What are links between poverty and good governance?

NATAMBA SHADRACK FROM UCU-MUKONO UGANDA.

Question: What are links between poverty and good governance?

The conceptual understanding of the Key words- poverty and Good Governance
Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money.

According to the World Bank Organization poverty described this way: “Poverty is hunger, poverty is lack of shelter, poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor, poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time and not having right

Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape. So poverty is a call to action -- for the poor and the wealthy alike -- a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities.”

In addition to a lack of money, poverty is about not being able to participate in recreational activities; not being able to send children on a day trip with their schoolmates or to a birthday party; not being able to pay for medications for an illness. These are all costs of being poor. Those people who are barely able to pay for food and shelter simply cannot consider these other expenses. When people are excluded within a society, when they are not well educated and when they have a higher incidence of illness, there are negative consequences for society. We all pay the price for poverty. The increased cost on the health system, the justice system and other systems that provide supports to those living in poverty has an impact on our economy

While much progress has been made in measuring and analyzing poverty, the World Bank Organization is doing more work to identify indicators for the other dimensions of poverty. This work includes identifying social indicators to track education, health, access to services, vulnerability, and social exclusion. It is therefore, important to note that this animal called ‘Poverty’ can easily be identified than defining and there is no single that be attributed to causing poverty, and that its results are different in every case. Poverty varies considerably depending on the situation for instance, feeling poor in Canada is different from feeling poor in Uganda. The differences between rich and poor within the borders of a country can also be great despite the many definitions, one thing is certain; poverty is a complex societal issue.

According to UNDP, governance can be defined as "the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country's affairs at all levels. Governance comprises the complex mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, mediate their differences and exercise their legal rights and obligations. Good governance has many attributes. It is participatory, transparent and accountable. It is effective in making the best use of resources and is equitable. And it promotes the rule of law."

Good Governance is the exercise of politico-administrative and managerial authority and order which is legitimate, accountable, transparent, democratic, efficient and equitable in resource allocation and utilization, and responsive to the critical needs of promoting human welfare and positive transformation of society. It manifests itself through benchmarks which include a constitution, pillars of the state derived from the constitution, mechanisms for checks and balances on governments, efficient mechanisms of delivery of services by government, security, good leadership, the rule of law, participation by the people, freedom of expression, transparency, accountability, legitimacy, devolution of power, informed citizenry, strong civil society, protection of basic human rights, regular free and fair elections, good international relations, political stability, protection of property and life.

Good Governance articulates the relationship between state and citizen, and because of this, development cooperation agencies have increasingly taken it up as fundamental to the fight against poverty and inequality and the promotion of sustainable development (Baden 2000).

This is because governance shapes political decisions over distribution of resources and the allocation of public power. On the one hand, governance has to re-invent itself as ‘pro-poor’, and the definitions of poverty are being expanded to include lack of power over decision making and access to information (Baden 2000). In order for governance to successfully address poverty, it must address the experiences of both poor women and men – particularly since a greater proportion of the population under absolute poverty.

Despite improvements registered in recent years in terms of economic growth, which President Museveni, during his Independence Day message on October 9 said was growing at 7 percent GDP, many seem to be living in the shadows of these impressive figures. But Mr Museveni said 23 years ago, the average annual income of a Ugandan was $264, today every citizen, he said has some $1.4 (about Shs3,500.) in their pocket daily, adding to some $504 a year.

For example, the latest Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) report titled “Spatial trends of poverty and inequality in Uganda 2002-2005” shows that the proportion of Ugandans still living in absolute poverty is 31 percent (about 9 million people), with the majority of these found in the east and northern regions. This, however, according to the report is an improvement from 39 per cent of people who were living in abject/horrible poverty in 2002.

Development experts think the fight has not reached the poverty heartland.
Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba from Makerere University who has done wide consultancy on poverty eradication in Africa said the rapid economic growth that the country is experiencing is not translating into better life for most of its citizens. “The economic growth which should be benefiting the whole country is being enjoyed by a few people. It hasn’t been distributed evenly,”

According to the UBOS report, in all the four regions of the country, the rural poverty rate is higher than the urban poverty rate, usually ranging between 19.3 per cent and 65 per cent for rural areas and less than 25 per cent for urban areas, except northern Uganda where urban poverty is at 39.7 percent. In terms of the poverty gap, the report says the north still reported a high gap of 23.5 per cent compared to only 4.52 per cent in western Uganda.

A 2007 UNDP midterm report on Uganda’s performance on the MDGs shows that the country is on track to meet its goal of cutting poverty by 2015, but it’s threatened by several factors including low agricultural production and a fast growing population. The population growth stands at 3.2 per cent annually. This means that the population doubles every 20 years, and by 2025, it is expected to have grown to 56 million people.
The theoretical link between good governance and poverty is that Good governance is founded on citizens’ ability to claim entitlements in three broad areas: the right to participate in public decision-making; the inclusion of people’s needs and interests in policy; and the allocation of resources (Baden 2000). Good governance entails the elements/characteristics such as; Participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, and consensus oriented equity and inclusiveness, efficiency and effectiveness, and accountability and the level of each of these will determine the level of poverty alleviation.

First of all, accountability at the national and local level is very important as far as poverty is concerned. Through general elections all citizens, including the poor and marginalized, can exercise their basic democratic right to make their voice heard and influence the direction of public policy. Accountability, however, comes not only from voting every few years, but also through the establishment of appropriate systems of monitoring and control that allow for a fair and transparent allocation of government resources. Lack of accountability means that the poor pay a particularly high price for corruption, as they often lack the power and the knowledge to avoid paying bribes and to defend themselves and their own rights. Another way of promoting accountability is through participation mechanisms, as the poor are likely to benefit mostly from programs that they have helped design and implement, and over which they have some degree of control.
The Human Development Report (2000) states that accountability is about power; it is not just about having a voice in decision making but about making the leaders accountable. When leaders became responsible about the decisions and actions they make which should be pro-poor. The World Bank for example estimates that over $300 million dollars is lost to corruption annually in Uganda. . This has perpetuated poverty in many ways and it is the reason for the persistent poverty in the country. If people held leaders accountable, then they would not squander or misallocate resources and if these resources are put into right use, then there will be reduced levels of poverty in Uganda
Secondly, Participation; is very paramount in as far as poverty reduction is concerned. The level of participation determines how much the planners can be able to put into implementation and off-course this is a road map to economic development (UNESCAP 2009). This could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that participation does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. It also gives the people a sense of ownership thus making policies and development programmes more sustainable.
Human development; it is good governance that facilitates human development which is a core principle in development. Human development is about expanding people’s functioning’s and capabilities and it goes beyond mere/sheer rights to freedom, to education, to health, among other basic needs to a level where one is able to participate in decision making and the general development process. If there is good governance, services like health, education and population growth and employment will be provided to the people and the moment they are empowered to know what should be done, then poverty will be gradually reduced. A high population for example puts a lot of strain on the available resources, services and facilities which directly hampers economic development (Abdellatif, 2003:15).
Legal Rights and Access to Justice; Poor and disempowered groups such as women encounter discrimination within legal governance systems at three levels: 1) laws (discriminatory laws on property ownership or absence of anti-violence legislation); 2) legal systems (information requirements or evidence procedures); and cultural attitudes (male bias of judges and lawyers). However, reform of democratic structures and the drawing up of constitutions in the developing world have provided women’s movements with an entry point in which to ensure their rights are embedded in legislation (Baden 2000). Nonetheless, such legislation often adds to ‘parallel’ legal systems where new sets of legal rights co-exist alongside other formal and informal or customary laws.

The use of customary law is more common the farther individuals are from the centre of the state – both geographically and in terms of their socio-economic position. It will therefore be more likely to impact on the lives of poor people than ‘formal’ law. Customary law is also particularly significant for women’s access to justice since it tends to govern family or domestic issues such as marriage, divorce, adultery and gender-based violence. Research indicates that when cases are tried through customary law there may be even less chance of women receiving justice than in the case of formal legal systems (Nyamu-Musembi 2005).

Decentralization has generally been considered to be a positive step towards making governments more accountable to the poor by bringing decision-making down to a local level. Research has show that where resources are available, decentralisation has resulted in the greater participation of poor and marginalised groups of people such as women in decision making, and in monitoring the activities of local governments. However it must be remembered that local service providers are not in charge of national budgets and some commentators have argued that poverty reduction measures are therefore better dealt with at the national level (Baden 2000).

It has also enhanced service delivery and the development of a culture of participation by the people and accountability toward the people. Thus, decentralization and local governments play important roles in a number of the key priority areas including: 1) Promoting democracy; 2) Improving local ownership of development efforts and; 3) Enhancing accountability and the fight against corruption.

Finally, democratic opportunities depend significantly on the Poor’s access to information and communication, especially in the light of the great potential created by more recent technologies, access to which remains highly unequal. Expanding such access can enhance people's capacity to understand issues, to participate in public life more constructively, and to create important linkages that can result in coalitions for change. In this sense the potential role of information and communication in the democratization of governance structures is great.
Good governance promotes stability of governments and this creates a good environment for investment, and this is a source of revenue for the country and provides job opportunities. The level at which government can attract both foreign and local investor determines how much jobs will be created, the production of goods and services and how much revenue that will be collected. On top of the above, when a country is politically stable, its people can participate in production of goods and services and at the end this can boost the country’s economy.
Efficiency and effectiveness; Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment (UNESCAP 2009. Similarly, under good governance, public sector reform is necessary to create and maintain an effective government structure and procedures to formulate and implement development policies and programmes. Public sector reform also includes providing training to employees, improvement in the delivery of public services like health and security leads to efficiency and effectiveness (Kuotsai, 2007). Improvement in all the aspects mentioned above leads to efficiency and effectiveness and thus economic growth.
In conclusion good governance helps us to establish societies that are stable, and capable of resolving conflicts in a peaceful manner, that promotes human rights and educates the people to democratic ideals. All these features contribute to economic prosperity/development in one way or the other. Abdellatif (2003:18) for example asserts that without democratic good governance, people have no voice and control on the risks their governments assume, likewise, without transparency and freedom of the press, people cannot understand the risks and hold the leaders accountable (although the freedom of press is not yielding much in Uganda).
It is also important to note that though democratic good governance is very crucial in development, it also has some limitations in that the views of interest groups can submerge the implementation of major decisions in the development process. On top of that, too much political freedom can cause chaos just like what has been happening in Uganda.

Nevertheless, as earlier on stated, democratic good governance is a very vital aspect in the development process because it gives the public the freedom to choose what they deem is best for them. It also helps curb the most dreaded evil-corruption. Needful to point is the fact that for democratic good governance to thrive there must be strong institutions.

Finally, no matter how poverty is defined, it can be agreed that it is an issue that requires everyone’s attention. It is important that all members of our society work together to provide the opportunities for all our members to reach their full potential. It helps all of us to help one another.

Free and fair elections, mechanisms and systems for accountability, transparency and participation, decentralization, access to information and communication. These four elements constitute, according to UNDP, the main avenues through which the promotion of good governance can result in the reduction of poverty levels. Governance is therefore seen as the "missing link" between anti-poverty efforts and poverty reduction, just as is democracy in the title of this workshop.

REFERENCES:

UNDP (1997); Governance for Sustainable Human Development; UNDP'S Experience in Mozambique

Jhingan, M.L. (2007). The Economics of Development and Planning (39th ed.). India: Vrinda Publications.

Mette, A.K. (2004). Governance: Key Concepts. Cambridge: Polity Press Goetz, A.M and Jenkins, R., 2005, Re-thinking Accountability,

Nyamu-Musembi, C., 2005, For or Against Gender Equality? Evaluating the Post-Cold
War “Rule of Law” Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa, UNRISD Occasional Paper 7, Geneva: UNRISD

United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI), 2001, Joint Workshop on Governance, Poverty Reduction and Gender Equality, Vienna 23 – 25 April 2001

Baden, S., 2000, ‘Gender, Governance and the Feminization of Poverty’, Women and Political Participation: 21st Century Challenges, New York: UNDP

The United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) (2009), Good Governance and Its Relationship to Democracy and Economic Development. May 20-31, 2003. Adel. M. Abdellatif

Problems of Developing Countries in Promoting Good Governance. December 29, 2006. Ananda, M. Bhattarai



Internet sources
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/CAFRAD/UNPAN008710.pdf Saturday, October 24, 2009

http://www.njanepal.org.np/materials/Speech%20ananda%20ksl.doc

TTTThttp://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Poverty_bites_as_Ugandans_struggle_t _live_another_day_93478.shtml Saturday, October 24, 2009

Question: In your own view can Millennium Development Goals assist the World to reduce poverty?

According to the World Bank Organization, poverty is described as; “Poverty is hunger, poverty is lack of shelter, poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor, poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time and not having right. Poverty manifests itself as material, powerlessness, physical weakness isolation deprivation, but its causes can be found in the power relations that govern how valued resources are distributed in a society. Like most other African countries, poverty remains the greatest challenge facing the people of Uganda.

Poverty has been defined not only as lack of incomes but also as the inability to meet basic and social needs, the feeling of powerlessness to break out of the cycle of poverty, and insecurity of persons and property. In 1992 poverty rates in Uganda stood at 56% but declined to 44% in 1997, 34% in 1999/2000, then rose to 38% in 2002/2003 before falling again to 31% in 2005/2006 (PEAP 2004).

The population in Uganda is predominantly rural and agricultural based. There are significant regional disparities in poverty levels, with the highest incidence in the north of the country. More people in northern Uganda live below the poverty line (64.8%) followed by eastern region at 38.4%, Central Uganda has 19.6%, while western has 19.3% poor people. In these regions, long affected by conflict, all the MDG indicators fare very poorly, although the ongoing peace talks between the Government and the LRA rebels bring promises of peace and sustainable development for Northern Uganda at least (Uganda MDG Progress Report 2007).

The Government of Uganda has tried to address these challenges through a comprehensive national poverty reduction strategy, the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), a fundamental instrument which acts as the overarching framework for national development. The PEAP sets an ambitious target of reducing the proportion of the population living in absolute poverty from 44% in 1997 to below 10% by 2017 (PEAP 2004).
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To escape the poverty trap, a “big push” in public investments is needed to achieve a rapid “step” increase in the World’s underlying productivity.
On the other hand, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of time-bound and measurable goals for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. - formulated at the United Nations Millennium Summit (New York, Sept. 2000)
According to the UN Department of Public Information, the number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide, on less than one dollar a day exceeds 1.3 billion, and women are the majority (UNDPI 2003). Moreover, the focus on the quantitative measurement of a dollar a day ignores the fact that for poor people do not access affordable housing and transportation, clean and safe water and sanitation, primary health care for their families and education are essential to well-being for their families and communities (Antrobus 2005). There are multiple factors that lead to this reality, which may differ by region or locality.

Uganda in particular, is a signatory to the Millennium Declaration that was launched at the UN Summit in September 2000 and these MDGs constitute specific, measurable targets that are summarized by the following eight goals: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.

Uganda has achieved tremendous progress in the area of HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction, Universal Primary Education and gender empowerment, as well as part of goal 8 on developing partnerships for development. Income poverty levels also reduced dramatically from 56% in 1992 to 35% in 2002.
It is important to note that Uganda has put in place some efforts to achieve the MDGs through the Poverty Eradication action plan (PEAP), which sums up the government’s major development plan for economic transformation and improvement in living standards. The overall goal of the PEAP is the reduction of absolute poverty to less than 10% by the year 2017.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the incidence of poverty fell from 56% in 1992, to 44% in 1997 and 35% in 2000. Uganda has done relatively well compared to many other Sub-Saharan African countries in achieving high economic growth of 6.9% per year during the 1990s and ensuring improved incomes for poor as well as better-off households. However, the impressive results have not been attained throughout the country, with places like the northern region missing out on poverty reduction “In fact, it increased from 60 to 66% between 1997 and 2000.

To achieve the MDGs by 2015 the UN Millennium Project Task Forces have identified specific sets of interventions for scaled-up investment. Many of these interventions are expected to have effects on several goals. For example, improved education leads to many benefits, including reductions in income poverty, hunger, and child mortality.
Likewise meeting each goal requires integrated strategies comprising action across many different “sectors”. For example, reducing child mortality by two-thirds will not only require specific health interventions, but also improved access to water supply and sanitation to reduce diarrheal diseases; a lowering of indoor air pollution through improved cooking fuels and stoves; and improved gender equality and maternal education.

In identifying MDG interventions it is necessary to make a clear distinction between outcomes, such as hunger reduction, and areas of programmatic activity, such as raising agricultural productivity and providing nutrition. In some cases this distinction is particularly important since, for example, “health” refers to an area of programmatic activity as well as MDG outcomes. It is important to point out, that countries should carry out a goal-by-goal analysis of interventions required to meet specific MDG outcomes. Subsequently, these interventions need to be bundled into broader intervention areas that can serve as a framework for developing an operational strategy to achieve the MDGs (Sachs et al.2004).

In my own view, the MDGs can assist the world in poverty reduction and the student is going to give his analysis goal per goal;

The first MDG under analysis is to eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger and Uganda has made significant strides in reducing poverty. The population living below the poverty line reduced from 56% to 31% between 1992 and 2006. If this trend continues, prospects for achieving the income-poverty target of less than 10% by 2017 remain high. The two main indicators for monitoring hunger are the prevalence of underweight children under five years of age and the proportion of the population living below the minimum level of dietary energy consumption. Between 1995 and 2006, the proportion of underweight children reduced from 25.5% to 20.4%. The proportion of the population unable to meet the recommended food caloric intake increased from 58.7% in 1999 to 68.5% in 2006, with wide geographical divergences. The northern region reported the highest prevalence of caloric deficiency between 2002 and 2006.

However, most governments in the world and Uganda in particular have embarked on Agricultural productivity and rural infrastructure. Because three-quarters of Africa’s poor for instance live in rural areas, and an overwhelming percentage are employed in agriculture, the first area of interventions focuses on raising rural productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner. In particular, the investments in farm productivity will increase rural incomes and reduce chronic hunger, which in Africa is predominantly caused by insufficient agricultural productivity.
Additional interventions for roads, power, improved cooking fuels and stoves, and water and sanitation are geared at providing a basis for higher productivity and efficiency. Investments in improved land and water management practices will help reverse environmental degradation in rural Africa and all these will be reducing poverty.

The second MDG is Universal Primary Education; which was initiated by the Government of Uganda in particular, with the aim of increasing access to quality primary education. The government committed itself to pay school fees, provide textbooks and other instructional materials for pupils and teachers, and to meet the costs of co-curricular activities, school administration and maintenance. Although this policy was initially aimed at four children of school-going age per family, it was revised in 2002 to cover all children of school-going age.

The introduction of UPE in 1997 led to a substantial increase by 132% in gross enrollment from the pre-UPE total of 3.1 million in 1996 to 7.2 million children in 2006. In 2004, Uganda recorded a gross enrollment ratio of 104.4% and net enrollment ratio of 86%. According to the national household survey 2005/06, the net enrolment ratio was 84%, reflecting a slight decline. Uganda is, therefore, on the right path to achieving the MDG target of 100% by 2015. In addition, the gender enrollment gap in primary education has narrowed, with the proportion of girls in total enrollment rising to 49% in 2004 up from 44.2% in 1990.

From the above, one can be able to notice that increased enrollment at UPE level has significantly increased the numbers in education at all levels. The designers of UPE have paid attention to increasing girls’ completion rates. In Uganda for example, it is UPE that gave birth to Universal secondary education (USE). Therefore, it is evident that large numbers of secondary school graduates are needed to help deliver the other MDG intervention packages; for example, secondary school graduates are needed as community health workers and agricultural extension workers.

The third MDG is to improve Gender Equality and Women Empowerment; since 1990, Uganda has exercised affirmative action in favour of women with regard to admission into university and other tertiary institutions. Women applying for admission into institutions of higher learning are awarded extra points in addition to their scores to increase their chances of gaining admission. Indeed, the policy led to significant increase in the number of women at universities. The proportion of females to the total student enrollment increased from 31% in 1993/94 to 40% in 2002 and up to 42% in 2004. In primary teacher colleges, women were 48% of the total student population in 2003.
At the national level, every district has an elected woman Member of Parliament. In addition, women are encouraged to compete with men for the other constituencies – nine women won parliamentary seats after contesting with men. Thus, in the current Parliament, 89 of the 310 members are women, representing 28.7% of the legislative body. This is an improvement from the 18% registered in 1995.

Despite the improvements, however, the number of women MPs still lags far behind than that of men, suggesting that the policy of affirmative action should be maintained and efforts to enhance women’s participation in politics, governance, ensuring full reproductive health rights and access to services, as well as the guarantee of equal property rights and access to work, and management be raised.

Reducing Child Mortality and Improving Maternal Mortality; The infant mortality rate, which measures child deaths before the age of one, improved to 76 deaths per 1000 live births in 2007, from 122 deaths per 1000 live births in 1991. On the other hand, the under-five mortality rate, which measures child deaths before the age of five, declined from 167 to 137 deaths per 1000 live births during the same period. Governments are trying in providing Health, nutrition, and family planning services. The aim of this is to address Africa’s extraordinary/astonishing disease burden, widespread micronutrient deficiencies children face, and the high fertility rates in women.

This package of interventions includes the medical interventions needed to improve child and maternal health; prevent the transmission of and provide treatment for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria; improve nutrition; and provide family planning services. The two goals have an entire package of family planning and reproductive health services which are aimed at enabling a significant reduction in Africa’s very high total fertility rates by satisfying women’s desire to limit and space births. And with on doubt, the access to family planning, contraceptive services, girls’ education, women’s empowerment, and off-farm employment opportunities for young women can lead to a dramatic reduction in the total fertility rate in just a few years by helping to allow for better birth spacing and by strengthening family preferences for smaller family sizes will reduce poverty levels in the world.

Another MDG is to Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases ; According to the 2004-05 Uganda HIV/AIDS Sero Behavioral Survey (UHSBS), 6.4% (or slightly over 800,000 people) of adult population in Uganda are infected with HIV. Overall, there has been a declining trend of HIV infection from a peak of 18% in 1992 to the current figure. The international target is to halt, by 2015, and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. Uganda, therefore, seems to be well on track on this target.

But despite the sustained declining trend of HIV/AIDS prevalence, it remains a significant threat to human and economic development. Over one million cumulative HIV/AIDS-related deaths have been reported since HIV/AIDS was first recognised in the country; and HIV/AIDS remains one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Uganda.
HIV/AIDS has orphaned scores of children. Uganda has about two million orphans, 45% of whom are the result of HIV/AIDS – yet the number is rising. HIV/AIDS has created long-term impacts on the education system, which include mortality of children and teachers. The pandemic has also adversely affected labour productivity and output in all organizations through decimating the workforce, especially skilled personnel.

Malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Uganda. It accounts for 52% of outpatient department attendance, and 30% of in-patient admissions. Malaria morbidity remains high and 95% of the country is still classified as endemic to the disease. The disease is responsible for 9-14% of all in-patient deaths. However, the inpatient deaths for children under-five attributed to the disease are about double at 20-23%. Increasing cases of malaria may be attributed to increased resistance to most commonly available drugs. I strongly believe that if HIV/AIDS and Malaria is dealt with by encouraging the people to change their behaviors, the population will be active in all sectors that foster development.
The second last MDG is to ensure Environmental Sustainability; there has been a positive trend in rural water coverage between 1992 and 2002, although it is still below the target of providing safe water within easy reach of 65% of the rural population by 2005 and 100% of the population by 2015.
Data from the recent Ugandan National Household Survey (UNHS, 2006) and information from the Directorate of Water Department (DWD) indicate an increase in water service coverage nationwide from a little over 20% in 1991 to almost 68% in 2006. Equally, the Uganda Population and Housing Census (UPHC) data reports a rise in water service coverage from 26% in 1991 to 68% in 2002.
Uganda was initially well endowed with environmental resources, but various reports indicate persistent degradation of the country’s natural resources, namely: declining soil fertility; deforestation, particularly outside protected areas; pasture degradation; decreasing fish stocks; and water pollution caused by discharge from industries and domestic waste, among others. This degradation impacts heavily on livelihoods of the poor by constraining their ability to increase incomes and making them more vulnerable. This environmental stress is partly attributed to the recent impressive economic growth in the country.
Uganda is reported to be losing its forest cover through deforestation. Various studies report estimates of varying annual deforestation rates from 550 km2 per year to 700 km2-2,000 km2 per year, primarily due to deforestation for agricultural land .
The last MDG is the Global Partnership for Development; Uganda does not have specific (localized) targets for this goal. However, the PEAP is devoted entirely to the matter of developing partnerships for the realization of the development targets. Partnerships relate both to policies and mobilization of resources for financing the development process.
On the policy side, Uganda has had a stabilization and structural adjustment programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1987. This allowed partnerships between Uganda and other donors to develop throughout the 1990s to date. Uganda’s economy is open, rule-based and quite predictable. However, it is a fragile economy that could be grossly affected by political developments.
Uganda is an active participant in the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) that promotes good governance through its peer review mechanism. The peer review for Uganda that is coordinated by the National Planning Authority (NPA) at the national level and by NEPAD at a regional level is ongoing.
With regard to resource mobilization for financing the development process, Uganda is placing heavy emphasis on improving domestic revenue, which in 2004/05financial year was 12.7% of GDP, way below the Sub-Saharan average of 18%.

Cross-National Infrastructure, Trade Integration, and Government Cooperation; Uganda is one of the examples the landlocked countries in sub-Saharan Africa and this means that without such countries have little chance to develop unless they have ready access to the coast through efficient, low cost infrastructure. Moreover, from a global perspective, individual African countries often present very small markets. Currently, East African countries are holding talks on how to have a Regional integration which will make possible for the five countries to exchange goods and services freely and this will also raise the interest of potential foreign investors by increasing the scope of the market accompanying a potential operating presence in East Africa. Regional integration is also important for achieving scale economies in infrastructure networks such as power grids, large-scale electricity generation, road transport, rails, and telecommunications.

Other strategies that governments have put in place in line with the Millennium development goals include; Slum upgrading and urban management; in conjunction with rural-urban migration fueled by abject/horrible rural poverty, a lack of urban jobs has led to high levels of urban poverty that are rising across much of the continent. This MDG focuses on urban infrastructure and services (electricity, transport, water and sanitation, waste disposal, and so forth) and slum upgrading. Successful urban development and the creation of viable export industries across Africa are contingent on improved access to rich countries’ markets, particularly for apparel and light manufacturing, as well as the flexibility to use targeted industrial policies as needed

Secondly is Science, technology and innovation; these interventions focus on the mobilization of science and technology. Currently, tropical sub-Saharan Africa produces roughly twenty times fewer patents per capita than the average for the rest of the developing world. The region has only 18 scientists and engineers per million people, compared with 69 in South Asia, 76 in the Middle East, 273 in Latin America, and 903 in East Asia. Countries like Uganda have increased their investment in science by encouraging education institutions to teach sciences.

MDG Facts; 31%of the Ugandan population lives below US$1.00 per person per day, 20.4% of Ugandan children go to bed hungry , 84% of Ugandan children are enrolled in primary school, The average Ugandan woman spends 9 hours a day on care labor activities such as fetching water, firewood and caring for the sick, 13.7% of children die before their fifth birthday, 7.6% of infants die before their first birthday, For every 100,000 new mothers, 435 die while giving birth , Only 41% of births are attended by skilled personnel, 6.4% of the Ugandan population is infected with HIV/AIDS, 67% of Ugandan households have access to safe water today

In conclusion, a careful consideration to the issue of gender equality, that is, to an improved economic and social status for Africa’s women is important. To a great extent, women are the farmers, caregivers, and child raisers of Africa. They perform an incredible amount of physical labor every day merely to keep their households alive. Fetching fuel wood and water, caring for the farm animals, plowing the fields, and caring for the sick and dying in the AIDS pandemic are all tasks disproportionately borne by Africa’s women. Many of the recommended investments, such as improved access to water supply, modern cooking fuels, enhanced transport services, and improved soil nutrients, will have a special benefit for women and will target them directly.









References
Consistent with Sachs et al. (2004), this paper focuses on the tropical countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
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