Poverty levels in Uganda over the last decade up to 2020 remained largely unchanged, despite various government interventions before and during the period, according to the World Bank.
However, there have been drastic changes over the last three years arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia- Ukraine war which affected the poor people most by dropping them deeper into poverty.
The Uganda 2022 Poverty Assessment Overview by the World Bank shows that the national poverty rate ranged between 30 and 35 percent, according to the assessment under the theme: Strengthening Resilience to Accelerate Poverty Reduction in Uganda.
According to Aziz Atamanov, the Senior Economist at the World Bank, the national poverty rate includes assessment of access to essential social services as opposed to income poverty focusing on people’s incomes, which the government estimates at 20 percent.
Dr. Atamanov said only 48 percent of the poorest children from the lower quintile were able to visit health facilities and access medication when ill, compared to 91 percent of children from the richest quintile.
According to the report, about 30 percent of Ugandans were poor in 2019/20, a percentage only slightly lower than 31 percent in 2012/13.
Margaret Kakande, the head Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said the major problem facing poverty eradication was the failure to ensure good management of public resources.
