By Mulengera Reporters
Increased risk assessment and management are key to enhancing the social and environmental benefits to wetland-dependent communities in Uganda, Mr. Kingsley Bekoe, the Chief Technical Advisor for the GCF-funded Wetlands Restoration project at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), reveals. This ensures that risks are promptly identified and addressed for critical wetland systems and wetland-dependent communities, to increase their resilience.
“When we deliberately address the risks, we increase the level of benefit for the target communities,” Bekoe said, while explaining the UNDP Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) frameworks to designated SES focal persons from 12 southwestern districts, during a training conducted from 13-14 May 2025.
The government is currently on the move to increase the safety of wetland-dependent communities in the 24 districts in eastern and south-western Uganda, who are benefiting under the Building Resilient Communities, Wetlands Ecosystems and Associated Catchments in Uganda project, funded by the government of Uganda (GoU), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
90 sub-county and district focal points in the south-western region received the SES technical capacity enhancement, bringing the total number of SES officers trained to 140. Fifty (50) SES officers were previously trained in Eastern Uganda. The trainings come against the backdrop of efforts to enhance the social and environmental safeguards compliance for the project. It also conforms to international standards on safeguards. According to Bekoe, both UNDP and GCF are interested in the increased level of benefits of the GCF project to the target communities.
Mr. Tom Okello, the National Project Coordinator (NPC), said the Ministry of Water and Environment is undertaking the training to fully operationalise the implementation of the wider Environment and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and the Risk Management Action Plan (RMAP) “Government is interested in ensuring that SES are implemented to the latter. Our technical assessment indicates the need to strengthen the capacities of the team that is handling SES issues at the grassroots level, and that all the tools are in place to guide its implementation,” Okello adds. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
