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Case studies

Parliamentary engagement in national development plans in Uganda

uganda

The Uganda Parliamentary Forum on SDGs (UPFSDGs) was originally tasked to oversee implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, but transitioned to include oversight of the SDGs. The Forum focuses its work on ensuring that national development policies and legislation are aligned with the SDGs, advocating for sufficient resources, monitoring expenditures and ensuring an integrated approach to accelerating achievement of the SDGs at national, local and community levels. The Forum’s work is supported by a technical Secretariat and includes all-party membership.

SDG integration into parliament’s core functions

The Parliament of Uganda plays a key role in mainstreaming oversight of SDG achievement through lawmaking and assessing performance of the national budget against the SDG targets. Parliament developed two key compliance tools: (i) the certificate of compliance, which evaluates how the proposed sectoral budget allocations comply with and support the implementation of the national development priorities; and (ii) the gender and equity certificate, which assesses the mainstreaming of gender equality principles across legislation and policies. Based on the findings of these two assessment tools, a few areas were identified that required targeted support, including in improving the capacities of key ministries and local governments to ensure inclusive development planning and budget execution, and in enhancing procedures for the quality assessment of legislation.

The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development is required to include in the annual budget allocation estimates presented to Parliament, including a clear statement indicating how the SDGs have been integrated. Parliament is also regularly consulted during the drafting of the periodic medium-term national development plans (NDPs) to ensure that a holistic approach is taken when incorporating all 17 goals and the provisions articulated in the long-term strategic Vision 2040.

The role of thematic committees and forums has been pivotal in ensuring transparency in the allocation and use of government resources, in scrutinizing specific SDG-related bills, and in facilitating the monitoring and evaluation of programme-related interventions by government ministries and bodies.  

SDG Forum members regularly organize public forums to engage with different constituency groups, not only to raise awareness of citizens, but also to collect ideas and opinions on how to best address the drivers that can accelerate progress for specific vulnerable and marginalized groups. 

Innovative approaches to enable progress towards:

(i) Achieving universal health coverage for all, and improving the access to quality healthcare (including to sexual and reproductive health services) for vulnerable and marginalized populations:

The Ugandan Parliament passed several bills to improve access to quality and essential healthcare services. In 2016, the Uganda Heart Institute Act came into force to coordinate the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in Uganda. Since 2018, the Mental Health Act provides for treatment at primary health centres.

(ii) Integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change measures into national laws, policies and strategies:

In 2021 the national Climate Change Act was adopted to govern Uganda’s national response to climate change. The new law enforces the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The Act includes measures to improve national transparency, mandates the creation of a Framework Strategy on Climate Change, as well as a National Climate Action Plan and District Climate Action Plans, and foresees the establishment of inter-institutional arrangements for governing climate change.

Supplementary activities

Under the National Partnership Policy framework, which regulates relationships with the donor community, the government is required to submit regular reports to Parliament on the implementation of partnership agreements and their contribution to national development priorities.

Members of the Ugandan SDG Forum also regularly monitor implementation at the district level by organizing field visits.

Challenges and lessons learnt

The Ugandan Parliamentary Forum on SDGs is understaffed due to limited funding. This has resulted in several challenges, including, inadequate documentation of UPFSDGs’ success stories and good practices and inadequate follow-up on the implementation of enacted SDG-related legislation and policies.

The UPFSDGs mostly relies on donor funds, which affects the smooth implementation of planned activities.

A high turnover of MPs directly affects the UPFSDGs’ membership. This impacts the smooth continuity of the forum’s activities at the beginning of Parliament’s new term.

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