Uganda: Risk Assessment and Resilience Action Plan

Context and Objectives 

The National Development Plan (NDP), Uganda’s overall framework for economic development, identified “disaster management” as one of the enabling sectors that needs to be developed in order to achieve sustainable development. There is evidence of a strong correlation between disasters and poverty rates in Uganda as disasters affect the agricultural-base, the main source of income to the rural households. Studies have shown that poverty rates have been highest in rural areas where prevalence of disasters has been highest, and lowest in urban areas where the prevalence has been lowest.

The project aimed to improve the understanding of national disaster risks in Uganda, to improve community resilience, to mainstream multi-sectoral DRR and CCA considerations at the community level, to provide targeted DRM support to Kampala city, and to measure progress towards building resilience.

Main activities and results

One of the objectives was to build a comprehensive understanding of Uganda’s disaster risks, especially in the capital city Kampala. The project supported the development of a World Bank background paper which outlines a high-detail city-level analysis of Kampala to better understand the localized impacts of natural hazards on urban infrastructure networks (see link below). 

The government of Uganda and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) benefitted from technical assistance that aimed at building long-term resilience at the national and local levels in Uganda. Specific actions were undertaken throughout the course of this project including to: (i) build a comprehensive understanding of national disaster risks in Uganda; (ii) build community resilience through detailed risk and vulnerability assessments; (iii) mainstream multi-sectoral disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation considerations at the community level; (iv) provide targeted support to the city of Kampala to help build its disaster risk management capabilities; and (v) measure Uganda’s overall progress towards building resilience. 

This project resulted in a comprehensive review of Uganda’s legal and institutional capacities to implement Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation policies, especially in the capital city of Kampala. To this end, the project supported the design of the Kampala Disaster Risk and Climate Change Resilience Strategy which is helping government officials to codify and understand the disaster risks that the city faces. These risks are captured in the city’s disaster and climate risk profile through geographic areas of hazard and risk, and specific vulnerabilities in the infrastructure networks. 

As part of this overarching strategy , the KCCA was also supported as it updated its Emergency Preparedness and Response Framework and the Advanced Flood Impact Warning Action Plan which entailed activities such as an OpenStreetMap exercise or the strengthening of community awareness on risk reduction actions and response during emergencies. This underscored the need to design and implement a coordinated public communication structure. These important policy outputs are defining clear mechanisms to build resilience at the national level but also within local communities in Uganda. Overall, this project developed national-level efforts for prioritizing disaster management, thus providing a solid foundation for enhancing country-wide resilience but also inspired local-level initiatives that helped find solutions to local challenges.

Partnerships and coordination

In addition to the close collaboration with the European Union, collaboration and synergies were promoted with relevant activities implemented and/or financed by other partner development agencies, including specialized agencies of the UN, USAID, EU and the African Development Bank. 

Useful links

The Background paper on Kampala and urban infrastructure resilience is accessible here.