from WFP.

The huge biometric verification exercise will be rolled out to cover more than 30 locations across the rest of the country and biometric checks will be introduced at the 180 food distribution sites by the end of the year.

WFP would like to thank its donors for their generous support of refugees in Uganda: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, EU Humanitarian Aid, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Multilateral donors, Norway, Republic of Korea, UN CERF, the United Kingdom and United States of America.

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The Government of Uganda (GoU) in partnership with the European Union (EU) launch ambitious programme worth 150.6 million Euros to eradicate poverty and under nutrition in Northern Uganda.

The programme, implemented by the Office of the Prime Minister will also consolidate stability in the region and strengthen foundations for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development. Titled, Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU), the new programme has been put together with a 132.8 million Euros grant from the European Union, 11.9 million Euros from the Government of Uganda and 5.9 million Euros from implementing partners.

DINU is a multi-sectoral integrated programme supporting interventions in three specific interlinked sectors: (1) Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihoods (2) Infrastructures (transport, logistics, water, energy) and (3) Good Governance supported with a diversity of activities and interventions to be implemented by multiple actors, partners and stakeholders at central level as well as at district and sub-county level in Northern Uganda. The programme covers the five sub-regions of Acholi, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and West Nile and will be implemented across 33 districts.

“The EU recognises the diverse set of challenges and opportunities faced by the people of Northern Uganda and believes that the approach used under the DINU programme by moving from a sector-oriented support towards an integrated territorial approach is key to ensure sustained impact on the ground. This will of course not be possible without a crucial facilitating role of the local authorities and therefore strong support will be provided to local governments to better fulfil their mandates and better respond to the needs of citizens,” said EU Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Attilio Pacifici.

Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda welcomed the new development initiative and thanked the European Union for being a consistent and valued partner with the Government of Uganda to support the recovery and development of Northern Uganda over the years.

“From the time when our people in Northern Uganda were still in internally displaced people’s camps as a result of conflict and insurgency, the EU was by our side, helping with relief and many other forms support. With the end of the war and insecurity in the region, we are delighted that the EU has remained with us to support the recovery and development process as demonstrated by this DINU programme to eradicate poverty, under nutrition, building infrastructure and fostering good governance,” Prime Minister Rugunda said.

Under the overall objective of “consolidating stability of Northern Uganda, eradicating poverty, under-nutrition and strengthening the foundations for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development” various DINU programme interventions shall be implemented with the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), responsible for implementation of some activities, and as the supervising authority, responsible for oversight and monitoring of the DINU implementation as well as for coordination between partners.

In support of the overall DINU implementation, key implementation partners – DFID/ Trademark East Africa, GIZ, UNCDF and UNICEF have been identified to undertake a wide-range of activities related to the specific objectives of the programme. More actors will join along the way.

The launch event, held on 4 May at the Office of the Prime Minister was led by Hon. Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, the Prime Minister of Uganda and H.E Attilio Pacifici, the EU Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Uganda.

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On April 27 2018, a financing agreement to the tune of 37.1 million Euros has been signed between the Government of Uganda and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) as lead financier, in the presence of KfW as co-financier. The financing aims at supporting a key project in the energy sector, in line with Uganda Vision 2040 and the National Development Plan (NDP): the upgrading of a transmission line that will help evacuate power, increase power reliability and enable exports of electricity.

The Ugandan energy sector is booming, and the national generation capacity is soon to be up-scaled. The need to develop the grid in order to evacuate electricity is therefore of paramount importance.

The 400 kV transmission line upgrade project will cover a distance of 135 km between the cities of Masaka and Mbarara. It will increase power reliability in the Central and Western regions of Uganda, a good way to boost the economy and support access to energy.

Consolidation of this segment is also key in the interconnection between Uganda and its neighboring countries Kenya, Rwanda, and DRC. Thereby the transmission line supports the ongoing NELSAP (Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Plan) regional interconnection project.

This project was initiated thanks to a feasibility study completed in 2015 and financed by the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund. AFD and KfW are now partnering to jointly finance it with loans of respectively 37.1 million Euros and 35 million Euros. This is yet another common achievement and a symbol of European cooperation and France and Germany‘s associated efforts to support Uganda’s development.

According to AFD’ country representative, Virginie Leroy: “The 37.1 M€ concessional loan from the French Development Agency is a good example of how together with KFW and with the support of the EU, AFD concretely supports Uganda in its contribution to the ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ initiative as well as to the ‘Uganda Contribution to Paris Climate Change Agreement’.”

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The Korea International Cooperation Agency and UNICEF – the United Nations Children’s Fund – have launched a five year programme to scale up water, sanitation and hygiene services in schools in Karamoja.

The programme will be executed until 2022, benefitting 56,000 children from 100 schools in all Karamoja districts – Abim, Amudat, Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto, Napak and Nakapiripirit.

The interventions will be implemented by UNICEF, together with the Ministry of Education and Sports and the seven District Local Governments of the Karamoja region.

“The Government of Korea is proud to partner with UNICEF and the Government of Uganda to provide safe water, adequate sanitation and effective hygiene services to tens of thousands of vulnerable school-going children in Karamoja,” said His Excellency, the Korean Ambassador to Uganda, Kim You-Churl.

“This grant will help to improve the school environment of all 100 schools targeted, thereby helping Uganda achieve many of its Sustainable Development Goal and NDP 2 targets.”

By the end of the programme, all selected schools will have a comprehensive Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services package, including school latrines, a solar powered water system and handwashing facilities.

This package will help schools in Karamoja meet the recommended national standard of one latrine for every 40 pupils, up from the current ratio of one latrine for every 70 students in Karamoja.

It will also reduce the distance that children have to cover to access safe water to within 500 meters, a significant reduction from the more than 30 minutes it presently takes the majority of children across Uganda to access safe water.

“This grant will help the more than 50,000 children attending these schools to stay in school as well improve their learning outcomes.  It will also help to improve the school health environment, thereby reducing the likelihood of a spread of contagious diseases,” said Dr. Doreen Mulenga, UNICEF’s Representative in Uganda.

“UNICEF is very grateful to the people of Korea for this contribution, which will help lift some of the poorest children in Uganda out of debilitating poverty; where they are deprived of many of the basic services and rights they need to develop to their full potential.”

Other interventions of the programme include: provision of life skills education for girls,  including menstrual hygiene management; social mobilization campaigns to accelerate positive behavior change among individuals and broader social change among communities; and district-level advocacy.

The overall programme contribution is worth 37 billion UGX (10 million USD), with nearly 30 billion UGX from the Korea International Cooperation Agency and 7 billion UGX contributed by UNICEF.

For more information, please contact:

KOICA: Sherry Rita Ahirirwe, Programme Officer, +256 773 141 459; Koicauganda@gmail.com

UNICEF: Catherine Ntabadde Makumbi, Communications Specialist, +256 772 147 111, +256-772 629 567, +256-703-729567, cntabadde@unicef.org

About KOICA
Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is the official aid implementing agency of the government of the Republic of Korea in Uganda. KOICA has been operating in Uganda since December 2010 and has been focusing mainly on projects geared towards the Improvement of Farmers’ income, ICT and Economic Infrastructure and other fields as seen below. KOICA’s ODA modality includes projects, training and Scholarship programs, WFK Volunteers and Advisor’s Program, Partnerships with Multilateral Cooperation, CSOs and other development partners.
For more information about KOICA in Uganda, visit:
www.facebook.com/KOICA.Uganda
http://www.koica.go.kr/

About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit http://www.unicef.org/.

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The Government of Japan has announced a US$1.5m contribution to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Uganda’s refugee support programme.

The announcement was made by H.E. Kazuaki Kameda, the Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Uganda, during a press conference to announce the new funding to UNDP and three other UN agencies including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“Uganda has been spearheading an exemplary refugee assistance model despite being constantly challenged by large influxes of refugees from neighbouring countries. With the new funding, Japan continues to support refugees and their host communities,” H.E Ambassador Kameda said during the press conference.

In total, the Government of Japan is providing US$ 6 million to the four agencies for a period of one year running from March 2018 to March 2019.

“I would like to thank the Government of Japan for consistently providing much needed assistance to refugees as well as their host communities and bringing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to life, ” Ms. Rosa Malango, the UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator said at the press conference, adding that the new funding will be used to bolster the efforts that began with the previous year’s funding which enabled the UN in partnership with Government and various other entities to provide services in public health, water and sanitation, life-saving food support, livelihood support and create emergency employment for refugees and host communities.

She added that with the support, UNDP will be able to create emergency employment for refugees and hosting communities through cash for work interventions; provide business skills training and start up grants for microenterprise development; and support access to markets for small enterprises, focusing on women and youth.

The funding to UNDP is expected to benefit over 6,000 refugees and host communities, besides local government structures, in Arua, Yumbe and Moyo districts. It will build on UNDP’s preceding partnership with the Government of Japan in 2016 and 2017, it aims at further strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus in responding to the refugee crisis in West Nile.

“When we support refugees with services such as education, health & provide them with practical skills which they can use when they go back home, it enables them to support their nations growth and peace efforts when they are finally able to return home,” Hon. Hillary Onek, the Minister of Disaster Preparedness, Management and Refugees said while speaking at the press conference.

He also commended the Government of Japan for their support and called on all the agencies including UNDP who had received funding to ensure that they include the locals in their planning for the refugees and their host district. “This will encourage the locals to continue hosting our brothers and sisters who are here from our neighbouring countries.”

Uganda is currently hosting 1.4 million refugees and asylum seekers from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. The assistance is part of implementation of the Refugee and Host Population Empowerment (ReHoPE) strategy, a transformative strategy which brings together a wide range   of   partners   including   the   Government   of   Uganda,   UN   agencies,   World   Bank, development partners and the private sector to enhance self-reliance and resilience of refugees and host communities in Uganda. ReHoPE is a component of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework and is in line with the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants.

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In Luwero District on April 13, Mr. Aloys Lorkeers, Head of the Sustainable Development Section at the European Union Delegation to Uganda, and Hon. Joy Kabatsi, the State Minister for Agriculture, jointly launched the €15 million (UGX 67.billion) EU funded project. A large audience, composed of private sector operators, public services, including police, and local authorities attended the event.

The five year project targets every step of the meat value chain from production to consumption through processing, transport, retailing, as well as other services related to this industry, such as veterinary services. The partnership and collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry, and the Ministry of Finance as well as with other institutional partners and private sector operators will contribute to economic growth and employment, with specific attention to women and youth. Policy and regulations, aiming at establishing a solid governance of the meat value chain, including environmental sustainability, animal welfare, safety & health, and quality assurance are integral part of the chain. The project is expected to focus and operate within the two Diseases Control zones of the cattle corridor located in Central and South-Western regions in Uganda.

Addressing the audience, Mr. Lorkeers said: “The EU believes that to reduce poverty and hunger and promote inclusive growth, substantial investment in rural areas and in agriculture is needed where most poor and undernourished people live”. He added that “well-planned and well-targeted investment in small-scale farming as well as bigger farms can, therefore, help a country feed itself and reduce its dependency on outside assistance.”

Hon. Joy Kabatsi highlighted that “Ugandan beef is acknowledged as having the potential of being some of the best meat in the world because of its low cholesterol levels and nice taste since it is organically produced”. However, she raised the inconsistency of the high demand of Ugandan meat from abroad – prematurely placed, against the current low production and, consequently, the inability of the country to meet the demand. In this respect, she added that “interventions aiming at increasing the quality and productivity of beef must be prioritized to enable Uganda to attain acceptable standards for the local, regional and international markets.”

The European Union in Uganda is committed toward the inclusive and sustainable development of value chain commodities, aiming at creating jobs, especially for youth and women, increasing food production and therefore helping the country to pull out from poverty and malnutrition. In doing so, the European Union contributes to the attainment of the ultimate objectives of the National Development Plan II and Vision 2040.

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The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched two new five-year activities, totaling $75 million USD, to improve food and nutrition security and to strengthen resilience of over 665,000 people in the Karamoja sub-region.

Karamoja is the most nutritionally vulnerable region in Uganda and the third most vulnerable to stunting in East Africa. Despite relative peace in the region after decades of conflict and instability, high levels of poverty, and food and nutrition insecurity remain a significant barrier to development.

The activities will focus on improving health and nutrition, on and off-farm livelihoods, local governance and civil society, and water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. Both activities will strategically invest in the region’s future: youth and adolescents.

Catholic Relief Services and its partners will implement the Nuyok Activity (a Nga’karimojong word meaning “it is ours”) in the Western districts of Abim, Nakapiripirit and Napak. Mercy Corps and partners will implement the Apolou Activity (meaning “growth” or “it is growing” in Nga’karimojong) in the Eastern districts of Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto and Amudat.

USAID looks forward to supporting activities that work hand-in-hand with the communities and local government to build an empowered Karamoja where all communities thrive.  The activities are made possible by the support of the American people.

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On March 28, the second phase of the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) was launched at an event at Silver Springs Hotel in Kampala. This new phase of the DGF brings together seven Development Partners (Austria, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the European Union) to support democratic governance initiatives in Uganda with a total amount of approximately 355 billion UGX. Apart from this collaboration between Development Partners, the DGF arrangement is unique in the sense that it brings together Government
Institutions and Civil Society in Uganda, all with their different identities, mandates, roles, responsibilities, backgrounds, missions, capacities and resources.

In his speech, the Chair of the DGF Board, the Netherlands’ Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker, elaborated on the achievements of DGF I that started in 2011. He mentioned that supporting engagement of civil society and government with democratic governance initiatives had resulted in more responsiveness on both sides. And he added: “The core business of DGF is democratic governance, which at the end of the day is all about strengthening the social contract between the State and its citizens”.

DGF’s second phase is designed to build on the achievements and lessons learned of the first phase. In line with the national priorities under the National Development Plan and the National Action Plan for Human Rights, DGF’s vision statement is: “A Uganda where citizens are empowered to engage in democratic governance and the state upholds citizens’ rights”. DGF will continue to place the citizen at the centre of the initiative with a strong focus on the relationship between the citizen and the state.

DGF’s programme in this second phase is built around three broad and interconnected spheres namely:

1. Democratic processes that build citizen-state relationships;
2. Citizen empowerment, engagement and accountability;
3. Protection of human rights, access to justice and gender equality.

The launch marks the beginning of another intensive engagement with government and civil society. Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker phrased it as follows: “The Ugandan citizens will benefit from the positive changes that will emerge from constructive dialogue and partnership between and among government institutions and civil society organizations. DGF is ready to take up the challenges for the coming years. We as DGF are confident that that mutual respect for diversity of opinions will allow DGF to continue supporting the democratic governance agenda of Uganda”.

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On March 20, 2018, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development (MEMD) in partnership with the European Union, the ACP Group of States and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),  launched Uganda’s first Baseline Assessment and Value Chain Analysis Study Reports for the Development Minerals Sector.

Development Minerals are those minerals and materials that are used in our daily lives to make products such as plates, paint and toothpaste, to build houses and pave roads. Uganda boasts of a diversity of Development Minerals including construction minerals such as limestone, clay gypsum, marble and sand among others. It’s also home to various industrial minerals and semi-precious stones. Despite mapping of these natural resources, many of them remain largely unexploited.

“Development Minerals are economically important to local communities. This is because they are mined close to the communities and thus have strong domestic economic linkages,” Thomas Ole Kuyan, UNDP’s Deputy Country Director, said during the launching of the reports.

He added that this close connection to the community makes it all the more important to provide sector-specific support such as business development services, access to affordable finance, access to market information, technology and equipment to this sector which contributes approximately 390,000 jobs, 7% of GDP and grossing over USD 350 Million in value as per 2016 estimates.

The Study Reports profile the Development Minerals Sector in Uganda and provide crucial information on the size of the sector, the existing untapped opportunities for local economic development, employment for youth and women as well as recommendations on specific interventions necessary in regulatory framework strengthening, oversight of environmental and health standards, and mechanisms for conflict management towards boosting the productivity of the development minerals sector.

Cedric Merel, the Head of Cooperation at European Union Delegation to Uganda, hoped that the information provided by the Study Reports would be used for the sector to be optimised.

“This will promote human development as most of the development minerals mining is done by artisanal & small scale miners,” Mr. Merel said, adding that, reaping full contribution of the sector for the country’s development will require some policy and legal reform. The reform will be key in ensuring that this neglected sector can fully contribute to the economy. Mr. Merel further added that the European Union supports Uganda’s accession to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and that in the framework of the new Sector Reform Performance Contract funded with EUR 66 million from the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), the Government of Uganda has legally committed itself to applying for EITI membership in 2019.

The reports provide more comprehensive data on the range of these natural resources, their sites of extraction and the number of people who benefit from them, especially in terms of employment. In addition, the reports contain analyses of the current laws and implications for the Development Minerals sector and provide recommendations on how the sector can be transformed to drive inclusive growth in Uganda.

“We are delighted to be launching these Study Reports today on Development Minerals in Uganda. The Development Minerals Programme and these reports have come at a very opportune time when we are working on revising the Mining Act. The information provided will be useful in ensuring that they are included in the revision, so that the sector is well developed and can make an even bigger contribution to Uganda’s economy,” Zachary Baguma, acting Director of Geology and Mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development said before launching the reports.

He thanked the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the European Union and UNDP for supporting the sector and called upon all the stakeholders involved in the sector to join hands with Government to ensure the recommendations of the Reports are implemented particularly on  issues of environmental protection and inclusion.

The Reports were commissioned by the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme, an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, financed by the European Union and UNDP and implemented by UNDP.  The three year ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme’s main focus is to improve the management of the Development Minerals sector in Uganda and globally. It provides capacity-building support to small-scale private sector, associations/chambers, public institutions and communities that operate in the Development Minerals sector.

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As part of its continued support to the government of Uganda, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), have launched the Surveillance Evaluation Tool (SET) – a standardized evaluation tool for animal health surveillance capacity and performance in Uganda.

The SET is part of a group of FAO tools that are used by National Veterinary Services and Ministries of member countries to facilitate the prevention and control of animal diseases and threats, including zoonoses or diseases originating in animals that can spread to people. The SET allows for a comprehensive baseline evaluation of national animal health surveillance systems.

Uganda is the one of the countries in the world with high incidence of zoonotic diseases. The FAO USAID Global Health Security Agenda project project focuses on priority zoonotic diseases including anthrax, zoonotic influenza viruses, hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, RVF, CCHF and Marburg), brucellosis, trypanosomosis, plague, and rabies. The economic burden due to zoonotic diseases in Uganda has not yet been estimated. However, World Bank (2012) estimated the economic burden due to six of the zoonotic diseases that occurred in specific countries between 1997 and 2009 as being US $80 Billion. It is estimated that globally, there are over 2.5 Billion cases of human illness and 2.7 million deaths annually due to the top 56 zoonoses (ILRI, 2012).

Uganda is the eighth country in Africa to try out SET to assess the animal health surveillance systems, after Tanzania, Liberia, Kenya, Cote d’Voire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Mali where the tool was used to identify gaps in livestock disease surveillance and develop action plans for improvement.

Speaking at the launch of the tool, the FAO Deputy Representative Ms Priya Gujadhur noted that surveillance is very important to in order to derive the best approach for the government and other partners to respond livestock diseases.

“Our expectation is that at the end of this activity, disease detection capacity of the national animal health surveillance system in Uganda will be much stronger and ready to tackle any potential outbreak of priority zoonotic or transboundary animal disease threat,” said Ms Gujadhur.

The launch of the tool was followed by a series of interviews at the national level and three field missions at local government and community levels of the surveillance system. The evaluation team then divided into three groups visiting the East, Centre and West part of the country to gain more insight on the surveillance system from the perspective of the field. This mission  is expected to recommend further work, identify specific  recommendations on areas that will address the country’s capacity needs to prepare and respond to priority zoonotic diseases, major transboundary animal diseases and emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases.

The ten-day evaluation exercise is part of the USAID funded project, “Supporting the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) to address zoonotic diseases and animal health in Africa,” under which FAO is supporting MAAIF through the Directorate of Animal Resources to address surveillance, prevention and control of zoonotic diseases, strengthening National Laboratory Systems and capacity building.

The Director for Animal Resources, Dr Juliet Sentumbwe, while speaking at the launch of the tool, expressed gratitude to FAO and USAID, saying that the ministry will, for the first time in many years, know where the country stands in terms of livestock and zoonotic diseases as well as be able to identify gaps that will need to be addressed.

“We have eminent gaps in collecting reliable information. This has not only impacted negatively on response but also greatly affected meat exports because we are not able to tell which diseases are present in our livestock, yet exporters need clearance from relevant ministries to ascertain that the products being exported are disease-free,” Dr Sentumbwe said.

Dr Sentumbwe further stated that the ministry was looking forward to the exercise which is hoped to generate reliable evidence and form a response plan that will help the government prevent and control all livestock diseases including zoonoses.

She noted that the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries has been experiencing a series of zoonotic disease outbreaks including Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), and Rift Valley Fever (RVF), reported in 2017 alone.

The Deputy FAO Representative in Uganda also handed over an assortment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Director for Animal Resources to support field officers in surveillance and response to disease outbreaks.

Through the USAID funded project, FAO has been supporting the Ministry of Agriculture by: mapping out priority zoonotic diseases, their hot spots and distribution, establishing and strengthening the National Animal Health Network in Uganda, setting up and equipping selected regional and district veterinary laboratories in Arua, Gulu, Lira, Masaka, Moroto, Mbale, Mbarara, Kiruhura and Kiboga, assessing the National Veterinary Laboratory Capacity using the FAO Laboratory Mapping Tool (LMT), supporting response to the outbreak of HPAI (HPAI)Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Kalangala, Wakiso and Masaka District, supporting response to the outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in Kiboga, Mityana, Kiruhura and Kyankwanzi districts,  training of  106 staff from MAAIF, districts and other support agencies on various aspects including disease surveillance, outbreak response/simulation, laboratory standard operating procedures and quality management, providing laboratory and surveillance materials worth USD 130 000 and supporting the development of national surveillance plans of 4 priority zoonotic diseases including Rabies, Anthrax, Highly Pathogenic Avian  and brucellosis.

About the SET

The SET is a comprehensive and user-friendly tool to assess animal health surveillance systems. It allows for scoring exercise and clear outputs are automatically generated by the tool to visualize strengths and weaknesses of the system. SET allows for a comprehensive baseline evaluation of national animal health surveillance systems. The result is a set of recommendations on tangible actions that can be initiated at country level to achieve realistic goals of improving the responsiveness of the surveillance system. The first piloting mission was organized in Tanzania by FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) and The Emergency Prevention System for Animal Health (EMPRES) Following missions occurred in  Liberia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea, and Mali supported by funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Emerging Pandemic Threats Programme 2 (EPT 2)).

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