By URN
The Kingdom of Denmark is set to Uganda with up to 361 billion shillings (USD 95 million), in its new bilateral development program with the East African country.
The lion’s share of the fund which is 178.6 billion shillings, goes to finding lasting solutions to the problems that affect refugee populations in the country, as well as supporting Uganda’s role in the stabilization of the region. 91.2 Billion shillings is focused on promoting environmentally friendly, sustainable, and all-embracing economic transformation plans, that are in line with the global climate crisis, while 41.8 billion shillings is for strengthening democratic values, as well as protecting human rights and the civic space in general.
The five-year fund was revealed by Dan Jorgensen, the Danish minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate policy, while discussing how global climate change policies, shape the local energy transition and environmental affairs at the Human Rights and Peace Center (HURIPEC) at Makerere University.
Jorgensen says that the fund’s main focus is to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on Ugandan society in, both locals and the refugee communities. With over 1.5 million refugees, Uganda is Africa’s largest refugee host country, an initiative that has come with a heavy cost to the environment and conservation in the country.
According to the minister, the fund will also support the refugees to live a decent life irrespective of their status, and this will be an answer to Uganda’s continued call to the international community to help support its refugee communities.
The fund is to be channeled through local and international NGOs for the implementation of the various programs, and Jorgensen adds that it is the responsibility of the developed countries to fund climate change initiatives in the developing world since they are the major perpetrators of this world catastrophe.
“This project builds on a long-standing relationship between organizations from Uganda and Denmark, with whom we have been partners for many years, and we are working with a wide range of organizations both local and international. One of the biggest injustices is that the countries that are hit hard by climate change are not the ones that created it. This is why we feel a special responsibility to support in the transition that is necessary for the future,” he explained.
While deliberating on the topic, Brian Isabirye, the commissioner for renewable energy in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, noted that though Uganda has an ambitious target of Net Zero emissions by 2050, which is backed by a well-stipulated implementation plan, funding remains a huge challenge, whose solution is not yet found.
He adds that enough data to support decision-making in transition also remains a problem, yet it is always underfunded.
“Support for research for development is critical, but most of the time in these conversations around climate change, we are not providing enough financing for the researchers,” Isabirye explains. “So we are struggling to get the right evidence as we makepolicies and developing government programs and some of them that are not doing well are not founded on a strong base of evidence, and that’s why we have problems.”
According to Isabirye, part of this fund from the Danish government is committed to supporting local companies to sustain and localize clean energy value chains especially away from the capital city.
