The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Irish Ambassador in Uganda, William Carlos has commended government’s plan for the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) national roll out.
Government plans to extend SAGE to all districts but also increase the age of beneficiaries from 65 to 80 years. The programme started as a pilot scheme in 2010 with support from Irish Government and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The beneficiaries receive 25,000 shillings per month. There are 153,000 beneficiaries in 47 districts.
Carlos said that the national rollout of SAGE, should be strengthened by a long term sustainability programme.
Carlos was speaking to officials from Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Ministry of Finance, development partners and civil society on Thursday at a reception he hosted in recognition of progress made in building a national social protection system.
Carlos said the national rollout should not compromise quality and gains that have been registered in the past years.
Carlos said the Irish government is proud to support the SAGE programme and will support the national rollout.
The Irish government committed 62 billion shillings to the on-going second five-year phase which ends in 2020. When combined with DFID and government funding, 390 billion shillings will be invested in SAGE second phase.
Statistics from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in the 2016 National Household Survey revealed that poverty reduced from 31.1 percent to 30.8 percent in districts where SAGE was being implemented.
The Irish ambassador said evaluations of first and second SAGE phase showed remarkable contribution of the programme such as improved food security, improved nutrition and contributed to increased school enrolment for both primary and secondary education.
Makerere University economist, Dr Fred Muhumuza, however, warned that raising the age of SAGE beneficiaries to 80yrs is likely to scale down some of the achievements registered.
He argued that there is no possibility of 80yr beneficiaries investing their grants. “Remember if you give 50,000 to someone aged 65, they might still have energy to invest it. You give it to someone aged 80, you’re just being preventive. They are too frail to do anything,” he said.
Dr Muhumuza said the national programme rollout is commendable, but government should think about lowering the age every year bring into the fold people who will be left out after raising age.
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