United Nations
Development Programme

Plot 15B Clement Hill Road

P.O Box 7184

Kampala, Uganda

Tel: (256) 414-233440/1/2/5

Fax: (256) 414-344801

Email: registry.ug@undp.org

UN-Habitat’s vision is to help create, by 2013, the necessary conditions for concerted international and national efforts to stabilize the growth of slums and to set the stage for a subsequent reduction in, and reversal of, the number of slum dwellers.

In collaboration with its Implementing Partners, namely Government of Uganda and the United Nations country team, UN-Habitat intends to enhance the international community’s ability to respond to Uganda’s specific needs in achieving the human settlements related to the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in attaining Goal 1, Target 1; and Goal 7, targets 9, 10 and 11.

The country is categorized as undergoing rapid and chaotic urbanization with an urban growth rate of 4%. Slum growth is especially high - particularly along the lake shore belt of Lake Victoria.

There is a low awareness and understanding of the scope and scale of the urbanization challenge and its relationship to urban poverty, and policy responses are piecemeal and unsystematic.

The northern part of the country exhibits human settlements in crisis - commonly referred to as Camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP Camps) - as a result of conflict and forced migration.

As a response to these challenges, UN-Habitat’s Medium-Term Strategic and Institutional Plan for 2008-2013 focuses on four strategic objectives arising from an extensive consultation process:

• Promote environmentally sound and affordable basic infrastructure and services
• Encourage participatory urban planning, management and governance
• Strengthen human settlements finance systems
• Encourage excellence in management through advocacy, monitoring and partnerships