Uganda

Canada's Commitment
Results
Country Profile

Canada's Commitment

Uganda's progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals depends largely on its success in meeting its own development goals. Since the implementation of Universal Primary Education in 1997, primary school enrolment has more than tripled from 2.3 million in 1996 to 7.5 million in 2005. Canada strongly supports strengthening Uganda's primary education system and improving access to it for the country's poorest boys and girls.

However, the ongoing crisis in northern Uganda continues to be a significant concern. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has been fighting the Ugandan government since the late 1980s, and has abducted over 30,000 people since the conflict began. Issues of internally displaced persons, child soldiers, violence and HIV/AIDS continue to plague the region. Canada persists in urging the Ugandan government and the LRA rebels to resolve the conflict.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is supporting primary education and peace-building efforts in Uganda through various channels, including multilateral institutions, regional initiatives, partnerships with Ugandan advocacy groups, as well as bilateral or country-to-country assistance.

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Results

Canada actively supports education policy dialogue in Uganda. While national net enrolment rates for boys and girls have reached 95 percent and 96 percent respectively in 2005, northern Uganda's net enrolment rates do not reflect this gender equity. Canada continues to advocate for non-formal education programs in northern Uganda, as well as fair and equal access for young girls and disadvantaged children. Thanks to the support of Canada and other donors in Uganda's education sector, more and more young girls are going to school in northern Uganda.

Since 2000, CIDA has provided approximately $23.6 million in targeted humanitarian assistance to Uganda. This funding includes $11.8 million to the World Food Program (WFP) that provides food assistance to over 1.5 million people in northern Uganda and assists them when they return to their farms. The WFP also provides supplementary and therapeutic feeding for malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers, dietary support for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS; resettlement rations; and school feeding and food-for-assets programs. This humanitarian assistance has also provided $1.84 million to the reintegration of child soldiers, including girls, conflict resolution training for children, legal representation for youth, and children's participation in building peace, in northern Uganda. Our support to the World Bank Multi Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program is helping 15,000 Ugandan ex-combatants, including child soldiers, return to civilian life.

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Country Profile

Uganda is an example of a country that has gone from crisis to rapid development. The Idi Amin regime in the 1970s was notorious for its brutality, and characterized by political upheavals and economic mismanagement. A 1979 coup brought an end to the regime of Idi Amin, and relative stability returned to Uganda in the 1980s. In 1986, an armed rebellion resulted in Yoweri Museveni becoming president. He was later elected to that office in 1996, 2001, and 2006.

The level of Ugandans living below the national poverty line has decreased from 56 percent in 1992, to 37 percent in 2003. Since 2005, approximately 95 percent of Uganda's school age children are now enrolled in primary schools, compared to 62 percent in 1992. Wealth and gender biases are being seriously addressed in the education system.

Uganda enjoys the status of being the only nation in the world to substantially reduce HIV infection rates-dropping from a high of 18 percent to 6 percent in a population of 24 million by 2002. As a result, Uganda met the HIV/AIDS Millennium Development Goal in 1996.