President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni yesterday held a consultative meeting with the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Ms. Susan Ngongi Namondo who called on him at State House- Entebbe.
Ms. Namondo was accompanied by a delegation who included the UNICEF Representative Munir Safieldin, the UNDP Resident Representative Elsie Attafuah, the UNHCR Representative Matthew Crentsil as well as Sharon Nyambe and Peter Mwamachi.
President Museveni and his guests discussed a wide range of issues that covered among others; Development Programs supported by the United Nations in Uganda, the forthcoming Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit to be hosted by Uganda that will also see President Museveni becoming its Chairman as well as the Global Refugee Forum to be co-hosted soon by the same country.
Ms. Namondo appreciated President Museveni for the Parish Development Model (PDM) program which she said will certainly lift the people of Uganda from poverty.
She also congratulated President Museveni for the milestone of Uganda being selected to host the NAM summit.
President Museveni informed his guests that PDM is one of the well thought out programs that culminated after several other initiatives by the government aimed at shifting the people of Uganda from subsistence agriculture to the money economy.
The President was however happy to note that after the introduction of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), the number of Ugandans who joined the money economy now stands at 61%.
“PDM and Emyooga programs are now targeting the remaining 39% who must join the money economy and are encouraged to do it with calculation,” he said.
He added that Uganda today needs only the trigger factors that include infrastructure and wealth creation to achieve the much-desired socio-economic transformation.
On the other hand, President Museveni rooted for training of refugees in various skills to ensure their self-sustainability. He noted that agriculture would generate challenges with the host communities, as land is a very sensitive issue.
“I support the idea of self-sustenance. Land is a danger point, but skills like tailoring, bakery, knitting and others are most suitable. In Uganda there is freedom of movement to urban areas where they can go and open up businesses after acquiring skills,” the President observed.
Ms. Namondo used the same occasion to convey to President Museveni and to the people of Uganda their heartfelt condolences following the recent Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attack in Kasese that left over 40 students killed.
“Truly it was very disturbing,” she said.
President Museveni assured his guests that the government has the capacity to dismantle the ADF terrorists and wipe them out.
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