Govt, EU want results as sh110b Northern Uganda projects starts

Nine organisations have been cleared to start work on development projects in northern Uganda worth €27m (sh110b), under the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU).

The organisations will implement projects with focus on increasing production of assorted food, expanding market opportunities for farmers, and improving maternal and child nutrition.

The organisations which signed contracts with government include Caritas Switzerland, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture; Lutheran World Foundation, National Agricultural Research Organisation; ADOL Healthcare Initiative, Diakonia-Sweden, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung; Care Denmark and Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development.

DINU is a government programme supported by the European Union aimed at improving the livelihood of people in the five sub-regions of Acholi, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and West Nile.

Speaking at a contract signing meeting in Kampala recently, Nadia Cannata, a representative from the EU delegation in Uganda tasked organisations to involve local leaders in the projects.

"The EU will stand together with government to ensure that this flagship programme brings expected benefits to the populations in the targeted districts," she stated.

Christine Guwatudde, the permanent secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), who chaired the meeting, said; "Of very key interest to OPM is that you strengthen your implementation approaches and deliverables to avoid waste of resources on activities that would not translate into changes in the lives of the target community and beneficiaries.

The DINU programme is one of several initiatives under affirmative action for Northern Uganda, a region once held back by the ravages of a fight against the Lord's Resistance Army rebels.

The beneficiary organisations will receive funding in two categories: the first one targeting to increase food security, improve maternal and child nutrition, and enhance household incomes through support to diversified food production and commercial agriculture.

The second component involves strengthening the capacity, gender-responsiveness, good governance and rule of law, and empowering communities to demand better service delivery.