Uganda

Uganda is a landlocked country on the equator between the East African and the Central African Rift Valleys. After years of political instability, an elected government came to power in 1986 and since this time great progress has been made in Uganda's development.

However, the country is still desperately poor, the majority of people are dependent on agriculture and close to half of the population still live without a safe water supply.

There is much to achieve, especially in terms of health and basic services. To aid progress decision making and financial control are being decentralised to district governments.

WaterAid began working in Uganda in 1983 and by 1992 a country office was set up in the capital Kampala. Initially, with no viable partners to work with, WaterAid carried out project work alone.

Jessica Nakamya helps to prepare for the new water source in Luwanga village. "I am digging for my children's future," she says.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Penn

However, political stability has allowed non governmental organisations (NGOs) to re-emerge and WaterAid has changed its approach to support and develop local partner organisations to implement projects. More recently, the decentralisation of government has meant that we have re-focussed our support at the district level.

We now have offices in Wakiso, Mpigi and Katakwi districts as well as in Kampala. We work with seven local partners and local governments in these districts to implement water, sanitation and hygiene education projects.

We are transferring knowledge to these partners and by working together they aim to help 40,000 poor people a year through simple, affordable and sustainable technologies that can be planned, built, operated and maintained by communities.

The water technologies include hand-dug shallow wells, spring protection and rainwater harvesting and a range of sanitation options are also available.

The whole community helps with the construction of a well in Rwakabengo village.

Credit: WaterAid / Jim Holmes

We are building on our reputation as a leading NGO in Uganda by working with, and influencing the policies of, the Ugandan Government which currently has ambitious plans to improve the country's water supplies.

The government has already received substantial funding through the Highly Indebted Poor Country initiative (HIPC).

However, this funding is now being channelled through the newly decentralised district governments which do not have experience of managing such large scale financial projects.

We are now working to build their capacity to ensure this funding is managed and targeted effectively so that even the poorest people benefit through community managed water, sanitation and hygiene projects.

To share knowledge, encourage a more united and coordinated approach and ensure NGOs understand and contribute to national policies we have been instrumental in establishing and supporting networks like the Uganda Water and Sanitation Network.

We also specifically work with universities and training institutes. By teaching students about all aspects of our work we hope to influence the next generation of water, sanitation and hygiene promotion workers in Uganda to ensure a better quality of life for the Ugandan people.

Download the Uganda country information sheet
( PDF 476Kb)