UNA-Uganda in collaboration with UNA-Finland organized a two-day workshop from the
7th to the 8
th of February 2023 at the Ministers’ Village Hotel – Ntinda. The Workshop was
both virtual and physical. Participants from Uganda were physically present at the
workshop venue while those from Kenya, Tanzania, Finland and Denmark attended via
video link.
The Workshop examined the linkages between Human Rights and the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). It was emphasized that the Human Rights – based approach
is the way to go if we are to realize SDGs in a human-friendly way. We should desist from
making the same errors that were made when implementing the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). Indeed, the chosen methods of work in implementing and monitoring the
state parties’ work on SDGs is buttressed by the Human Rights-based approached as
evidenced through the Agenda 2030 Declaration, the National Voluntary Review
Mechanism and the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism.
To ensure that advocates and young people appreciate and make use of the human
rights-based approach while contributing towards the realization of SDGs, UNA-Uganda
with support from UNA-Finland in the framework of ‘Accelerating the Implementation of
SDGs in East Africa Program’, organized a two-day workshop from the 7th to the 8th of
February 2023. The workshop focused on the theme; “Linkages of Human rights and
Sustainable Development Goals”.
The workshop was truly East African and encouraged cross boarder participation and
sharing. There were participants from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Finland. There were
facilitators from the Danish Institute of Human Rights and local Facilitators from the 3
countries. In Uganda, we had an audience of youth, Civil Society Organizations
representatives, media, and People with Disability. This audience allowed the participants
to hear from a wide range of representatives and hence enabling sharing from different
perspectives in addition to learning from the facilitators.
The UNAU president Mr. Muwanguzi George opened up the workshop and presented a
paper on the Legal Frameworks for Human Rights and the insights on Human rights and
how these are involved in every goal of the 17 Global goals. Ms. Maria Ploug Petersen
from the Danish Institute of Human Rights took Participants through the Human Rights
Mechanism, Legal Frameworks, Monitoring, and Principles. She added that the 2030
Agenda is a Human Rights Agenda and gave a brief about the Human Rights Data
explorer tool developed at the Danish Institute for Human Rights. The data explorer
showed Linkages to SDGs and Human Rights for any country; of which Uganda was
included; and had recommendations to each country on each SDG. Currently Uganda
has over 1000 recommendations on ensuring that Agenda 2030 is realized calling for
serious acceleration if SDGs implementation is to be realized.
Day two of the workshop kicked off with Ms. Peruth Nshemereirwe, a senior member of
UNAU, a Human Rights Advocate and professional lawyer making a presentation to the
workshop. She noted that the goal of human rights and SDGs is to holistically enrich the
development process, provide more in our lives since human Rights are universal and
permanent. Ms. Peruth noted that Everything begins and ends with Leadership and that
at times, actors in the justice system such as Lawyers and Judges are to blame for Human
rights violations due to delayed trials, inaction and miscarriages of justice.
As a way of ensuring that the session is participatory, there were sessions of group work
whereby participants were put into groups so as to discuss problems and find real or
potential solutions to the various issues that were put on the table. The workshop sessions
were concluded with an address by Mr. Muwanguzi who noted that although resources
remain a challenge in ensuring the realization of SDGs and Human Rights, corruption
and inefficiency remain serious challenges in service delivery. He for example intimated
that, decided court cases and research indicate that there are high chances of patients
dying in Government Hospitals – particularly children and mothers during and after
childbirth due to the absence of basic obstetric services despite the fact that government
may have allocated the necessary resources.
He added that some healthcare specialists – Doctors, Nurses, Clinical officers and
Administrators of public hospitals and health centres have been found to engage in
corrupt practices and neglect of duties. These are matters that can be and must be
decisively dealt with if Uganda and indeed East Africa are to accelerate the
implementation of Agenda 2030. The workshop was finally addressed by the UNA –
Uganda Secretary General Mr. Baguma Richard who virtually gave his appreciation
towards every participant and called upon all of them be the front-liners in the call to
accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2030 and ensuring that Human Rights and
SDGs are realized in East Africa.
