Uganda is one of the countries that are set to benefit from a regional initiative on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM).

The initiative supports the gold sector’s contribution to sustainable peace and development, the United Nations Country office said Monday.

It noted that the initiative will support the formalization of the gold sector through better access to funding for artisanal miners' cooperatives; contribute to regional harmonization of “gold fiscal regimes; help curb Illicit financial flows; and support local transformation of gold”.

As well as Uganda, other countries to benefit from the $3.7m include Burundi, eastern DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania, and other gold producers, exporters and transit countries.

Uganda recently announced a discovery of huge gold deposits, with reports indicating that the country is now home to 31 million metric tonnes of gold with extractable pure gold estimated to be about 320,000 metric tonnes valued at $12.8 trillion

During his State of the Nation address early this year, President Yoweri Museveni said officials in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development had informed his Cabinet about the huge gold deposits discovered in different parts of the country, adding that Uganda stood to earn about $700m in royalties.

The largest deposits were found in the Karamoja area of the Northern region; however, gold reserves were also discovered in the country's eastern, central, and western regions.

While there has recently been progress in the supply chain of the 3Ts (tin, tungsten, tantalum) in the region, smuggling of ASM gold from eastern DRC continues to strengthen armed groups to the detriment of regional peace and stability according to the UN Uganda country office.

 The UN initiative thus aims to contribute to a better business environment in the gold sector conducive to peace.