Youth warned against inheriting poverty from parents

Sep 01, 2016

The Uganda household survey report 2012/13 indicates that 19.7% of the population representing 6.7m people are living below the poverty line

Youth have been encouraged to work hard and avoid inheriting poverty from their parents.

"Youth should double efforts in order to stop intergenerational, transmission and heritance of poverty," Beatrice Okillan the policy and advocacy coordinator expanding social protection program in ministry of gender said.

"Several Ugandans have failed to work hard and still believe that since they were born in poor families or to poor parents they can never prosper, "Okillan

"We still find it hard to reduce poverty because others still believe that they are born poor and poverty is intergenerational transmission or inherited" she added.

Okillan said that to some extent government should not be blamed for the poverty but Ugandans should take advantage of current programs to breakthrough.

Okillan made an appeal on while addressing Chief Administrative Officers, Community Development officers and district planners in the eastern region who had turned up for a sensitization workshop on National Social Protection Policy at Resort Hotel in Mbale town.

Social Protection Policy refers to public and private interventions to address risks and vulnerabilities that expose individuals to income insecurity and social deprivation leading to undignified lives.

Okillan encouraged more so the youth to work hard and avoid inheriting poverty from their parents, adding that National Social Protection Policy program should be embraced.

She noted that the National Social Protection Policy promotes social cohesion, solidarity, social stability aimed at increasing access to income, to enhance care for vulnerable people and strengthening coordination of policy.

"If somebody retires and continues to get salary in form of pension can still keep child in school and fight household poverty," Okillan noted.

She noted that there has been improvement in the wellbeing of Ugandans, however poverty and vulnerability continues to affect a large section of society with serious implication on Uganda's long term growth and prosperity.

Uganda household survey report 2012/13 from the ministry of finance indicates that 19.7% of the population representing 6.7m people are living below the poverty line.

While 43% of the population representing 13m people are living barely above the poverty line and at risk of becoming poor in case of any slight shock that could tamper with the source of income.

She noted poverty in Uganda ranges to regions from 4.7% central, 8.7% western, 24.5% eastern while north stands at 43.7%.

Okillan revealed that while donors plan to pull out their support from social assistance grants for empowerment, government has agreed to full fund the program, adding that it has earmarked sh140b.

"Government has allowed extending this program to over 40 districts and this will bring it to a total of 51 districts. Our donors will only remain funding three districts," Okillan noted.

Bukwo district chief administrative officer, Francis Odap welcomed the policy and appealed to government to increase the funding of the ministry of gender if the program is to be implemented.

"Millions of old and other vulnerable people still need assistance to make lives move. More sensitization should continue to make the population understand the policy," Odap said.

He also appealed to government to guarantee social security to the population and to provide assistance to people who are vulnerable either in age, social class, location, disability, gender, disasters zones who do not earn any income in order to promote equity.

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