Maria Nagawa, is a Research Associate with EPRC Ugandan youth experience a very long transition from school to stable employment according to a School-to-Work Transition Survey (SWTS) conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The report shows that on average it takes more than two years for the Ugandan youth to move to stable and satisfactory job. For those who do not receive immediate employment, the average length of transition is much longer—about 4 years. Within these four years, youth experience both unemployment and temporary employment spells lasting about 18 months each. Young women and urban youth most unemployed Uganda reached the first Millennium Development Goal in 2011/12 by halving poverty rates from 56 % in 1992/93 to 22 %. But a high fertility rate of 6 children per woman makes the country one of the fastest growing in the world. Its population doubled between 1990 and 2014 from 17.5 million to over 34 million people respectively. Currently...

Gemma Ahaibwe  is a Research Analyst and  A nita Ntale is a Research Associate  at EPRC The overwhelming proliferation of lottery, casinos and sports betting in Uganda has seen the gambling industry develop in terms of penetration and revenue generation. Gambling related tax revenue has increased by about thirty-fold over the past decade, from UGX 0.24 billion in 2002/3 to UGX 7.4 billion in 2012/13. These revenues are set to increase even more with the introduction of a new 15% tax levied on winnings as per the 2014/2015 budget. As the government continues to search for more financing options for the national budget, the gaming industry is fast being recognised as one of the more underutilised potential tax bases. In contrast to the welcome revenue and taxes, gambling is also associated with undesirable socio-economic problems, which makes it particularly problematic for policy makers. Excessive gambling can result in financial family distress, and can be a trig...

Madina Guloba, Research Fellow, EPRC Many Ugandans were previously complaining about how hot it was, rains had delayed to come, water was scarce, swamps had dried up and food piles were dwindling at an alarming rate pushing prices upwards. Now it’s raining, but as the rains increase in potency, residents in mountain slopes have cause to worry once again as possible mudslides and landslides can happen any time. Streams and bridges will soon overflow hampering school and business activities especially in flat areas such as the Teso region and some areas in Mt Ruwenzori district. Such distress events often leave behind adverse negative impacts that halt many women, young children, boys and girls livelihoods. Research clearly shows that any changes in climate, be it dismal, will increase hours spent on domestic activities for women such as taking care of the sick, collecting water, firewood, looking for food and tilling the land while exacerbating the times spent on formal jobs fo...

Mildred Barungi,  Research Fellow, EPRC I write to respond to the article titled " Elections require a lot of funding, says Museveni" which appeared in the Daily Monitor of Tuesday, April 7, 2015. According to this article, Government has decided to dedicate much of the resources under the NAADS programme to procure and distribute to farmers’ seedlings of some priority cash crops, namely coffee, tea, oranges and mangoes. While I commend Government for the move to increase availability of planting materials of strategic commodities, we should note that seedlings alone cannot sufficiently enhance agricultural productivity. If for example, good seedlings are planted in poor (infertile) soils, it will be a waste of resources (seedlings, land and labour) because the harvest is expected to be remarkably low and so will be the incomes realised. Soils in Uganda are highly degraded (depleted of nutrients that plants require to grow well) and yet very few farmers can afford ...

One of the biggest challenges faced in the health sector is the difficulty experienced in managing Human Resources for Health (HRH), amidst undersupply of healthcare workers. The scarcity of healthcare professionals especially in developing countries is primarily due to underinvestment in human capital for health, among other reasons - for example Uganda’s investment in health has relentlessly stayed below the promise of commitment in the Abuja Declaration. Whilst the government has registered progress in approving and filling posts for the required health facility staffing, undersupply of healthcare workers is prevalent and remains a critical challenge for Uganda. The staffing rate (percent of filled posts) has persistently remained below national target in the Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan (HSSIP). Out of the 57,050 total approved posts in public health facilities, only 35,903 are filled, representing a staffing gap of about 37 percent. This kind of gap is widening...