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Uganda: Expanding Social Protection programme covers the elderly and vulnerable families

Led by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development of Uganda, and with the assistance and funding of international partners such as DFiD, Irish Aid and UNICEF, the Government of Uganda has been implementing the Expanding Social Protection (ESP) Programme.

The purpose of the ESP Programme is to embed a national social protection system, including Direct Income Support for the poorest and most vulnerable, as a core element of Uganda’s national planning and budgeting processes. The ESP programme is piloting the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE), a cash transfer scheme initiated in 2011 which comprises two instruments: The Senior Citizens Grants (SCGs) and the Vulnerable Family Grants (VFGs), which are small but regular payments to vulnerable households or citizens.

Starting as a pilot programme in 14 districts, SAGE ensures income security to 1.3 million older people and reaches 5.7 million Ugandans living in households with older people, including around 4.4 million children and 60 per cent of Uganda’s orphans and vulnerable children – which represents a 16 per cent reduction in the national poverty rate. The Government is currently preparing a plan to extend the ESP Programme to the rest of the country.

Learn more about the Ugandan Expanding Social Protection Programme.

Media 23.01.2014 - 23.01.2014 Uganda Archived
05.02.2014