Beyond occasional corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Uganda’s private sector must take a greater interest in the development of the country’s human capital and the delivery of basic social services.
While this role has traditionally been left largely to civil society organisations and the donor community, UNICEF Uganda country representative Dr Robin Nandy says ongoing aid cuts present an opportunity for the private sector to invest more strategically in the country’s future.
Nandy noted that Uganda’s youthful population remains one of its greatest assets, with more than half of the population below the age of 19.
However, he cautioned that the quality of that population should concern the private sector because today’s children are not only tomorrow’s workforce but also the next generation of consumers.
Without adequate education, skills development and economic empowerment, he said, the country risks failing to realise the full potential of its demographic advantage.
He stressed the need to support young people through good health, nutrition, education, skilling and vocational training to prepare them for the labour market.
“Not as simple corporate social responsibility handing out cash, but a more strategic approach because our argument is when you are a private sector entity, who’s going to be your future workforce? The future workforce or the children of today who are in school and education. So you want them to come out with the right skills and education so that they can then join the workforce and contribute to the development of economy, the profitability of the private sector,” he said.
“We cannot [continue] tp depend on Western and international donors for the long-term support of our countries. Neither do we want to keep dependence. We want us to sustain ourselves in Africa, across Africa, and support each other.”
Nandy said that under both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, ensuring children enjoy a quality life is not an act of charity but a shared responsibility of governments, communities and society.
“We don’t want to create that level of dependency…We’ve talked about our support building systems. We want to build systems at national and local government level that will operate without Unicef,” he said.
He revealed that UNICEF, which operates an annual budget of between $70 million and $80 million, largely financed by donors, had reduced its workforce by 25 per cent in 2025 as a result of declining donor funding.
According to Nandy, without stronger intervention by the government and the private sector, gains made in child rights, protection and welfare could be reversed.
While the cuts to USAID’s $950 million funding have been the most visible due to the size of the US contribution, Nandy said many traditional development partners have also reduced aid allocations.
“Pretty much all traditional donors have reduced development funding. The UK, the Netherlands, you name it, Germany, pretty much all countries across Europe and our traditional donors have reduced funding for development.”
He observed that many donor countries are increasingly prioritising trade and bilateral economic interests over development assistance.
“So I think we have to change with the times, the winds are shifting; the traditional models of development are changing. But I think development remains important. It is what irrespective of whether the attention is shifting here and there because I don’t think you can have economic development and strong trade partnership without investing in children, which is, in essence, investing in human capital development,” he said.
Government must lead
Nandy said it is incumbent upon African governments to build strong national systems capable of addressing the continent’s most pressing vulnerabilities.
He argued that governments must take greater ownership of local development challenges and become more strategic and intentional in their spending priorities.
According to Nandy, effective utilisation of available resources can often have as much impact as increasing funding levels. He called for a multi-sectoral approach involving the ministries of Health, Education and Justice, among others, to strengthen child protection and welfare systems.
The UNICEF boss cited the ongoing Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo as an example of growing African leadership in addressing development and humanitarian challenges.
He noted that African governments and philanthropists have increasingly contributed resources to regional crises, including $2.5 million support from South Africa , the Dangote Foundation in Nigeria and Uganda’s own financial contribution of $5 million to the Ebola response.
“The message here is Africa is ready to take things into its own hands and support their own development, with catalytic funding from outside.”
Nandy emphasised that UNICEF’s role is increasingly focused on providing catalytic support that can leverage more sustainable domestic financing.
“I don’t want our finances to determine our success…It is prioritizing much more closely, what we do, what does our catalytic support look like without creating dependence? And how we can use our catalytic support to mobilize resources that are more sustainable from the government, from the private sector, from private individuals in the country.”
“It is very easy to say, doom, gloom, no money. We cannot do anything. I disagree. I think there is a lot we can do without money coming from USAID because we’ve got the technical expertise. We’ve got the experience in the Republic of Uganda, where we can work with the government, and look at alternative sources of funding that will support the work that we do.”
He also called for greater emphasis on efficiency and accountability in the use of public resources.
“Not enough is talked about how we use the money we already have. And that is extremely key,” he said.
UNICEF’s 2026-2030 programme
Announcing UNICEF Uganda’s Country Programme for 2026-2030, Nandy said that while significant progress has been registered over the last two decades in areas such as child mortality, nutrition and school enrolment, several challenges remain.
He noted that one in three children still suffers from malnutrition, only three in 10 pupils complete the full seven-year primary cycle, and one in four children lives in poverty.
Additionally, six in 10 children under five years lack legal identity documentation, while half of girls aged between 15 and 19 experienced sexual violence before the age of 15.
Diseases such as Ebola, diarrhoea, HIV/AIDS and respiratory infections continue to contribute significantly to child mortality. More than 460,000 children aged between two and 17 years are living with disabilities, while about one million young people enter the labour market every year, many lacking employable skills.
Nandy said sustainable systems and policies are needed to address these challenges rather than short-term interventions dependent on donor priorities and funding cycles.
He argued that increased private-sector participation would help scale successful interventions nationally rather than limiting benefits to specific regions where donor projects are implemented.
The five-year programme will focus on health, HIV and nutrition; education and skills development; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); climate resilience; child protection; and social protection.
Under the health and nutrition pillar, UNICEF will work with the Ministry of Health and other partners to strengthen health systems and expand access to quality services for women, newborns, children and adolescents.
The programme will also prioritise reducing teenage pregnancy and promoting dietary diversity.
“Keeping girls in school is a win-win situation as it helps them attain the right education while also mitigating teenage pregnancies,” Nandy said.
He, however, noted that retaining girls in school requires adequate water and sanitation infrastructure, particularly facilities that support menstrual hygiene management.
Nandy also called for greater involvement of cultural and religious institutions in advancing development and policy objectives.
With about one in four teenage girls experiencing pregnancy during adolescence, he argued that solutions must extend beyond government interventions and involve wider societal participation.
“Something like child trafficking should be everybody’s problem. It cannot be only the government’s problem,” he said.
Digital skills and child protection
Nandy underscored the growing importance of digital literacy, saying children must be equipped with the skills needed to use the internet safely and productively.
“Internet is very important. We want our kids to learn digital skills, which will help them to use the internet optimally. What I mean by that is internet, like everything else in this world, comes with opportunities and comes with risk. So we need to make sure the children are protected from the ill effects or the misuse of the internet,” he said.
Under the programme, UNICEF will support early childhood development services, foundational learning, digital innovation and skills development.
The organisation will also advocate universal access to water and sanitation, promote climate-resilient services, strengthen child protection systems, expand access to justice and birth registration, and support social protection initiatives aimed at reducing child poverty.
Ebola misconceptions
Nandy also criticised misinformation surrounding Ebola outbreaks, saying many people continue to wrongly compare the disease to Covid-19.
“The route of transmission is completely different, ladies and gentlemen. COVID was spread through the airborne route. So through the air, through the respiratory system, through respiratory droplets. Ebola is transmitted not through the air, but through close contact with the patient.”
