37 districts share Shs114.5b grant for welfare

Ms Christine Guwatudde Kintu (Right), the Permanent Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), and Mr Pius Okello Ongom (2nd Right), the National Programme Coordinator of the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda, guide Mr Jesse Kamstra (Left), the country representative of LWF, and Mr Apollo Gabazira, the CARE country director, to sign grants contracts at the OPM in Kampala on January 14, 2020. Photo by Racheal Mabala

Kampala. At least 37 districts of the five sub-regions in Northern Uganda are set to benefit from Shs114.5 billion grant that government has awarded to nine grantees to implement projects under Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) starting this month.

During the contract signing process on Tuesday at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Kampala, Ms Christine Guwatudde Kintu, the permanent secretary in OPM, said DINU is a continuation of the affirmative action in the recovery of northern Uganda.

“The context of this is that northern Uganda is still lagging behind in terms of most of the development indicators such as poverty in which they are still low at 32 per cent against the national average of 21 per cent. So for government, the affirmative action will continue because we need to bring all the sub-regions at par…,” Ms Guwatudde said.

The focus of the grantees actions will improve the livelihoods of the people through increased production of diversified food, enhanced market opportunities, better maternal and child nutrition, as well as to improved performance and accountability of local governments.

Some of the 37 districts of the five sub-regions of Acholi, Karamoja, Lango, Teso, and West Nile that are benefiting include Lira, Pader, Abim, Nakapiripirit, Nebbi, Arua, Koboko, Dokolo, Otuke, and Amuria.

Implementation
The nine grantees to implement the development projects are National Agricultural Research Organisation, (Naro), Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (ITTA), Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), and Lutheran World Federation, among others.

Mr Perez Muchunguzi, a scientist at IITA, said when given the opportunity, the will focusing on building resilience to enhance food and nutrition security, incomes, and health in Northern Uganda.