In 2020, the United States gave Uganda Shs3.4 trillion in aid.

According to the fifth annual US Report to the Ugandan People, the United States provided aid worth US$953 million (Shs3.4 trillion) to the Ugandan people in 2020.

The report was released on Tuesday, December 14 by the US Mission in Uganda, which was presided over by Natalie E Brown, the US ambassador to Uganda.

The study focuses on the impact of the United States’ work to promote economic growth and employment, enhance health and education, foster democratic ideals, and strengthen security, and tells the story of the United States’ long-standing partnership with the Ugandan people.

$517 million was allocated to the health sector, $206 million to Uganda to accommodate 1.4 million refugees, $60 million to economic growth, particularly in agriculture, and $13 million to promote justice and democracy in the country.

Despite the issues of corruption, the ambassador stated that every dollar the United States invests in Uganda is held to the highest standards of monitoring, stating that this is one of America’s measures to encourage financial openness and accountability for the use of public resources.

“Corruption is a major problem in Uganda, as it is in many other countries throughout the world. That’s why, as Brown explained, “we have extremely stringent mechanisms in place for monitoring and analyzing how US assistance money are spent.”

In terms of support for the fight against Covid-19, the study shows that the US has supplied more than $122 million in assistance to Uganda’s Covid response and donated slightly over 9.4 million Covid vaccine doses to aid in the fight against the pandemic since the commencement of the outbreak.

The United States’ funding for Uganda’s health sector was also extended to accelerating HIV programs (ARV), with approximately 55,000 additional patients receiving HIV treatment by 2020, bringing the total number of Ugandans with HIV/AIDS receiving treatment to 86 percent of those affected.

Even while these figures appear to be considerable, according to Brown, the tale of America’s collaboration with the Ugandan people is one of lives impacted, not financial figures.

“And what we know now is that as a result of this cooperation, millions of ordinary Ugandans are living healthier lives, learning more, earning more, and engaging more completely in their communities,” Brown added.

The report also notes that the United States increased its investments in Uganda in 2020, particularly in the coffee sector, where America’s contributions helped Uganda earn a record $500 million in coffee exports in 2020 while also encouraging more women and youth to enter the sector.

Furthermore, the United States trained 360,000 adolescents to develop their entrepreneurship skills and gain skills to thrive in the agriculture business.

“The Youth Livelihoods Activity (YLA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) taught market-relevant skills to more than 162,000 young farmers, more than half of whom were women. According to the report, “an additional 112,293 kids were trained in market-driven technical skills, 49,492 adolescents were prepared for labor preparation, and 645 young were trained in entrepreneurship skills.”

Despite the problems that Covid-19 has posed since early 2020, the ambassador says she is proud of the tangible and, in many ways, extraordinary accomplishments detailed in this year’s report.