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Item Socio-demographic predictors of gender inequality among heterosexual couples expecting a child in south-central Uganda.(African Health Sciences, 2020-09) Vrana-Diaz, Caroline J.; Korte, Jeffrey E.; Gebregziabher, Mulugeta; Richey, Lauren; Selassie, Anbesaw; Sweat, Michael; Chemusto, Harriet; Wanyenze, RhodaBackground: Gender inequality is a pervasive problem in sub-Saharan Africa, and has negative effects on health and de- velopment. Objective: Here, we sought to identify socioeconomic predictors of gender inequality (measured by low decision-making power and high acceptance of intimate partner violence) within heterosexual couples expecting a child in south-central Uganda. Method: We used data from a two-arm cluster randomized controlled HIV self-testing intervention trial conducted in three antenatal clinics in south-central Uganda among 1,618 enrolled women and 1,198 male partners. Analysis included Cochran Mantel-Haenzel, proportional odds models, logistic regression, and generalized linear mixed model framework to account for site-level clustering. Results: Overall, we found that 31.1% of men had high acceptance of IPV, and 15.9% of women had low decision-making power. We found religion, education, HIV status, age, and marital status to significantly predict gender equality. Specifically, we observed lower gender equality among Catholics, those with lower education, those who were married, HIV positive women, and older women. Conclusion: By better understanding the prevalence and predictors of gender inequality, this knowledge will allow us to better target interventions (increasing education, reducing HIV prevalence in women, targeting interventions different reli- gions and married couples) to decrease inequalities and improve health care delivery to underserved populations in Uganda.Item SOUTHMOD Country report Uganda(UNU-WIDER., 2020-05-15) Waiswa, Ronald; Ayo, Joseph Okello; Kavuma, Susan; Gemma, WrightUganda is a landlocked country located in East-Central Africa with a population of about 45.8 million as of 2021 (World Bank 2023), and its capital Kampala is the largest city with a population of 1.68 million. Uganda’s economic performance was greatly affected by the COVID19 pandemic slowing down to a growth of 1.5 per cent in 2020, picked up in 2021 with a growth of 6.0 per cent, and the economy is expected to continue recovering with growth projected at 4.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent in in 2022 and 2023, respectively (African Development Bank 2023). The economic recovery was driven by strong expansion in the mining and construction sectors and a rebound of the services sector, particularly public administration and education.Item Managing trade in clunkers.(2020-08-15) Forster, Felix; Nakyambadde, DorothyMany low-income countries rely on age-based imports restrictions to curb local pollution from motor vehicles. Yet the impact of these policies, unlike that of emission regulations in richer economies, is not well understood. In this paper, we investigate one such import restriction - an environmental tax levied on old vehicles - in the context of Uganda. Using a di erence-in-di erences framework, we estimate the e ect of a stark increase in the levy in 2015 on imports and rst-time registrations. In order distinguish the direct impact of the levy from substitution between age groups, we structurally estimate the market for \newly" imported vehicles and decompose the overall e ect using counterfactual simulation. We nd that the levy increase resulted in a substantial reduction of targeted vehicle imports, but that rst-time registrations remain una ected as end-users increasingly purchase old inventory from traders. In addition, we nd that the magnitude of the consumer response is decreasing in vehicle age and evidence of substitution towards older vehicles due to the levy. These ndings point to highly progressive levies or outright bans, ideally complemented by domestic regulation, for effective policy aimed at curbing vehicle emissions.Item Who Can Make Ugandan Taxpayers more Compliant?(Institute of Development Studies, 2020-09-05) Waiswa, Ronald; Akol , Doris; Isingoma, Milly NalukwagoThe rate of occurrence of tax evasion is higher in Uganda than in the rest of East Africa. Where the taxpayer has latitude to decide whether or not to be compliant, as in the case of income taxes, Ugandans seem to be less compliant than other East Africans. Uganda collects less in domestic taxes than other countries in the region. For revenue, the Ugandan government depends more on customs duties, on taxes that are difficult to dodge, notably Withholding Tax, and on taxes where there are in-built incentives to comply, such as Value Added Tax (VAT). The framework for improving tax compliance consists of three broad channels: making it easier for taxpayers to comply (facilitation), enforcement and increasing trust (in the government, in its spending practices, and in the tax collection agency itself). Using this framework, we discuss the measures that have been adopted by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and the Government of Uganda, the successes achieved and the gaps that remain. The URA is best placed for facilitation. It also plays a major role in enforcement, although its efforts may be either supported or undermined by the government and politicians. The URA can do little to increase trust in the government in general; that is principally a job for the government. The URA can mainly make itself more trustworthy in the eyes of taxpayers by being transparent and minimising corruption. We find that URA has been successful in facilitating tax compliance, although there are opportunities for improvements on its current initiatives. The URA’s enforcement actions are, however, weak and limited. To a large extent, they have been undermined by the government and politicians. Enforcement has also been weak, due to internal URA factors, such as the understaffing of the enforcement team and the fact that the URA does not take enforcement action as often on small taxpayers. Lastly, very little has been done to build taxpayer morale. There are widespread concerns over the poor use of tax money, missing or poor government services and some sections of society being shielded from paying their share, because of their connections or roles in government. The URA is also not highly trusted and corruption is still a major problem among tax collectors. To build trust in the government, the URA is undertaking some of the tasks of justifying tax collection that would normally be undertaken by another part of government. There is a lot of scope for both the government and URA to gain more trust from the taxpayer. Improving tax compliance in Uganda will require the government (in the sense of the executive) and the URA to work more together. The government should give more support to URA activities, desist from protecting non-compliant taxpayers and be accountable to the public for the revenues collected. The URA needs to improve its trust-building initiatives and address some internal weaknesses.Item Comparing the Performance of Uganda’s Intra-East African Community Trade and Other Trading Blocs: A Gravity Model Analysis(Economic Policy Research Centre, 2013) Shinyekwa, Isaac; Othieno, LawrenceThis paper examines factors that determine Uganda’s trade flows and specifically compares the impact and performance of the different trade blocs on Uganda’s trade patterns and flows. The empirical question is whether Uganda’s trade is getting more integrated in the East African Community (EAC) region or is still dominated by other trading blocs, namely European Union (EU), Asia and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)? Two analytical approaches are used, namely: trade indicators and estimation of the gravity models using data extracted from COMTRADE for the period 2001 – 2009 (panel). We estimate determinants of export and import trade flows separately using static random, dynamic random and IV GMM models. The results suggest a strong relationship between belonging to a trading bloc and trade flows. Likewise, Uganda’s import and export trade flows have conspicuously adjusted to the gravitational forces of the EAC during the progress of the integration. Whereas exports are being integrated more in the EAC and COMESA regions, imports are more integrated in the Asian and EU trading blocs. Therefore, strong links with trading blocs outside the EAC (i.e. EU and Asia) with regards to imports still exist. The trade indicators demonstrate that Uganda exports largely primary products and imports manufactured products. It is imperative for Uganda to target implementation of regional trade agreements to expand the country’s export markets. The EAC region should attract investment in production of high technology products to increase intra-EAC imports and reduce imports from Asia and the EU.Item Local Government Councils’ Performance and Public Service Delivery in Uganda: Mbarara District Council Score-Card Report 2012/2013(ACODE Public Service Delivery and Accountability Report Series, 2014) Bainomugisha, Arthur; Kisuule, Yvonne A.; Matsiko, Gershom; Kyankaaga, RodneyThis is the second Local Government Scorecard assessment report for Mbarara District Local Government. Using the scorecard, ACODE assesses the performance of the District Council, the Speaker and individual Councilors who are vested with powers and responsibilities to ensure effective service delivery and good governance of the respective local governments as stipulated in the Local Governments Act. The scorecard is intended to build the capacities of local leaders to deliver on their mandates and empower citizens to demand for accountability from their elected leaders. This report provides information and analysis based on the assessment conducted during Financial Year 2012/13. The report is based on a comprehensive review of existing literature on: planning and budgeting, service delivery monitoring, and Mbarara District Local Government performance reports. A review of minutes of sectoral committees and council sittings was also undertaken to inform the report, particularly about the performance of the Council, the Chairperson and individual Councilors. Face-to-face interviews with the targeted leaders, key informant interviews at service delivery points and focus group discussions with the electorate further enriched the assessment process. Mbarara District Local Government is largely dependent on Central Government transfers which account for 96% of the total budget funding; with local revenue and donor support contributing 2% each.The education sector was allocated the highest share of the budget to the tune of 60.3%. Regarding service delivery outcomes in the primary education sub-sector, 18.2%, 58.5%, 11.65% and 5.2% of the pupils in the district passed in divisions I, II, III, and IV respectively. In the water and sanitation sector, safe water coverage level was at 62%. During the FY 2012/13, 26 districts across the country were assessed. In Mbarara District, the assessment covered 31 councilors, of whom 14 are female while 17 are male. In terms of score-card performance, the District Council scored a total of 65 out 100 possible points. The District Chairperson scored 75 out of 100 points. The District Speaker scored 64 out of 100 points. The total average score for councilors was 47.4 out of 100 possible points, an improvement from 40 points attained in FY 2011/12. The best male councilor was Hon. Tom Karuhanga with 64 points out of 100 points allotted for all the assessed parameters, while the best female councilors were Hon. Jennipher Tumuhairwe and Hon. Juliet Kamushana with 60 points each. Overall, the best performed parameter was the legislative role where, on average, councilors scored 16 out of the 25 possible points. The worst performed parameter was participation in the lower local government where, on average, councilors scored 2 out of the 10 possible points. It should be noted that internal political wrangles; poor record keeping; poor monitoring of government projects; and, low civic awareness, contributed immensely to councilors’ low level of performance. The report makes recommendations on: mandatory individual monitoring reports by Councilors; strengthening of the citizens’ forums (barazas); and, the need to review the existing budget architecture, among others.Item Local Government Councils’ Performance and Public Service Delivery in Uganda Jinja District Council Score-Card Report 2011/2012(ACODE Public Service Delivery and Accountability Report Series, 2013) Asimo, Naomi; Lusala, John Baptist; Kabasingwa, LillianThis is the second Local Government Score-card assessment report for Jinja District Local Government. The score-card assesses the performance of the Local Government Council, the District Chairperson, the Speaker and individual Councilors who are vested with powers and responsibilities to ensure effective governance of the respective Local Governments as stipulated in the Local Governments Act (CAP 234). The score-card is intended to build the capacity of leaders to deliver on their mandates and empower citizens to demand for accountability from elected leaders. The objective of this report therefore is to provide information and analysis based on an assessment conducted during the FY 2011/12. The report is based on a comprehensive review of existing documents which include: planning and budgeting, service delivery monitoring, and Jinja District Local Government performance reports. Qualitative analyses of minutes of standing committees and council sittings was also undertaken to inform the report particularly about the performance of the council, chairperson and individual councilors. Face-to-face interviews with the targeted leaders, interviews with key informants at service delivery points and focus group discussions further enriched the assessment process. A detailed analysis of the Jinja District budget indicates continued low generation of local revenue and hence heavy dependence on central government transfers which accounted for 95.2% of the district’s realized revenue in the FY 2011/12. Locally-generated revenue and donor contributions in this period accounted for 1.95% and 2.89% respectively. Noticeably, the overall budget allocation to Jinja District does not consider key district-specific factors like population influx. Among the key national priority programme areas, the education sector was allocated the highest portion of the budget (52.2%), while the environment and natural resources sector received the smallest allocation (0.7%). In terms of service delivery out-comes in the primary education sub-sector, 7.1%, 37.8%, 22.9%, and 14.1% of the pupils in the district passed in Divisions I, II, III, and IV respectively. Although the district saw a rise in the total number of pupils in Division U in 2011, an increase in passes of nearly 1% was realized in Division I. In the health sector, however, despite efforts having been made to recruit staff, levels of staffing were only at 57%, still leaving a staffing gap of 31% in the entire district. Under the water and sanitation sector, the water coverage level was at 67%.Item Local Government Councils’ Performance and Public Service Delivery in Uganda Mbarara District Council Score-Card Report 2011/2012(ACODE Public Service Delivery and Accountability Report Series, 2013) Bainomugisha, Arthur; Akantorana-Kisuule, Yvonne; Matsiko, Gershom; Kyankaaga, RodneyThis is the first Local Government Score-Card Assessment Report for Mbarara District Local Government. The score-card assesses the performance of the District Council, the LC V Chairperson the Speaker and individual Councilors who are vested with powers and responsibilities to ensure effective governance of the respective local governments as stipulated in the Local Governments Act. The score-card is intended to build the capacities of leaders to deliver on their mandates and empower citizens to demand for accountability from their elected leaders. The objective of this report is to provide information and analysis based on an assessment conducted during Financial Year 2011/12. The report is based on a comprehensive review of existing literature on: planning and budgeting, service delivery monitoring, and Mbarara District Local Government performance reports. A review of minutes of sectoral committees and council sittings was also undertaken to inform the report, particularly about the performance of the Council, the Chairperson and individual Councilors. Face-to-face interviews with the targeted leaders, key informant interviews at service delivery points and focus group discussions further enriched the assessment process. Mbarara District Local Government is heavily dependent on Central Government transfers which account for 96% of the total budget funding, with local revenue and donor support each contributing 2%.The education sector was allocated the highest share of the budget to the tune of 60.3%. Regarding service delivery outcomes in the primary education sub-sector, 14.1%, 57.6%, 14.3% and 6.8% of the pupils in the district passed in divisions I, II, III, and IV respectively. In the water and sanitation sector, water coverage level was at 62%.Item Supporting Business Opportunities for Rural Women in East and Southern Africa: A case study of Uganda(ACODE Policy Research Series, 2018) Kavuma, Susan Namirembe; Muhanguzi, Florence Kyoheirwe; Bogere, George; Cunningham, KiranThis study examines the characteristics of rural women doing business in Uganda. It analyses the nature of business operations and structural barriers women face thus hindering them from seizing economic opportunities. It is part of a collaborative research project on ”Supporting Opportunities for Rural Women in Business in East and Southern Africa” implemented in three countries: Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda. The baseline study informs the design of the proposed intervention to support rural women in business. It also establishes the key parameters to be measured during the endline survey. Three research institutions were contracted to implement this project: the Institute of Environmental Studies (IES) in Zimbabwe, the Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development (CCGD) in Kenya, and Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) in Uganda. The overall aim of this research is to support the economic empowerment of rural women in value addition businesses in the three countries. This will be achieved through identification and promotion of viable business enterprises that lead to the creation of decent and sustainable jobs. In this research, we conceptualise women empowerment in two major dimensions: economic advancement, and power and agency. Expounded by Golla et al. (2011), women’s economic empowerment is defined as the ability of women to succeed and advance economically and possess the power to make and act on economic decisions. For economic empowerment, women must have access to productive resources such as human capital (education, skills and training), financial capital (loans, savings), physical capital (land, machinery), and social capital (networks and mentors). Women must also have the power and agency necessary to make and act on decisions regarding the distribution and control of resources and proceeds from business ventures. This conceptual framework is the basis of our theory of change and the proposed intervention to empower women in the study sites. The intervention is designed to empower women through a combination of mentorship and peer to peer learning to improve their basic business skills and their capacity for product development, both of which were identified as areas of need by women who participated in the baseline study. Through this intervention, women will have greater ability to access productive resources and improve their capacity for agency and wellbeing.Item Strengthening The Role of Local Leaders and Actors in Advocating for Better Forestry Governance and Improved Livelihoods(ACODE Policy Dialogue Report Series, 2014) Amumpiire, Anna; Rhoads, RussellDespite many policy interventions and investment into the forestry sector over the years, Uganda is one of the countries that continue to lose forest cover at high rates worldwide, losing one-third of its forests in the 20 years period from 1990 to 2010.1 It is now generally accepted that poor governance in the management of forest resources at the national and local levels is one of the major bottlenecks to ensuring the sustainable use and management of forests as well as addressing climate change.2 In Uganda, poor governance of the forestry sector continues to lead to loss of forest reserves; declining revenue and undermines the effective implementation of the forestry related policies, laws and regulations; and negatively impacts on vulnerable communities living adjacent to forests who may rely on forests for livelihood.Item Strengthening the Local Government System to Improve Public Service Delivery, Accountability and Governance(ACODE, 2012) Tumushabe, Godber; Ssemakula, Eugene Gerald; Mbabazi, JonasThe Uganda Local Government Councils Score Card is a tool that assesses the performance of elected leaders at the district level. Since its launching in 2009, three assessments have been conducted including the current one for the financial year 2011/2012. The current score card is unique in one particular respect. It covers the first year in office for the officials who were elected in 2011 for a five year term of office. The score card can therefore be used by the leaders to benchmark how they are delivering in their mandate to improve public service delivery, promote accountability and strengthen the foundation for good governance. The 2011/12 score card report builds on the previous reports for the financial year 2008/09 and 2009/10. Those reports highlighted the challenges facing local government councils and councilors across the districts that were covered by the assessment. The number of districts covered by the current assessment was increased from the previous 20 to 26. However, the same challenges remain in spite of the many positive developments that have been put in place by Government. Most importantly, service delivery has considerably deteriorated and there is no visible improvement particularly at specific service delivery units. Cases of overcrowded classrooms, children studying under trees, health centers with no Health personnel staff or functioning ambulances and many others are apparent from the fieldwork.Item Reimagining Being and Belonging in Uganda: An Enabling Framework to Foster our Sustained Development(THE UGANDA NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 2022) THE UGANDA NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCESIn Uganda, Africa, and the world, inclusion and equity remain pervasive concepts in development. Indeed, inclusion and equity lie at the heart of Uganda’s National Development Plan III (NDP III), the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nations across the world, including Uganda, have adapted global agendas to fit their contexts to promote inclusive and equitable development, with varying degrees of success. While Uganda has registered laudable development policy and program successes in many areas, the evidence in this report demonstrates that inclusion and equity have remained elusive in our national context. Uganda has ratified numerous regional, continental, and global treaties and participated in conventions that underscore the significance of equity and inclusion to sustainable development.Item The Status of Implementation of the Education Sector Early Childhood Development Policy in Uganda(Uganda National Commission for UNESCO, 2012) Ejuu, GodfreyUganda is one of the many African countries that still has majority of her people living in poverty. Although the share of Ugandans living in poverty decreased from 56.4 to 24.5 percent between 1992/3 and 2009/10 (MoFPED, 2012), there is substantial and growing urban-rural inequality and imbalance between regions. Despite the impressive growth, Uganda‟s Gini coefficient has been rising over the years, and stands at 0.426 (UNHS, 2009/2010), indicating a worrying trend towards increased income inequality (Kaduru, 2011). This inequality may mean that some children who are born into poor families are much more likely to have parents who have low levels of education attainment, low-quality jobs, and low wages, thus such children are more likely to have less access to public services, such as water and sanitation, health care, and education (Vegas & Santibanez, 2010). A number of interventions have been tried in terms of poverty alleviation such as NUSAF, SACCOs; Youth credit schemes, entandikwa, and PEAP. Even with these interventions, poverty still persists in many communities especially in the rural areas where they live on less than a dollar a day. One of the ways of poverty eradication and reduction of inequality among people is through the use of early childhood development programmes which put children on equal footing prior to starting primary schooling, regardless of the different conditions in life such as poverty, neglect and ignorance (Kisitu, 2009). This notion is expressed in a number of international declarations and frameworks like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Education for All (EFA) goal and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), all of which have provisions for inclusion of ECD as a priority area (UCRNN, 2010). In 1990 at Jomtien in Thailand, 155 nations of the world agreed on a joint plan of action to fulfill six Education For All goals. The first goal required nations to work towards the expansion and improvement of comprehensive ECD by the year 2015. Similarly, the Dakar Framework of Action adopted by the World Education Forum, Uganda, among other participants, committed herself to attain the goals pertaining to the child with emphasis on expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Therefore, any attempts to improve the status of ECD in the country will be an effort that is geared towards the fulfillment of the Education For All (EFA) targets and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Item Estimation of Disaggregated Impacts of Education Expansion on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa(Modern Economy, 2018) Nnyanzi, John Bosco; Kilimani, NicholasUnderpinned by evidence from the theories of endogenous growth which stress the role of human capital accumulation in enhancing growth, this pa- per investigates the disaggregated impact of school enrolment on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1995-2016. The analysis is based on the augmented Solow, and Mankiw models and employs the Gener- alized Method of Moments (GMM) technique that takes care of endogeneity in a dynamic panel environment. The results point to a significant but differ- ential impact of educational expansion in facilitating economic performance in the SSA region. Essentially, the growth enhancing impact of education de- pends on the type of education with secondary education yielding the largest impacts. The gender disaggregated model results show that and secondary school and primary enrolment yield higher growth effects relative to tertiary enrolment. Most interestingly and contrary to existing literature on the gen- der disaggregated impact of education on growth, the education of girls is seen to yield higher growth effects relative to boys. Based on evidence of the positive impact of girl-child education, policy interventions to support and sustain girl child education in Sub-Saharan Africa ought to be encouraged.Item Mitigating the Effects of the Credit Crunch through Trade: The Case of Uganda(African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), 2009) Kilimani, NicholasThe global financial crisis is envisaged to cause substantial global economic instability in the foreseeable future. More worrying however is the fact that the developing countries, which at the start of the crisis seemed to be far away from its effects (first round) will most likely bear a considerable share of its blunt (through the second round effects). In the developing world, Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be severely affected largely because of the high level of susceptibility of most of its economies to external shocks (through the various transmission channels) and also from the fact that these economies had steadily started to be integrated into the global economy over the last one and half decades. This paper analyzes how Uganda could exploit export market diversification as one of the possible responses to the potential impacts of the global financial crisis. It provides an overview of the possible impact of the crisis on the macroeconomic outlook and ways in which the effects can be mitigated with regard to casting a wider export destination for Uganda’s products. The analysis indicates that Uganda can diversify her export markets by capitalizing on the regional market as well as emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.Item Trade Liberalization, Export and Import Growth: Evidence from Uganda(Makerere University, 2009) Kilimani, Nicholas; Sebaggala, RichardThe study explores the impact of trade liberalization on export and import growth in Uganda. A number of developing countries have opened up their own economies to take full advantage of the resultant opportunities for economic development through trade. Proponents of trade liberalization envisage positive results emanating from the increased competition in the sector. For instance, liberalization aids competition in the market, by increasing the basket of goods and services with better quality and lower prices. However, trade liberalization in developing countries has been criticized for increasing import penetration on the pretext of opening up the sector to more competition. The reason is that trade policy reforms tend to have a more immediate effect on the imports than on the exports. This concern has motivated researchers to investigate whether or not the impact of trade liberalization has been greater on export growth than on import growth. This is because Uganda is one of the countries to have implemented significant economic reforms, including the liberalization of the trade regime, over the last two decades and a half. These reforms have been both external and domestic. Substantial progress has been made to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers through the EAC. The study investigated the issue using macro and micro analysis of the Ugandan economy. The macro analysis was employed by estimating the export and import models estimated using Vector Error-Correction modeling (VECM) using time series macroeconomic data for the period 1981-2009. The results of the study suggest that trade liberalization has led more to growth in imports than exports. The macro study findings are in line with previous observations made by Morrissey, et al., (2003); Santos-Paulino (2003); Santos-Paulino & Thirlwall (2004) and Hye & Mashkoor (2010). With regard to the micro analysis several, issues under the trade sector were highlighted that could be linked to the macro evidence which were; larger growth in imports than exports. Such critical issues included the adverse effect of the dismantling of the marketing boards, the inadequacy of the trade sector infrastructure, the low value addition and limited research and dissemination of the ever-changing trends in international trade regarding the products on high demand, the standards required to access such markets as well as the absence of value chains in the tradeables sectors. These have served to inhibit export growth. These issues were manifested at a macro level analysis for instance in the weak significance of the coefficient of the foreign income as well in that of the reel exchange rate in the export growth modelItem Covid-19 Policies: Human Rights Approaches to Protecting Vulnerable Groups in Africa(Africa Academic Science, 2021) Chavarro, Diego; Kagaha, Alexander; Kaunda, Blessings; Zakumumpa, Henry; Manderson, LenoreMultiple social interventions have been introduced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic across Africa. These policies have caused school and workplace closures, controlled informal work activities, led to the cancellation of many public events, restricted the size of public and private gatherings (including religious congregations, weddings and funerals), suspended public transport, limited travel, imposed curfews, and required contact tracing. In anticipation of negative economic impacts of these measures, many governments introduced cash transfers, social pensions, food aid, utility and tax waivers and related measures. However, people living precariously and/or in a structurally vulnerable position have not always had access to this support, and the measures imposed to contain and mitigate the pandemic did not take sufficient account of the effects of the human rights of these individuals. The pandemic is too recent for much empirical research on the impacts of COVID-19, or on the effect of interventions to protect human rights. In undertaking a rapid review of these questions, we examined primary studies, editorial notes, opinion papers and literature reviews using mainly qualitative approaches, and discussions of quantitative studies where these contribute to further understanding the impacts of interventions on human rights in Africa. In this synthesis and analysis, we contribute to understanding how social interventions impact the human rights of vulnerable populations and identify proposals for a policy response to COVID-19 that better integrates the needs of these populations in Africa.Item Issues, beliefs and experience of child marriage and gender-based violence in Uganda: A Qualitative Study(The University of Huddersfield Queensgate, 2021) Kalule Nanfuka, Esther; Turyomurugyendo, Florence; Awich Ochen, EricChild marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. While the prevalence of child marriage has decreased worldwide – from one in four girls married a decade ago to approximately one in five today – the practice remains widespread.3 Child marriage is often the result of entrenched gender inequality, making girls disproportionately affected by the practice. Globally, the prevalence of child marriage among boys is just one sixth that among girls.Item Gender Dimensions, Food Security, and HIV and AIDS in Internally Displaced People’s (IDPs) Camps in Uganda: Implications for HIV-Responsive Policy and Programming(Social Work and Social Administration, 2008) Bukuluki, Paul; Mugumya, Firminus; Neema, Stella; Awich Ochen, EricThis study set out to investigate in specific terms how gender relations influence the interaction between food insecurity and HIV/AIDS in two armed conflict-affected districts, Gulu, in northern Uganda and Katakwi. The study largely embraced qualitative and ethnographic approaches of investigation supplemented by quantitative approaches. An exploratory and descriptive study design largely applying an ethnographic approach was employed. This facilitated the research team to gain a clear understanding of the local meanings and contextual issues that influence interactions between gender, food insecurity, and risky sexual behavior in situations of internal displacement. Quantitative variables were also generated from the ethnographic phase of the study. The ethnographic phase helped to clarify the key variables and indicators, such as the extent of food insecurity, risky sexual behavior, perceived and actual risk to HIV infection, that were followed up and measured using quantitative research instruments. Since the whole philosophy underlying this research is to improve policy and programming, the approach employed was a collaborative one that involved deliberate consultation with relevant government departments as well as local and international agencies involved in activities related to food security and HIV/AIDS in internally displaced peoples (IDPs) camps.Item Rural Youth Entrepreneurs in East Africa: A view from Uganda and Kenya(Investment Climate and Business Environment Research Fund (ICBE-RF), 2012) Namatovu, Rebecca; Dawa, Samuel; Mulira, Fiona; Katongole, Celestine; Nyongesa, StellaThis report is a result of a project titled Entrepreneurship empowering marginalized groups. The project was made possible through funding from the IDRC Trust Africa Investment Climate and Business Environment- Research Fund. The overall objective of the project was to explore the entrepreneurship initiatives that marginalized groups which included women, rural youth and the disabled are engaged in. From earlier studies it is evident that governments are aware of the looming youth problems especially the rising unemployment and entrepreneurship is being considered as a measure to mitigate the crisis. This report is intended to document the rural youth entrepreneurship situation in East Africa, the Ugandan and Kenyan contexts in particular, looking at why rural youth engage in entrepreneurship and what benefits arise there from. The report explores several facets of entrepreneurship as it compares rural youth activities and behaviors in Uganda and Kenya. It examines the socio economic environment in which these young people operate. Further, the report highlights the current policy gaps in youth entrepreneurship by exposing the unique challenges they face and assessing if the initiatives that have been devised have indeed worked. Proposals to achieve entrepreneurship for sustainable growth are then outlined.