Agreed Minutes on Development Co-operation Partnership 2002-2004
between the Italian Republic and the Republic of Uganda
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The
Government of the Italian Republic represented by the Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sen. Alfredo Mantica, and the
Government of the Republic of Uganda represented by the Minister
of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Gerald
Ssendawula, hereinafter referred to as the “Parties”,
met on the day 17th October 2002 in Kampala, to agree on the
development co-operation framework between the two countries
for a three-year period 2002-2004.
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To
this end, under the provisions of the Agreement for Technical
and Economic Co-operation signed on 16th March 1993 in Kampala,
and following the guidelines of the Strategy Paper on 2000-2002
Italian-Ugandan development co-operation, a three-year program
has been outlined.
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This
program is fully owned by the Government of Uganda, and it
is based on the Ugandan development priorities as outlined
in the annual Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and
within the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP).
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Within
this framework, the parties agreed that the fundamentals of
their development cooperation program lay in the strengthening
of democracy, promotion of human rights and respect of the
rule of law. The common objective being to ensure a development
process based on equity through poverty eradication, better
health, education for all, gender equality, promotion and
support of the private sector.
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To meet the above objectives, the Italian Government, through
the Directorate General for Development Co-operation (hereinafter
referred to as “DGCS”) of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs will make available, for the period 2002-2004, grants
worth EURO 19 million. This amount will be subject to annual
review and could be increased taking into account the actual
implementation rate.
-
Over
and above this amount, additional resources could be made
available for emergency aid, regional program components,
DGCS contributions to Italian NGOs owned programs and DGCS
cofinancing of Italian local Authorities supported initiatives.
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On
the basis of the Strategy Paper on development co-operation,
the Parties have agreed on a sectorial and geographical concentration
of aid.
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The
sectorial program will consist of :
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support to Ugandan PEAP through initiatives in the health
and agricultural sectors in selected
districts;
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support to the Uganda AIDS fighting strategy within a regional
framework;
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consolidation and rationalisation of the ongoing higher education
initiatives.
A preventive emergency approach in areas with foreseeable
emergency alert is also outlined.
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The geographical concentration is intended to support some
of the poorest districts and subdistricts located mainly in
the northern part of the Country.
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The launching of the initiative to reduce poverty through
better health access and agricultural development at local
level will be the core of the three-year program 2002-2004.
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The priority sectors for DGCS assistance will be health and
agriculture. This choice is based both on the acquired experience
of Italian co-operation in the Country and on the Italian-Ugandan
common scope of broadening their partnership in new areas.
The Italian intervention will be gender sensitive and will
be co-ordinated with those of the other donors. The execution
modalities will consist of either PAF earmarked support and/or
technical assistance, and capacity building on project basis,
within the Health Sector Strategy and the Program for Modernisation
of Agriculture.
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The support to the Uganda AIDS fighting strategy within a
regional framework will be part and parcel of the National
Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS Activities of the Ugandan
Government, with a regional approach involving also Rwanda
and Burundi. The above mentioned Strategic Framework, in the
view of GOU, is to be seen as subordinate and complementary
to key policy documents and action plans to fight poverty
in Uganda, according with the UNAIDS/WHO policy within the
Great Lakes region (GLIA).
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The consolidation of the ongoing program on higher education
will consist of the gradual phasing out of older initiatives,
in close monitoring of those recently started and in the common
identification of possible new areas of co-operation within
the guidelines of the Education Strategic Investment Program
(ESIP).
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By its own nature relief activities cannot be “planned”,
however emergency situations could occur easily in some regions
than in others. Karamoja, Gulu and Kitgum are the districts
more affected by drought, famine and rebel movement attacks.
These areas show typical aspects of chronic and foreseeable
emergency. Thus, mainly in these districts, planned activities
will be accompanied byhumanitarian assistance. Within this
framework a specific Ebola early response initiative has been
considered, with the establishing in Gulu of an excellence
center to study the possible causes and spreading trends of
the epidemic.
- Should
resources be made available, soft loan granting could be considered,
within the investment priorities of the Ugandan Government
and PEAP priorities, in the key sector of economic development
of poorer areas (SMEs, health, agriculture, education, water
and sanitation and energy).
- The
parties agreed on the following indicative sector partition
for the Italian grant funds 2002-2004:
SECTOR |
% |
EURO (million) |
| Poverty
initiative |
74,6
|
14,4
|
| Paf
support |
15,5 |
3,0 |
| Health
sector assistance |
39,4
|
7,6
|
| Agricultural
sector assistance |
19,7 |
3,8 |
| Education |
9,3 |
1,8 |
| Emergency
planning |
16,1 |
3,1 |
Total |
100 |
19,3 |
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The
geographical concentration aims at optimizing the available
resources, for maximizing the impact of the assistance and
to clearly identify the Italian action. The Program will be
implemented assisting selected districts and sub-districts
in the poorest areas of the country. The selection of the
participating districts and sub-districts has been based on
the past Italian experience and on the criteria of the Ugandan
Government in considering specific indicators such as population
growth, poverty incidence, primary health, economic development
and, if the case, already existing DGCS projects.
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The
Parties agreed that the DGCS partners for the overall program
are the Ministry of Finance, the relevant Line Ministries
and the local bodies of the areas where the program will be
implemented.
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Besides
the PAF contribution that will be administered by the Ugandan
Government under the provisions of a specific Agreement between
Italy and Uganda, the executing agencies of the remaining
initiatives will be identified by the Parties and recruited
under the provisions of the Italian law among multilateral
agencies, Italian NGOs and Italian bilateral technical assistance.
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The
current program will take into account any previous arrangements
for the ongoing
initiatives. The new projects, whenever possible, will be
coherent with the ongoing ones.
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The co-operation program should be subject to monitoring and
ongoing and ex-post evaluation, both internal and through
third party consultancy.
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Yearly review meetings between Ugandan and Italian authorities
are foreseen to monitor the status of implementation of the
program
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Finally, taking into account that the Agreement on debt cancellation
signed in Rome on April 17, 2002, has development implications
under the HIPC framework, the Parties agree that during the
above meetings the Ugandan representatives will also report
on pro-poor spending of the financial resources made available
from debt relief.
Done
in Kampala on the 17th October 2002, in two originals both in
the English language.
For
the Government
of the Italian Republic |
For
the Government
of the Republic of Uganda |
Sen. Alfredo Mantica
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Finance
|
Hon. Gerald Ssendawula
Planning and Economic Development
|
|
