ENG - UN CC:Learn

SUDAN
AFRICA
UGANDA
MDG7
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
Jinja
Entebbe
More than 15% of Uganda is covered in water. However, these water
resources are not evenly distributed. There are wide fluctuations in the
Mbarara
availability of water between periods of wet and dry years, leading to
floods, droughts and uncertainties over the timing of wet seasons. High
population density, deforestation and poor agricultural practices are scaling
RWANDA
Lake Victoria
TANZANIA
down the availability of water resources. Severe soil erosion is reported in the mountainous and hilly areas of the eastern
and northeastern parts of the country, as well as in the pastoral livestock areas.
Substantial progress has been made with regard to improving access to safe water over the past ten years. Rural coverage increased
from 24% in 1991-1992 to 55% ten years later, while urban coverage increased from 60% to 62% during the same period. The
Government’s target is to provide safe drinking water to 100% of the urban population and the rural population by 2010 and 2015,
respectively. Although lack of data for the 1990s prevented the calculation of MDG target 10 for the urban areas, it is evident that
Uganda will surpass the MDG target much earlier than 2015.
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $14,132,609
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $892,000
Total: $15,024,609
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
3.6 ODP tonnes
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC
OF CONGO
Kampala
Gulu
UGANDA
Mbale
Soroti
KENYA
More than 50% of Uganda’s urban community is living in informal unplanned settlements, with a majority of these poor being
unemployed due to lack of skills. With absence of security of tenure, they cannot access any financial support for investment. They
are victims of health hazards, lack of clean water and inadequate sanitation facilities. Their children suffer from deprivation and are
exposed to disease and limited education. Female-headed households
are more common in urban areas (31%) than in rural areas
(27%) and continue to suffer gender discrimination.
The Ugandan government aims to mainstream the concerns of the
urban poor and slum dwellers into the national development agenda.
Some studies have already been conducted, including that of the
UN Habitat with a view to addressing MDG 7 targets. 1
Rainwater Harvesting Increases Access to Water 2
SPOTLIGHT
The Nalukonge community is located within Uganda’s Cattle Corridor, a semi-arid belt used by
semi-pastoral communities to graze and water their livestock. The introduction of commercial
ranching has reduced the proportion of communal land available to pastoral communities
and limited their access to water. Their main coping strategy has usually involved longdistance
herding of cattle southwards into neighboring districts, and sometimes as far a field
as Tanzania. But even with this strategy, communities have suffered declines in livestock productivity,
as well as encountering increasing conflicts with the communities they pass through
in search of water and pasture. Moreover, women and children left behind also lack sufficient
water for domestic use.
In 1998, the Nalukonge received a US$ 5,000 grant from UNDP to establish additional water sources for livestock
and reduce overcrowding and pressure on existing water sources. The community accepted a 70:30 formula for sharing
the cost of constructing valley tanks to harvest rainwater for both human and livestock consumption. Besides meeting 30% of
the costs of the tanks, the community established mechanisms to ensure equitable access to and cleanliness of the valley tanks
premises. Responsibilities were equitably shared between women and men. Strong partnerships developed with both the local
government and a local NGO that helped with training and capacity building.
WATER
Following the positive impact of the three initial valley tanks constructed, the Nalukonge decided to mobilize their own
resources and construct additional tanks themselves using the training they had received.
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