The Minister for Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda has commended the government of the United States of America (USA) for supporting Uganda’s development agenda through providing technical and financial support.
She explained that Uganda’s development agenda is anchored on the Third National Development Plan, the Uganda Vision 2040, the East African Community Vision 2050, the Africa Union (AU) 2063 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in order to achieve its goals, the country recognises that partnerships are very critical at all levels of these development benchmarks.
“Over the years, development assistance has been a critical catalyst that enabled the government to deliver on its planned objectives. Development Partners have provided technical and financial support to these processes at both national and program specific levels. The government of the United States of America has strongly supported these processes especially during the last three decades,” Hon. Babalanda noted.
The Minister made the remarks today during a meeting with the USA Ambassador to Uganda, H.E. William W. Popp at the Office of the President in Kampala.
Hon. Babalanda who congratulated Ambassador Popp upon his recent posting to Uganda, further acknowledged USA’s support to Uganda’s health sector especially in relation to fighting HIV and AIDS over the last 20 years. This is in addition to the support they provide in Agriculture, Energy, Security, WildLife Conservation, among others.
“Your Excellency; Uganda has enjoyed a long, warm and beneficial relationship with the United States of America. We have also enjoyed a cordial relationship with officials who have been representing the United States Government in Uganda and we are looking forward to continuing with and building on this relationship,” she articulated.
“Because of the contribution of the United States Government to the HIV and AIDS program, over the last 20 years, Uganda has made tremendous progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS; lowering infection rates from 18% in the late 1990s to the current 5.4%. AIDS-related deaths have also reduced from about 50,000 in 2010 to 17,000 in 2022. I have great faith that working together, Uganda will be able to achieve epidemic control and reach the goal of ending AIDS as a Public Health threat by 2030,” she added.
On the other hand, the Minister informed her guest that the government of Uganda is now focusing on Poverty eradication through increasing the number of households into the money economy as well as climate change mitigation among others, thus inviting him to join the country in its endeavors towards achieving a middle income status.
“The Office of the President is deeply engaged with government programs that aim at facilitating service delivery at the local levels. The Office supervises the Resident District and City Commissioners who represent the President and Central Government at the district level. I invite Your Excellency to engage with these officers while promoting your activities with communities at the local levels. The RDCs/RRCs are mandated to be the chief government communicators and monitors of service delivery and they are best placed to push key messages and programs to the people. I therefore encourage you to partner with this office during your tenure of service,” she appealed.
Ambassador Popp affirmed the USA government’s commitment to continue supporting Uganda in its fight against HIV/AIDS.
“Uganda has achieved a lot of success in the 21st Century as far as the fight of HIV/AIDS is concerned. We should continue working together to save lives,” he commented.
He also announced that the US Government has approved the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Country Operational Plan (COP) 2023 to ensure that life-saving assistance continues to benefit the people of Uganda.
PEPFAR aims to save lives, prevent HIV infections, and accelerate progress toward achieving HIV/AIDS pandemic control in more than 50 countries around the world. The program is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, enabled by strong bipartisan support across ten U.S. congresses and four presidential administrations, and through the American people’s generosity. PEPFAR shows the power of what is possible through compassionate, cost-effective, accountable, and transparent American foreign assistance.
The Ambassador, however, expressed concern over Uganda’s recently signed Anti- Homosexuality Law, saying that it’s likely to frustrate service delivery most especially in areas of healthcare as far as the sexual minorities are concerned.
“We are concerned that some marginalised people will be isolated. We should ensure that all people access health services so that HIV//AIDS is eliminated,” Ambassador Popp said.
However, the Director General of Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC), Dr. Nelson Musoba allayed the Ambassador’s fears by assuring him that the government of Uganda only came up with the law to deal with promotion and recruitment of unsuspecting citizens into the vice.
He expounded that the President has occasionally made it clear that no single person should be denied healthcare due to his sexual orientation.
“His Excellency has been the champion in the fight against HIV/AIDS and we really appreciate the investment and dedication we have put together with the USA government so no one wants to reverse that,” Dr. Musoba said.
The meeting was also attended by the Senior Presidential Advisor on Research Dr. Daniel Ssekiboobo, PEPFAR Country Coordinator, Ms. Mary Borgman and the Economic Chief- US Embassy, Mr. Luis Salas.
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