Other TOG Projects

Go to New Vision, Uganda's Daily News: http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/640813-67-of-ugandans-vulnerable-to-poverty.html

Publish Date: Mar 19, 2013 67% of Ugandans vulnerable to poverty

By Innocent Anguyo

About 67% of Ugandans are either poor or highly vulnerable to poverty, the expenditure review for Uganda 2012 by the Directorate of Social Protection in the gender ministry has revealed. Dr. Fred Matovu, a senior lecturer of economics at Makerere University, who participated in the review, said the study was aimed at establishing the number of Ugandans who require social protection due to their susceptibility to poverty. Matovu said the 67% represented both Ugandans who spend below the poverty line of $ 1.20 (about sh3,170)per day and those who are below twice the poverty line, $2.40 (about sh6,340) per day. “According to the World Bank, even those who are below twice the poverty line are likely to fall back into poverty,” Matovu explained. Going by the United Nation’s Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), Uganda currently has 34.5 million people, meaning about 23.1 million are prone to poverty, and about 8.4 million of them (about 24.5%) are trapped in absolute poverty. Matovu was speaking last week at Makerere University at the release of the report he co-investigated with Dr. Patrick Birungi of the National Planning Authority. The study sampled 1,496 households in the districts of Moroto, Dokolo and Masindi. The two-year study was funded by the International Development Research Centre. Birungi noted that the research was also aimed at establishing the shocks and risks faced by vulnerable groups in Uganda, coping mechanisms used to address the risks and the role of formal and informal social protection systems in addressing the shocks.