Human Rights Activist Aloysius Matovu Kizza Junior has requested government to lift the suspension of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) operations in Uganda saying that the continued closure of the facility has negatively affected the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country.
Matovu says over the years, Uganda has always been receiving praises in the fight against HIV/AIDS due to her unique approaches and massive campaigns and this attracted a lot of funding from local and international community but because of selfishness, love for power and greed, the East African country is shooting its self in the foot.
Early this year, President Yoweri Museveni suspended DGF, a multi-million-dollar fund backed by European nations that supports the work of local groups focusing on activism.
In a letter to the finance minister Matia Kasaija, Museveni said that money withdrawn from DGF had been “used to finance activities and organizations designed to subvert Government under the guise of improving governance.”
Matovu, who has been advocating for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS since 1998, disclosed that DGF’s suspension crippled activities of several local Non- Government Organizations, the majority of which are engaged in promoting accountability, good governance, human rights, democracy, service delivery monitoring and capacity building.Among the affected projects were those of HIV/AIDS advocacy.
“As we commemorate World AIDS Day today 1st December, I would like to call upon the government of Uganda to lift the suspension of DGF. The organisation was so crucial in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country through funding different NGOs that advocate for human rights and ethical response to Health of people living with the virus,” he said in a media statement on Wednesday.
“Government should rethink its decision. By closing DGF, government frustrated the efforts of donors in supporting the vulnerable Ugandans in fighting HIV. On top of that many livelihoods especially in the period of Covid-19 pandemic were also affected since a lot of Ugandans were depending on that donor basket. DGF was very paramount in the fight against the virus in Uganda and closing it has been a setback for the local NGOs that respond to the needs of the people both infected and affected by the chronic.”
Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders’ Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL) and National Forum of People Living with HIV/AIDS Networks in Uganda (NAFOPHANU). Are some of the greatly affected Organisations.
Matovu also asserted that the suspension of DGF has led to an increase in teenage pregnancies and HIV infections since the organisations now lack resources to sensitize people in different parts of the country.
“We are already in a pandemic that has brought devastating human costs and without resources to sensitize people and catalyze our efforts in the fight against the virus, I think we are losing the battle. Government should do the needful by lifting DGF suspension. We need those donations if we are to win the war against HIV.”
The Activist further revealed that he is planning to meet the Speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah to hand over his petition calling for the lifting of DGF suspension.
“Next year, we will be setting off to Canada to attend the International AIDS Conference where we will showcase our new act on how poverty-stricken African countries can fight and survive HIV/AIDS.”
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