United Nations
Development Programme

Plot 24 Prince Charles Drive, Kololo

P.O Box 7184

Kampala, Uganda

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

Fax: (256) 414-344801

Email: registry.ug@undp.org

Mr. Theophane Nikyema, UNDP's resident representative waters a tree he has just planted to mark the end of the UNV/UWEC project

Entebbe Municipality is a shade greener, thanks to the just ended project to re-green it, but more than green is the municipality’s youth who have taken on a new passion to keep the area green and free from any environmental degradation that may come its way.

This new passion among the youth was fuelled by the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme through the  “Youth and Community Volunteerism towards Achievement of Environmental sustainability,” project that was implemented for a period of three years from July 2006 to June 2009.

The project attracted about 550 youth from all over Entebbe who took part in planting as many as 22,000 trees in nine demonstration gardens in the municipality.

Speaking during the closing ceremony for the project, Mr. Theophane Nikyema, UNDP’s Resident Representative thanked the youth for responding to the call to save the environment, particularly at this time when climate change is having adverse effects on everyone globally. He encouraged the youth not to ask about money when volunteering but look at the benefits such projects will give them in the future.

Dr. Andrew Seguya, the Executive Director of UWEC said that the project had enabled the youth to start groups and companies for garbage collection and waste management using the knowledge they had acquired from the trainings. He added that getting the youth on board was one of their biggest successes and they hope that it can be replicated throughout the country.

The project area spanned from the tip of the Lake Victoria Peninsular in Kigungu in Entebbe Municipality upto Lubowa in Wakiso district. The nine project’s demonstration gardens were in the areas of Kigungu, Lugonjo/Nakiwogo, Katabi, Kitubulu, Nkumba, Namulanda, Lutembe, Kitende, Lweza/Kajjansi.

Some of the gardens visited at Nkumba University and Katabi Primary School were budding with fruit trees which were shared with the visitors during their tour of the gardens, at Katabi particularly, the Headmistress was grateful that the project had taught the young children the importance of having trees and protecting them in this age of sustainable development .

Although the project was funded by the UNV programme and implemented by UWEC at a total amount of Uganda Shillings 110 million (USD 55,000), it was supported by various other groups such as the Entebbe Municipal Council, the Entebbe District Wildlife Association, the Entebbe Outstanding Youth Association and the NGO Forum among others.

These different groups of people and organisations helped to mobilise, educate and demonstrate to the communities on how to rehabilitate, protect and sustain the environment through tree growing hence contribute to the achievement of Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals which calls for the protection of the environment.

Most of this work was also done voluntarily by the youth in the area, hence promoting the spirit of volunteerism which is core to the UNV programme‘s work.