Why Uganda?
Unfortunately, the victimization experienced by socio-economically fragile groups, which is widespread almost throughout Africa, is also experienced quite intensively and painfully in UGANDA.
In this analysis, we will take a two-step approach to better understand these groups. On the one hand, while we are looking at these groups one by one, we will also examine poverty and vulnerability in general terms and their effects on the groups we are studying.
- Women
- Children
- Groups affected by conflicts and political tensions
- Disabled People
- Legal and informal workers employed at low wages
- Ethnic minorities
- Agricultural workers
- HIV/AIDS-carrying groups
We will begin our evaluations in this report firstly by examining the poverty experienced in Uganda in general and its effects on vulnerable groups in general and groups in particular.
Vulnerable groups in the context of poverty
The need for social protection and support is generally influenced by two factors: poverty and vulnerability. When we say poverty, we mean low income and lack of consumption opportunities, while we point to the risk of falling to the poverty line with the definition of vulnerability.
The size of the poverty experienced; numerical intensity, severity and tendency also determine the dimensions of the need for socio-economic support.
Unfortunately, this poverty negatively affects the tax collection rates of the State, which is the most basic actor in terms of social assistance, as well as the most basic income, and weakens the helping hand that will extend to poor citizens. This creates a vicious circle.
When we examine the research and analysis on poverty and vulnerability, the lack of general consumption items emerges as the most basic visible result of the problem. However, when we develop our investigation into the depth of the incident, the factors that we will list below come across as decisive elements.
- Inadequacy of production means
- Inadequacy of social solidarity groups and informal support systems
- Poor health conditions and high illiteracy rate
- Lack of energy
- Inability to reach markets and social infrastructure
- Lack of efficient employment opportunities (especially for the young)
- Vulnerability to crises, shocks and tensions
- Alcoholism and social violence
There are serious differences between the proverties experienced at the social and individual levels. Poverty experienced in an individual sense;
- Impossibilities experienced in achieving basic life needs
- The lack of quality in social services and the difficulties experienced in accessing these services
- It is experienced as inadequate infrastructure conditions.
If a person or family cannot meet the basic life needs listed below, they are considered to be at the poverty line.
- Wear
- Cleaning supplies
- Medical services
- School fees
- Suitable and adequate housing facilities
- Possibilities of energy or fuel used for lighting
As a result, a poor individual or family is considered an individual or family with limited physical and economic resources.
On the other hand, when we say poverty at the social level, we mean the deprivation experienced in achieving the basic social needs listed below.
- Sufficient physical resources,
- Quality and adequate social services,
- Political services
- Economic services
More importantly, in Uganda specifically, this goes beyond material conditions such as lack of income and physical deficiencies, with more serious consequences that are not material. Among them, the most important are following.
- Helplessness and despair
- Insufficiency of social capital (children, relatives and educated individuals
- Social isolation and inability to make one's voice heard.
Structural determinants of poverty and vulnerability
In Uganda, the poverty experienced today is mainly the result of two main factors, namely economic and historical factors.
First of all, the economic structural situation reflects an obvious failure to achieve an increase in productivity in parallel with the growing population, and also forms a basis for other very serious structural problems.
In addition, long conflicts and wars in Uganda and surrounding countries had terrible results, have deepened the impoverishment of the country and left a number of problems and historical legacy that have survived to the present day.
Although Uganda has reached a high growth rate today, the high population growth that has been experienced with it is also alarming. A combination of national policies and external factors has led to the socio-economic consequences experienced today.
The rate of agricultural production and harvest on the basis of individuals is decreasing more and more; however, economic policies are far from encouraging the transformation of agricultural production. Moreover, the shock declines in coffee prices on international stock exchanges have made the problem even more serious.
The country is currently struggling with the main micro-economic problems mentioned below.
- Low agricultural productivity due to wrong agricultural policies implemented in the past.
- Especially in the 1980s, the failure in the transition from low-value production to high-value production led to the fact that manufacturers were deprived of the resources with which they could assume the risks of entrepreneurship.
- Lack of qualified labor resources, the difficulties in accessing the employment opportunities of the available resources and also the increase of unqualified human resources.
- Uganda's lack of access to the port and the resulting high transportation costs
- Environmental destruction, the chronic increase in the loss of fertile agricultural land, inefficient water policies and the destruction of forests.
Who are the Poor and Vulnerable Groups in Uganda
As a result of research conducted by reputable Universities in Uganda (Makerere, Okidi and Kempaka), poor and vulnerable groups are divided into the following sociological groups.
- Children
- Elders
- Women
- Disabled People
Orphans and Children
Children constitute the largest group who experience poverty in the most painful way with a rate of 60%.
These children, who are deprived of educational opportunities have little control over determining their fate and are often ignored and mistreated.
Children with AIDS and orphans with a high number are also in a very bad situation in terms of building a future, as they are very poor and also deprived of educational opportunities.
Elders
Although numerically the link between old age and poverty is not very much, studies show that elderly people who try to stand with the help of their children, relatives or neighbors risk falling to the poverty line at any time. Especially the low-paid groups who cannot make enough savings during their youth, the uneducated ones and the elderly who have to take care of their orphaned grandchildren are the most vulnerable groups.
Young
A large part of the young population, which can be grouped as poor throughout the country, does not have the means of production in the sense of land or capital. In other groups, non-professionals are those who do not have credit or other income-generating resources. One part of the young girls is uneducated and the other part is classified as those failure to develop himself and lazy groups.
Women/Widows
In the majority of Uganda society, there is a trend of impoverishment as a result of their weak position in the family and, as a result, their deprivation of access to means of production.
The effects on household income are very weak
They have no education or profession.
They are exposed to the exploits of intermediaries in the cheap lobar markets
They have no effect on decision mechanics.
They experience the vicissitudes of the male-dominated inheritance system.
People who do not have a home, land or other assets experience great victimization
Widows, who have to take care of a large number of children, are the most vulnerable group.
Disabled People
Due to the fact that people with physical and mental disabilities are excluded and marginalized in connection with these disabilities, their chances of living and participating in production are very low, and they are largely poor.
Especially because women with disabilities are subject to discrimination, they not only have difficulty accessing the means of production, but also have very limited opportunities to marry and establish social ties. They are one of the most vulnerable groups in this aspect.
Polygamic/Polygamous extended family structures
Many families, especially in rural Uganda, have a polygamous structure and live in a large household structure. In today's world, where Free Market conditions prevail, it is under a great burden of expenses in the face of low income; it is doomed to poverty.
DIFFICULTIES IN THE NEED FOR HEALTHY WATER
Healthy water sources and adequate sanitation, as well as deaths from diarrhea in children and adults, subnutrition are of great importance in preventing diseases based on microbes that develop in water.
Currently, 35% of the population is currently deprived of access to healthy water in today's Uganda. This includes 1.7 million people in cities and 10 million people from rural areas.
This difference between cities and rural areas is due to infrastructure inadequacies. Especially in rural areas, since it does not seem possible to remove such an infrastructure anytime soon, it is imperative that people living in these areas meet their water needs from wells drilled.
The two factors mentioned below require that the need for a water well be numerically greater.
- Electricity access, which drops by up to 1.5% in most places, REQUIRES that water supply be provided only with suction and force pumps.
- When the scattered settlements and the inadequacy of transportation facilities are added to this, the need is multiplied.
It is in the form of residential areas of 1,000 – 1,500 people, where the need for healthy water is the highest and where more than 10 million people live. This corresponds to about 7,000 residential centers.
The daily water requirement of today's people is calculated as about 400 liters. Even if we think of it as 250 liters per day for rural areas, it will mean that 375,000 liters of water will be needed per day for each settlement.
With a very simple equation, If we assume that we fill a 20-liter canister in 1 minute from these pumps that work with muscle power, this means that the daily capacity of a well is 10,000-12,000 liters. In this case, 30 wells are needed to meet the needs of a settlement on a minimal scale.
7,000X30=210,000 wells are needed to be built only for rural areas and only for meeting minimum water needs.
If we take into account that the population is growing at a great pace, this need is growing exponentially.