Case in point, there have been thousands of targeted poverty eradication initiatives for and in Greater Northern Uganda by the Government of Uganda and other actors; initiatives of which some most likely were carried out under the auspices of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and currently the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In spite of those poverty eradication initiatives, however well-meaning they were or are, poverty sustains unabated and is thriving in Greater Northern Uganda, which in fact is the poorest region in Uganda.
A significant number of households, over 30 percent of the region’s population, are living below the poverty line. A poverty map generated in 2019 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) using 2016/2017 data shows 34.9 percent of the population in West Nile is livingin poverty; 33.4 percent in Acholi; 15.6 percent in Lango; 25.1 percent in Teso and 60.2 percent in Karmoja.
With all their impurities, poverty lines, nevertheless in some cases correctly indicate the extent of poverty among communities. Appreciating that the UBOS map is indicative of poverty in Uganda, the thesis of CPAR Uganda’s, “Model I: Understanding Poverty in Rural Uganda” of our project, “Mentoring Young Adults into Innovators against Poverty”, is that:
“Actors in the poverty eradication arena have insufficient understanding of poverty. Consequently, their insufficient understanding of poverty is a root cause as to why well-meaning poverty elimination initiatives fail.”
CPAR Uganda Ltd
Policy makers, implementers and ordinary citizens seemingly have not taken the time to genuinely analyse poverty and more so to contextualize their analysis relevant to greater northern Uganda, Uganda as whole and Sub-Saharan Africa, in general.
This is among the major reasons why poverty sustains and is most likely the reason why the SDGs will likely not succeed where the MDGs failed.
By Norah Owaraga, Managing Director
CPAR Uganda Ltd 