KAMPALA – The new research by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) and Research and Action for Income Security (RAISE), indicates that Africans lack proper forms of social protection. “The Protocol to The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security” report says that although the Continent has some of the greatest needs for social protection given the high proportion of children, it has some of the lowest coverage rate of social protection and a large unmet financing gap, with African countries only spending 0.4% of GDP on average.
Accordingly, only 17.4% of people in Africa receive at least one form of social protection, the lowest compared to other regions.
Uganda isn’t the exception. The report shows that in recent years, government investments in health, social security and other social services for older persons has been stagnating or even declining.
In addition, the 2020 State of Older Persons in Uganda report published by the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Protection found age-based discrimination by service providers to be an issue. In general, the report found a lack of appropriate social services for older persons. This includes limited access to healthcare and the lack of a social care system in the country.
The National Social Protection Policy 2015 includes provision for social security benefits for older persons in the form of both social assistance and social Insurance. However, the combined social assistance and social insurance systems are still characterized by several deficits which means that both the coverage and adequacy of benefits are currently inadequate to provide most persons in Uganda with income security in old age.
Speaking at the report launch on Thursday, Mudford Zachariah Mwandenga – Chairperson Economic Social and Cultural Rights Working Group, Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Country Rapporteur for Uganda challenged Uganda to demonstrate its commitment to upholding social protection as a right by ratifying this important AU Protocol (The African Union adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security).
“It is noteworthy that Uganda has often signed the African Human Rights Instruments, and most recently ratifying the Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ratifying the AU Protocol will without doubt complement government’s efforts to provide social protection to its people, realize the sustainable development goals and enable people to live in dignity.”
Key Findings
- The study indicates that there is a mix of government, donor, and loan-funded programs, with a heavy reliance on external funding for some key initiatives.
- Incremental increases in funding for certain programs may not match the rate of inflation or the increasing demand for services, potentially leading t gaps in coverage and adequacy.
- Several programs, particularly those targeting specific vulnerable groups like refugees (DRDIP), rely heavily on donor funding. This raises concerns about program sustainability once external support dries up. This is precarious given the dwindling donor support as countries grapple with cost of living crisis and conflicts like Russia/Ukraine.
- Administrative costs seem to consume a significant portion of the budget for some programs, which could be at the expense of direct service delivery.
- Article 24 of the protocol requires periodic actuarial assessments and costed national plans. To some extent this is done. However, aggregated data on government spending on social care and support is not available.
- Government spending on institutional care is not available from budget documentation. For example, costs for providing residential services have not been estimated, and there are no specific budget lines for providing these services at the central or local government level. The same is true for the provision of family strengthening services, as there are no budget lines for providing these services at the central and local government levels. MGLSD acknowledges that investments in social care and support are under-funded and there is a heavy reliance on donor resources for local service delivery.
Officiating at the event, Balaam Barugahara – minister for State minister for Youth and Children affairs noted that over the years, his Ministry has spearheaded various initiatives aimed at expanding access to social protection programs and services for vulnerable populations across the country.
“Notable achievements include the formulation and adoption of the National Social Protection Policy, 2015 which provides a comprehensive framework for the design and implementation of social protection interventions. Additionally, the Ministry has played a key role in the establishment and scaling up of flagship programs such as the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) with full government financing rising from 2bn in 2011 to 121bn. My Ministry is also implementing the Special Enterprise Grant for Older Persons aged 60 to 79 and the Special Grant for Persons with Disabilities.”
He, however, acknowledged the need to champion efforts to strengthen social protection systems, promote gender equality, and uphold the rights and dignity of all citizens.
Report recommendations
- Ratify and domesticate the AU Protocol on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection.
- Increase financing for social protection, including by curbing Illicit financial flows and implementing progressive tax reforms.
- Implement a human rights based and lifecycle approach to social protection.
- Identify and ameliorate barriers to accessing social protection.
- Allow other forms of ID to access social protection as the government further strengthens the rollout of national ID.
- Ringfence financing of public services to ensure there are no budget cuts to vital services and benefits when undertaking fiscal consolidation and austerity measures.
- Curb unnecessary debt and conduct a human rights impact assessment before undertaking further debt.
