UN-DESA • MOFPED • UNDP Uganda

Presentation of policy notes and project outputs
Entebbe and Kampala, Uganda
16-17 October 2013

DPAD completed its capacity development activities in Uganda with the presentation of policy research papers and policy notes to government experts and policy makers at the final workshop in Entebbe. Presentations by government experts demonstrated the successful transfer of capacities on the use of the modelling tools needed for the design of policies to achieve human development goals. The application of these tools and the analysis of results are informing the country’s MDG reports and the fiscal strategies – and they will soon inform the National Development Plan (see below).

The presentation was attended by 15 participants representing different institutions of Uganda’s Government and UNDP who had previously participated in the project’s training activities to learn the use of macro‐micro modelling tools to assess policy issues. The workshop included a keynote presentation by DESA representative Marco V. Sanchez‐Cantillo on recent model‐based evidence on the long‐term payoffs of past MDG investments in Uganda. This was followed up by the presentation of results from two policy researches led by experts of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED) who have applied the modelling tools transferred by the project.

The first research paper presented the results of: (i) a number of scenarios under which Uganda would achieve MDG targets after 2015 with/without productivity shocks, complementary investments in infrastructure, and expected oil revenues supporting the budget; and, (ii) micro‐econometric results on what socio‐economic factors would be most effective to drive sound MDG outcomes in Uganda. This paper was used as a key input to elaborate the thematic chapter of the recently‐launched MDG Report for 2013. Moreover, the MDG Report for Uganda 2013 has produced relevant policy recommendations and directions that will be considered for the elaboration of the National Development Plan II (NDP II).

The second research paper shows the preliminary results of “Uganda’s Medium and Long‐Term Fiscal Strategy for Socioeconomic Transformation”. It stood out clearly from the presentation of this paper that the MFPED has institutionalized the use of the macro‐micro modelling tools that DESA’s project has transferred in order to inform the fiscal strategies of the country.

During the workshop, the three presentations by DESA and the MFPED sparked a very dynamic discussion on vital policy issues for the development of Uganda. Although it was not presented and discussed at the workshop, it is worth mentioning that the staff of the MFPED had already produced a discussion paper which presents a rigorous assessment of the economy‐wide implications of a reduction in budget support which was timely discussed within the Ministry and with policy makers, at the time when budget support was frozen by aid donors who had cited fiduciary concerns.

On 17 October DPAD participated in the launch of the MDG Report for Uganda 2013 which MFPED (its main author) organized in close collaboration with UNDP, which presents a special theme on “the drivers of MDG Progress in Uganda and implications for the post-2015 development agenda”. This special theme was addressed in a thematic chapter that was elaborated by staff members of the Ministry trained by the Capacity Development project with technical backstopping from DPAD. The launch of the report was attended by nearly 300 participants from Government, academia, non-profit organizations and private sector. Among the participants and speakers were Hon. Maria Kiwanuka, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and Ms. Ahunna Eziaknowa-Onochie, UN Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative.

The workshop and related events were the final activity of the project "Strengthening Macro-Micro Modelling Capacities to Assess Development Support Measures and Strategies", implemented in close collaboration with the Government of Uganda and the UNDP Country Office in Uganda. The activities of the project aim at strengthening the capacity of Ugandan policy makers to assess and maximize the use of support measures and strategies that contribute to human development, and to become better prepared to anticipate and respond to global economic crises and other external adversities that may affect human development.

Capacity development activities started in Uganda with the organization of a scoping mission and first inception and training workshop on October 2011. These initial activities were followed up by the first intensive training on March 2012 and the second training workshop on September 2012.

• 11-14 September 2012 — Second intensive training workshop (Kampala, Uganda)
• 7-9 March 2012 — First Intensive Training Workshop on "Strengthening Macro-Micro Modelling Capacities to Assess Development Support Measures and Strategies" (Entebbe, Uganda)
• 17–20 October 2011—Scoping mission and inception workshop
  (Entebbe, Uganda)

Read more about the project Strengthening Macroeconomic and Social Policy Coherence through Integrated Macro-Micro Modeling>>