Uganda has met UN goals, says Museveni

By John KakandePRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said Uganda has achieved some of the Global Agenda for children targets, agreed on 10 years ago by the UN. The President was addressing the UN special session on children in New York on Wednesday.He said part of the genesis of the children’s problems in Sub-Saharan Africa is rooted in the lack of access to trade opportunities.Museveni also presided over the launching of the ‘Girls Education Movement’ and met the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, a statement from State House stated.The targets were: ensuring children health and nutrition; lowering the infant mortality rate; universal primary education; safe motherhood; child spacing and family planning; poverty eradication; sustained economic growth; and debt cancellation. “Next year, on account of UPE, one million children will sit for PLE at the same time. In the following years, the enrolment in secondary schools will be greatly expanded,” Museveni said adding that about 300,000 children have been sitting for PLE every year. “The expanded school intake will very soon overcome the problem of illiteracy. However, education must do more than that. It must produce skilled people, scientists and managers that are absorbable by the labour market either inside the country or abroad,” he said.“Our country gets US$505m as private transfers from Ugandans abroad who do unskilled jobs in Japan and other developed countries. If they were all skilled, they would earn more for the country and for themselves, he said.” “The curriculum must be structured in such a way that the necessary emphasis is put on lines that produce school and university products that are absorbable in the labour market.” On access to markets, Museveni said, “The most urgent demand to underwrite all these development goals is to ensure market access to the products of Sub-Saharan Africa to the lucrative markets of the OECD Countries.”“It is clear that the part of the genesis of the children’s problems is rooted in the equitable access to trade opportunities. A comprehensive approach to mankind’s development is the way forward rather than the patchy schemes that have characterised our work so far,” he said. Kofi Annan, Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade Lesotho king Letsie III addressed the session.Ends