The 4th African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Continental Workshop on the Voluntary National Review was hosted by Nigeria on 28-30 March 2022 in Abuja. The high-level workshop was timely for African Countries to engage in capacity building for the VNRs ahead of the High-Level; Political Forum in New York on 13-15 July 2022.
Uganda was represented by Ms. Jackline Arineitwe from the SDG Secretariat Office of the Prime Minister. Uganda presented its VNR 2018 and 2020, National Coordination Framework, alignment of the SDGs to the National Development Plan and the engagement of various stakeholders to include Private Sector through the Private Sector SDGs Platform, the Youth through the Uganda Youth Coalition on SDGs, Civil Society through the National CSOs Core Reference Group on the SDGs, Faith Based Organizations, the academia among others. Uganda also presented on the impacts of COVID-19 to the progress in the implementation of SDGs in Uganda which necessitated the development of the Coordination Framework at the local level to ensure that implementation efforts are effectively coordinated in Local; Government for impactful results.
The Government has also established the Coordination Framework (CF) to guide execution of 2030 Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its associated Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, the SDGs have been fully integrated into the national planning frameworks (the National Development Plan) with the goal to “increase household incomes and improve the quality of life” (VNR, 2020, pg. v). The SDGs guide the determination of priority investment areas for Uganda to the extent that attainment of NDP III is based on the SDG modelling using the customised Uganda iSDG Model.
Uganda also presented on her move to localize SDGs through the SDGs Localisation Guidelines. Considering their mandate and proximity to local communities, Local Governments are crucially important components of the public service delivery institutional frameworks. Therefore, Uganda encouraged other countries to involve other countries effectively in the National Development processes – planning, implementation, review and reporting stages on SDGs.