Uganda: Country’s Population Most Vulnerable In East Africa Region - Report

By Staff Writer

Ugandan population has been ranked as the most vulnerable population in East Africa Region by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, for a second year running, citing its inability to address income, gender inequalities and prevent crises.

Global 2014 Human Development Report (HDR), which bases on education, health and decent living standards, placed Uganda at position 164 out of 187 countries behind Kenya 147, Rwanda 151 and Tanzania 159.

“This year’s report focuses on the twin concepts of vulnerability and resilience. Vulnerability is the inability to withstand difficulty, while resilience is the capacity to recover quickly,”  saib Almaz Gebru, the country director of UNDP.

Uganda registered a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.484 which put it in the Low Human Development category consisting of at least 42 other countries worldwide.

24 years ago, Uganda’s HDI stood at 0.306 and was comparable to that of Benin. By last year, it had improved to 0.048, an increase of 65% or an average annual increase of about 1.53%.

The report indicates that the countries income growth has been rising due to investment in poverty alleviation – with poverty rate dropping from 56.4% in 1992/93 to 19.7% in 2012/13.

“Lately, there is a lot of talk about Rwanda leapfrogging Uganda in development and how we have failed to implement our programmes but that is not right,”  said Warren Nyamugasira, acting executive director of Development Research and Training (DRT).

Nyamugasira added: “Ugandans are hardworking people. What we should look at is what Rwanda is doing differently because the truth is, we do implement but we implement things that do not produce results.” 

He cited instances in health, which is aiming at building more health facilities without utilizing the ones that already exist.

The report also noted that preventing shocks and promoting opportunities for all, especially for those most at risk, can effectively help reduce vulnerabilities. 

“To tackle the youth bulge, we have to make the right investment. We have to reduce fertility,” said Tony Muhumuza, a UNDP national economist.

African population faces numerous challenges that most of economy analysts claim arise due to lack of planning, mismanagement and corruption on the part of the governments, which may be catastrophic in the near future.