Uganda Overview
With a series of oppressive leaders and one of Africa’s longest and most brutal civil wars, people living in Uganda have faced hardship, danger and repression since the country’s liberation in 1962. The relatively new republic is still discovering its potential, and ActionAid is on the ground helping this small but resource-rich country find solutions to poverty, hunger, political and social challenges.
Students at the Kitemba Primary School in Madudu sub-county of Mubende, Uganda play outside.
Copyright © Georgie Scott/ActionAid
Video: Uganda's Women Stand Up For Land Rights
Supporting Orphans Affected by HIV and AIDS
Improving Banana Production and Women’s Access to Land in Uganda
Ugandans, ActionAid Improve Education for Hearing-Impaired Students
The Republic of Uganda gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, and has since had a number of leaders that violated citizens basic human rights, according to the United Nations. But in 1986, Ugandan president Yowen Museveni, who remains the country’s leader today, began the process of shifting Uganda into a free and increasingly prosperous country.
The country’s boundaries, set by Great Britain, created a novel compilation of ethnic groups; all with opposing political systems and cultures. This left the clashing citizens without an operating political structure and vulnerable to abuses of power.
In addition to living in political turmoil, fighting over the past two decades between a rebel army called the Lord’s Resistance Army and the government has affected Ugandans. Although, the Ugandan government continues military operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army, there have not been any attacks on citizens since 2006 – a move that has allowed 1.8 million displaced persons to return to their homes.
In 1982, ActionAid set up shop in Uganda’s Mityana sub-county in the Mubende district. By expanding out operations, we now have offices in the districts of Apac, Kalangala, Katakwi, Kampala, Kumi, Masindi, Mubende, Namutumba, Nebbi and Pallisa.
Today, we work with more than 324,000 families throughout the country and support 51 partner community-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society networks and alliances.
On the food security front, ActionAid has partnered with Ugandans to improve productivity and marketing, as well as working with women farmers striving to support their families.
HIV and AIDS remains a challenge for the nation andActionAid is focusing on improving access to antiretroviral treatment for infected people, promoting their rights and their families’ rights as well as implementing a prevention campaign.
Every month in 2009, ActionAid is introducing you to our work around the globe by featuring one of the 50 countries we are working in. We know it can be overwhelming when contemplating the challenges faced by poor people and communities. It can be even more difficult to understand how you can have a role in solutions to global poverty.
But there is hope. With assistance from supporters and activists, ActionAid is making day-to-day life better for millions of the world’s poorest citizens while also working to eradicate the fundamental causes of poverty, project by project, policy by policy.
