By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
Advocacy groups have urged the Government to establish an integrated social protection system to eliminate duplication and ensure vulnerable Ugandans receive coordinated support.
The experts said social protection should be designed as a life-cycle system covering children, youth, working-age persons, older persons and other vulnerable groups.
Speaking during a Post-Budget Reading engagement at Kingdom Kampala, Patrick Kiconco Katabaazi, the member of parliament for Rukiga county, from the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Social Protection (UPFSP), said the current approach where different groups access separate government interventions creates gaps and overlaps in service delivery.
Kiconco said several government programmes target similar beneficiaries but operate separately, making it difficult to track beneficiaries and measure impact.
He explained that an integrated system would allow government to coordinate programmes, identify beneficiaries and use resources more efficiently.
“For example, if a young person receives money for a project and is also eligible for another government programme, a linked system would help identify this and reduce duplication,” Kiconco said.
His remarks come days after the Government presented the Shs84.39 trillion national budget for the financial year 2026/27, where Shs13.56 trillion was allocated to Human Capital Development, covering sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation, and social protection.
Out of the Human Capital Development allocation, Shs173.55b was allocated to social protection.
The allocation includes Shs15.5b for the child disability benefit programme, Shs3b for the street children intervention programme, Shs7.6b for the Social Development Grant, Shs494b for environmental and climate change safeguards and Shs361b for contingency.
However, funding for the Senior Citizens Grant (SAGE) remained unchanged at Shs121b for the fifth consecutive year.
Social protection advocates welcomed the budgetary allocations, but said shocks and vulnerabilities remain perverse.
Despite the considerations, the group said they have been delinked from several government programs such as the multi billion wealth creation initiatives which has a Shs2.49 trillion allocation in the FY2026/27 budget.
“Social Protection remains largely de-linked from multi-billion wealth creation programs such as PDM,” Kiconco said.
They urged government intervention and investment to boost the outcomes of all HCD components.
At the reading of the national budget, Finance minister, Henry Musasizi announced that for the first time, the government had allocated Shs15.5b for children with disabilities in the budget. Disability advocates welcomed the move saying it was an important first step, but called for increased funding in future budgets to reach more children.
“We are requesting that we have a plan where each financial year we see an increment because we know this was just to highlight and see how things are going to happen and how children will be targeted,” said Esther Kyozira, the chief executive officer of the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU).
She urged the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development to ensure the funds reach the intended beneficiaries and follow the implementation plan developed for the programme.
The advocates said an integrated social protection framework would strengthen planning, budgeting and implementation of programmes aimed at improving the welfare of Ugandans as well as enabling government to respond faster to emergencies and ensure vulnerable groups are not left behind.
