Uganda underlines progress, faces challenge of youth ahead of World Population Day
Kampala, Uganda (PANA) – The government of Uganda has outlined what it called progress regarding human development, ahead of World Population Day on July 11, also underlining the challenges posed by high population growth rate and a restive population.
This was contained in a statement laid before Parliament Tuesday by David Bahati, the State Minister for Finance in charge of Planning.
Minister Bahati told Parliament that different indicators show that there has been an improvement in the way Ugandans live. Maternal mortality rate, he said, significantly declined over the past three decades, from 506 mothers dying during labour or of child birth-related complications per 100,000 live births in 1991 to 336 in 2016, representing a decline of 34%.
He further noted that Ugandan women are now giving birth to less children than before, meaning that the chance for a better quality life is higher.
Mr Bahati said the total fertility rate – the number of children a woman is expected to produce through her child-bearing years - declined from 7.4 children per woman in 1988 to 5.4 in 2016.
Regarding education, the minister noted that Uganda has, since 1997 when it introduced free primary school education, seen a ‘tremendous increase in the enrolment of our children into schools, with the number of school-going children rising from 3 million in 1997 to 8.7 million in 2016'.
This, he noted, resulted in a jump in literacy levels from 54% in 1991 to 75% today.
The minister further noted that whereas absolute poverty stood at 56% in 1991, the percentage of Ugandans living below the poverty line dropped 21% in by 2016.
The population growth rate still remains, however, standing at 3% and still among the highest in the world. This the minister’s statement attributed to a combination of increased chances of child survival and the reducing but still relatively high fertility rate.
As a result, Uganda's population grew exponentially, from 16.7 million in 1990 to 34.6 million in 2014, and is currently projected at 40.3 million. The report added that Uganda’s population is predominantly young people, with 78% aged below 3O years and 49% under the age of 15 years.
The government, under President Yoweri Museveni who has been in charge since January 1986, has come under pressure from the youth, many of whom are jobless and restive. And the theme Uganda has chosen for this year’s World Population Day - "Renewing the Promise: Empowering Uganda's Youth to Drive Socio-Economic Transformation” – reflects this concern.
Museveni, who faces what is likely to be a tough election in 2011, is currently traversing the country courting the youth in what he had dubbed a ‘wealth creation’ drive.
-0- PANA EM/VAO 9July2019
