Uganda is facing increasingly irregular climate changes comprising of heavier and more erratic rainfall causing flooding, high temperatures causing severe and longer-lasting droughts.

Several actions have been undertaken by Government to combat the escalating climate changes including development of the National Climate Change Policy and its implementation strategy. Government commits 30% of national resources and 70% expected from internal sources to respond to climate change by 2030.

The brief examines the current status of the WASH (Water and Sanitation) initiative in Africa, status of countries prioritizing this in their plans and discussing what relevant stakeholders can do going forward to close the financing gaps. It was prepared by the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (WASH) in Africa.  Investment in WASH is beneficial in achieving SDGs beyond water and sanitation to different sectors such as Health and Education.

Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) developed processes for operations, assessment and enforcement of standards to improve product quality. Uganda has 3,600 compulsory and voluntary standards that are prone to updating or withdrawal when new product developments arise. UNBS currently enforces three standards namely: National (Uganda Standards [US]); Regional (harmonized EAC standards [EAS]); and International Standards [ISO]).

This brief underscores the need to support export diversification in order to reduce Uganda’s trade deficit, address distortions in trade attributed to COVID-19 pandemic and other shocks such as climate change and geopolitical related issues, and to sustain economic growth and development. The brief indicates that light manufacturing and agricultural sectors have a high potential for export diversification, relative to other sectors. Additionally, Uganda’s potential export markets have been identified as Africa, Europe and Asia.

This brief focuses on understanding the implementation of water safety management strategies; studying the effects of change in operational strategies; and challenges of implementing usage practices from an urban to semi-urban setting in a small town. In Uganda’s scenario, the key findings of the study included the importance of sustaining risk management strategies, detection of fecal matter in water distribution, and deterioration of water quality upon storage in households.

The National Environment Act N0.5, 2019 necessitates any project that anticipates to have any substantial environmental impact to undertake an Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). The purpose of ESIA is to assess and predict adverse social and environmental impacts and to develop suitable mitigation measures, which are documented in an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP).

By July 2022, the domestic price for diesel and petrol in Uganda had increased by 71.5 percent and 56.1 percent respectively compared to July 2021. A time when the economy was still struggling to rebound from the devastating effects of COVID-19.

The global energy crisis directly affects local fuel prices and therefore the economy. However, domestic policy actions can influence tax-related costs, distribution, and profit margin but not the international crude oil price. As a result, the Government of Uganda did not intervene to curb the escalating prices.

Involvement of various MDAs is critical in the Development of Uganda’s livestock sector is pertinent in attaining objectives of the third National Development Plan through the Agro-Industrilization Programme. These MDAs play critical roles such as (i) regulating the activities of members, (ii) promoting production, processing, marketing and consumption of livestock products and (iii) offering financial and advisory services to members, among others.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has worsened the food security crisis in many African countries. Many countries in East, West, Middle, and Southern Africa rely on Russia and Ukraine for a significant percentage of their wheat, fertilizer, or vegetable oils imports, but the war disrupts global commodity markets and trade flows to Africa, increasing already high food prices in the region. Even countries that import little from the two countries are indirectly impacted by higher world prices for key commodities.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. Hundreds of millions of people were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, we could see a global food emergency. In the longer term, the combined effects of COVID-19 itself, as well as corresponding mitigation measures and the emerging global recession could, without large-scale coordinated action, disrupt the functioning of food systems.