Publication: Uganda Human Capital Development and Growth Review, July 2025
Loading...
Published
2025-07-24
ISSN
Date
2025-07-24
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The Uganda Human Capital Development and Growth Review (UHCDGR) adopted a lifecycle approach to analyzing the state of human capital in Uganda and factors affecting progress. In doing so, it reflects the approach taken in NDP IV, which is focused on meeting the changing needs of individuals throughout their lives—from the womb to old age and at every stage of life in between. First, the UHCDGR presents a comprehensive analysis of the current state of human capital development in Uganda, including its achievements to date, the challenges that it faces, and the potential that exists for investing in its people. Chapters 2 to 6 discuss each of the human capital sectors in turn—education, health, water and sanitation, social protection, and jobs—all of which interrelate across the lifecycle. Based on this analysis, Chapter 7 recommends four cross-sectoral “game changers” that have the potential to accelerate the pace of human capital development and thus enable Uganda to reap the benefits of its demographic transition and achieve its development goals.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2025. Uganda Human Capital Development and Growth Review, July 2025. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43494 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Human Development in Uganda : Meeting Challenges and Finding Solutions(Washington, DC, 2009-02)The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set ambitious targets for economic and social development, earmarking eight broad targets. Uganda appears to be on track to meet four of these goals by 2015: halving the poverty rate, eliminating gender disparities in primary school, halving the number of people without safe drinking water, and reversing the spread of AIDS. The country s performance is off track, however, in achieving substantial reduction in infant, child and maternal mortality, halving the number of people without access to sanitation facilities, eliminating gender disparities in secondary school, and achieving 100 percent primary school enrolment. This report seeks to identify challenges to improvement of human development outcomes, and to suggest ways of dealing with these challenges in order to improve service delivery, and therefore progress in human development indicators. It examines how well Uganda has moved toward achieving its PEAP targets for human development, focusing on three sectors: education, health care, and water and sanitation. The report argues that the key to improvement in social services - whether it be education, health care, or water and sanitation - is a new more efficient service delivery framework, a framework with improved links among the policymakers who shape broad goals, the providers of the services, and the customers who are the recipients.Publication Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela : Investing in Human Capital for Growth, Prosperity, and Poverty Reduction(Washington, DC, 2001-03-30)This report draws on limited, available data to analyze selected economic, and social issues, which include better understanding of poverty, and inequality in relation to real income, and, improving the allocation of social expenditures, while increasing the effectiveness of social programs. The deterioration of social, and human capital should be prevented, by simultaneously promoting its accumulation. The report reviews the dismal economic performance of the country over the last decade, where the inability of policymakers to cope with the oil cycles, and prices decline prevails. Moreover, the country's dependence on the oil sector has deepened, while the share of agriculture, and manufacturing decreased, aggravated by the lack of export diversification, and the negative impact of the overvalued domestic currency on external competitiveness. Not surprisingly, labor productivity also decreased, reflecting a low real economic growth, which results in higher unemployment, poverty and inequality increases. The needed acceleration of human, and social capital development focuses on education, health, and the decline of crime and violence, suggesting continued implementation of primary education reforms, through the development of new curriculum, improved quality of basic education, and educational financing. Health recommendations include efficient resource allocation, prioritization of high-impact programs, and expanded private participation, and institutional development.Publication Uganda - Demography and Economic Growth in Uganda(World Bank, 2011-12-01)Uganda has one of the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world. The most important demographic issue for Uganda is related to the age structure rather than the overall size of its population. A very young population represents a major challenge for Uganda in the short and medium term. In order to change its population age structure faster, Uganda needs to accelerate the demographic transition, namely the shift from high levels of mortality and fertility to low levels of mortality and fertility. Once mortality (especially infant and child) and fertility rates begin to fall, young age dependency ratio will follow the same trend albeit with some lag. This will have positive - and quite possibly major - implications for the economic growth. Given the high fertility and reduced mortality over the last several decades, Uganda's population will be growing rapidly over the next several decades. Uganda's economic future looks brighter under assumptions of demographic change.Publication Bhutan Human Development Indicators : Analysis of Current Situation using the BLSS(Washington, DC, 2005-05)This report lays out the challenge of human development in Bhutan. It is based on the first nationally-representative household survey, the Bhutan Living Standard Survey (BLSS), collected between April 2003 and June 2003. The report's primary objective is to inform the Bank of the current situation regarding some human development indicators. The report is partly filling in the knowledge gap on key human development indicators in Bhutan and will hopefully guide future policy directions. Some sections of the report have already been used as an input for the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS). On the demand side, the Ministry of Education in Bhutan had requested World Bank's assistance to help cost the Education Millennium Development Objective (MDG) and other sector objectives. This analysis was competed and delivered in Thimphu in January 2005 (and the analysis of the education sector laid out in the first chapter of this report formed an integral part of this presentation). The Ministry of Health did not express interest in the Bank's assistance in the analysis of the health sector using the BLSS data. However, the RGOB did express interest in Bank input addressing old age security and emerging youth unemployment and the report constitutes an initial step informing the dialogue.Publication Uganda - A Public Expenditure Review 2008 : With a Focus on Affordability of Pay Reform and Health Sector(World Bank, 2009-05-30)This report is a further response to the call from Uganda's leaders for 'value for money' in public spending. The report is the second in a series of three sector-oriented public expenditure reviews (PER) for the Government of Uganda (GOU) prepared by the World Bank as input into the Government of Uganda's budget reform initiatives. The focus of this report is efficiency and efficacy of spending by the Government of Uganda with a specific focus on the health sector. The first report in the series was 'Uganda fiscal policy for growth', published in 2007, with a focus on the education sector. This report comes in two volumes. Volume one is the main report with conclusions and policy recommendations which analyses composition of overall spending and budget implementation, budgetary consequences of ongoing pay reforms, and efficiency and effectiveness of spending in Uganda's health sector. Volume two contains a full report on the health sector, and includes the background papers prepared.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Human Capital Public Expenditure and Institutional Review - An analysis of financing and governace constraints for the delievry of basic education and primary health care in Nigeria(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-22)Human capital, the sum of a population’s health, skills, knowledge, and experience, constitutes a fundamental pillar in the sustainable development and economic growth of nations (World Bank 2018). It represents not just the capacity of individuals to contribute productively to society, but also the potential for countries to achieve higher levels of economic development and social well-being. This report focuses on identifying the constraints to and solutions for improving human capital outcomes in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a country with significant untapped potential in this critical area.Publication Rethinking Fiscal Policies(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-05-27)This paper examines the redistributive impact of fiscal policy—specifically taxes and transfers—on poverty and inequality in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa: the Arab Republic of Egypt, Djibouti, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and the West Bank and Gaza. Utilizing the Commitment to Equity framework, the analysis evaluates how fiscal interventions alter income distribution across these diverse national contexts. The results indicate that direct cash transfers and social assistance programs are generally effective in reducing poverty and shielding vulnerable populations, while in-kind benefits—particularly in education and healthcare—significantly contribute to mitigating income inequality. In contrast, generalized subsidies, especially in the energy sector, are fiscally burdensome and largely regressive, offering limited equity gains. Indirect taxes, although important for revenue generation, often exacerbate income disparities. The study underscores the need for comprehensive fiscal reforms, including the expansion of well-targeted transfers, adoption of progressive taxation, and reallocation of inefficient subsidies toward investments in human capital. Successful initiatives, such as Egypt’s Takaful and Karama and Jordan’s Takaful and bread subsidy compensation programs, illustrate scalable models of effective redistribution. Moreover, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s progressive tax policies highlight viable pathways to equitable revenue mobilization. Strengthening investment in education and health is essential for promoting long-term equity, enhancing upward mobility, and supporting inclusive and sustainable development across the region.Publication What Does Digital Money Mean for Emerging Market and Developing Economies?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)Physical cash and commercial bank money are dominant vehicles for retail payments around the world, including in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Yet payments in EMDEs are marked by several key deficiencies, such as lack of universal access to transaction accounts, widespread informality, limited competition, and high costs, particularly for cross-border payments. Digital money seeks to address these deficiencies. This note categorizes new digital money proposals. These include crypto-assets, stable coins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). It assesses the supply and demand factors that may determine in which countries these innovations are more likely to be adopted. It lays out particular policy challenges for authorities in EMDEs. Finally, it compares these with digital innovations such as mobile money, retail fast-payment systems, new products by incumbent financial institutions, and new entrants such as specialized cross-border money-transfer operators. Proposals for global stablecoins have put a much-needed spotlight on deficiencies in financial inclusion, and in cross-border payments and remittances in EMDEs. Yet stablecoin initiatives are no panacea. While they may achieve adoption in certain EMDEs, they may also pose development, macroeconomic, and cross-border challenges for these countries and have not been tested at scale. Several EMDE authorities are weighing the potential costs and benefits of CBDCs. We argue that the distinction between token-based and account-based money matters less than the distinction between central bank and non-central bank money. Fast-moving fintech innovations that are built on, or improve existing financial plumbing, may address many of the issues in EMDEs that both private stablecoins and CBDCs aim to tackle.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.