Government sector programs

Background

Government ministries are specifically charged with the responsibility of assessing the impact of the epidemic on realizing their mandates and taking the lead in fighting the epidemic in their sectors. The Ministry of Health was the first Ministry to systematically respond to the epidemic and has since 1986 been the backbone of the national response. The ministries of Defence and Internal Affairs (with particular focus on Police and Prisons) also developed programs earlier than the rest of the sectors.

With financial support from development partners especially the UNDP, and technical assistance from partners that had developed capacity to address HIV/AIDS earlier, AIDS Control Programmes were established in several other Ministries in 1995. The Government Ministries Self Coordinating Entity (GMSCE) brings together HIV/AIDS focal officers in all ministries to share perspectives on the impact of epidemic on public service and harmonize government approaches. During a retreat of the GMSCE in May 2003, the following issues were noted:

• All government ministries develop HIV/AIDS workplans and most have Strategic plans relating to the NSF
• Common workplace HIV/AIDS components include staff sensitization, counselling, condom distribution and training in counselling skills. Several are involved in sector-wide activities beyond the workplace place e.g. in development of sectoral and thematic policies and standards , mainstreaming guidelines etc
• All ministries have been implementing their planned activities albeit the gaps in funding, technical and logistical support to reach full implementation capacity. Lack of budget lines for HIV/AIDS constrain access to government funding
• Monitoring and evaluation components are rather weak
• All Ministries have designated focal point officers but the workload is high. Many have established HIV/AIDS committees usually constituting of members from various departments to promote mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS in all ministry activities
• Most ministries are faced with the challenge of coordination especially in Ministries that have many departments e.g. President's Office and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
• Political commitment from top level leadership in ministries is crucial for initiation and sustainability of HIV/AIDS work in all ministries

More recently, several government ministries were involved in the compilation of sector issue papers intended to establish the impact of HIV/AIDS on sectors, status of the response, challenges and future plans. These papers are intended to raise advocacy for scaled efforts in these ministries targeting increased commitment and resource mobilization. A cross-cutting paper was compiled out these and was presented to the Joint Annual AIDS Review 2005 technical workshop in December 2005 for further input

The following provides highlights on some Ministries and other government bodies' mandates, activities, and challenges:

Parliament of the Republic of Uganda

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Public Service

Ministry of Local Government

Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Development

Ministry of Education and Sports

Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries - Department of Fisheries

Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications

Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry

Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment

Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs