A new report released under the auspices of the African Union shows that Uganda has made commendable efforts to improve its performance on a number of development indicators, including democracy.

The report, released on Thursday, dubbed second African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), also highlighted several commendable governance policies and best practices that can be emulated by other countries on the continent.

For example, according to the report, Uganda is one of the best models in the management and integration of refugees.

The other areas where Uganda is a good example on the continent include care for victims of gender-based violence, youth representation in Parliament, the Uganda Investment Authority’s one-stop centre, Uganda’s approach to management of its oil resources and the AskYourGov.org website, which helps members of the public to get the information they want from public authorities.

The report, whose assessment was based on four thematic areas, including democracy and political governance, economic governance and management; corporate governance and socio-economic development, however, also highlighted challenges the country is facing that need immediate attention.

For example, the report said there is need to deal with, among others, a rising threat of cyber (in)security and corruption in the country. It said corruption has become more complex and sophisticated, exacerbated by advancing technology.

“The Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey, 2018 mentions that cyber crime has the third-highest incidence rate in Uganda of 31%, tying with asset misappropriation. This continues to be the biggest threat to organisations,” the report, which is an assessment of Uganda between July 2019 and October 2021, said.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

Other challenges arise from environmental degradation, which the report said is a result of failure to rein in encroachers on Government reserve land spaces, such as wetlands and forests.

“The Government should consider a review of the laws on natural resources with emphasis on insulating protected areas against damage, cancellation of land titles and public trust litigation,” the report said.

Also picked out as a challenge requiring attention is the budget indiscipline. It said implementation of the national budget has, in some instances, been ‘disjointed’. This, the report, said distorts planning and “may result in duplication of activities, wastage and abuse”.

TEENAGE PREGNANCIES

The report raises a red flag on the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the country.

According to the report, teenage pregnancies contributed up to 10% of maternal deaths in the FY 2019/20.

“Thirty-six percent of maternal deaths in 2019/2020 occurred among mothers below 24 years, who should have been in school. This calls for multi-sectoral action to keep girls in school, life skills development for those out of school and improvement of the capacity of health facilities to offer quality adolescent and youth responsiveness to sexual and reproductive health and rights services,” the report said in its recommendations.

Reacting to the report, Amos Lugolobi, the state minister for finance, who also doubles as APRM’s focal person, welcomed the findings.

“As Government, we are committed to uphold the achievements and best practices and further address the shortfalls identified through the actions underlined in the addendum APRM National Programme of Action (NPOA). I, therefore, take the opportunity to commend the National Planning Authority as the APRM Secretariat that has endeavoured to integrate the NPOA in the NDPIII for its implementation by Government," he said.