Social protection in Uganda: A call for action

Abstract

This paper is the first in a series of theme-focused papers which will be issued in the next 2-3 years by Development Research and Training (DRT), as part of the organisation’s wider efforts to create awareness and to stimulate discussion and interest in Social Protection in Uganda. It is intended to contribute to the campaign for adoption of wide-ranging Social Protection policies and approaches which favour especially the chronically poor. The paper has been prepared by staff members of DRT, building on initial discussions made by representatives of selected Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)1 . Additional ideas on the role of tradition and culture in Social Protection have also been drawn into the paper from emerging findings of an on-going study by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU). The paper also draws on key findings from the Uganda Participatory poverty Assessment Project (UPPAP), the Vulnerability and Poverty Analysis, which accompanied the design of Uganda’s Pilot Cash Transfer Programme, and from a background paper on Social Protection in Uganda which was prepared by, Devereux, Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Lwanga-Ntale (2002)