The Government of the Republic of Uganda has received financing from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a US-based environmental conservation fund, for the development of the “Strengthening the Adaptive Capacity and Resilience of Communities in Uganda’s watersheds” project.
The project aims to strengthen resilience of approximately half a million vulnerable people to the impacts of climate change, through adaptation technology transfer, which is the first strategic objective and climate mainstreaming, the project’s second strategic objective.
This project has four components. The first component is Climate resilient infrastructure implemented for enhanced livelihoods. The second is strengthened capacity of communities and institutions for climate resilient planning in four watersheds. Third involves Climate information integrated into development plans & early warning systems, and the forth is Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Adaptation Learning.
The project will be implemented in the sub-catchments of Komirya, Sironko, Simu-sisi, Muyembe and Sipi, in the districts of Bukedea, Sironko, Bulambuli and Kapchorwa) within the Awoja catchment.
The purpose of this ESMF is to set out a unified process for assessing and managing all environmental and social safeguard issues for subprojects from preparation, through appraisal and approval, to implementation.
The ESMF gives information on how to address adverse environmental and social impacts of components of the project and will be applied in sub-projects.
The preparation of this ESMF has mainly been based on a review of the relevant project documents, legal and lender requirements and secondary information about the Project area. In addition, consultations with the relevant stakeholders at the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) were conducted to further understand available capacity to implement the ESMF.
