The study assessed the FY 2020/2021 budget responsiveness to the aftershock effects of Covid-19 on Children across the key sectors of health, education, social development and livelihoods. The study adopted a mixed approach combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The study was conducted at national level and in eight (8) districts of Buikwe, Yumbe, Soroti, Hoima, Nakasongola, Busia, Kyankwanzi, and Rakai.
National Budget Allocations towards Child-oriented Interventions
In nominal terms, the funds budgeted for child-oriented interventions during FY 2020/21 amounted to UShs 2.4 trillion. This is 5.2% of the approved FY 2020/21 national budget (UShs 45.5 trillion). The highest planned spending on child-oriented interventions was in the education sector at UShs 1,985.7 billion. This was followed by Health at UShs 373.2 billion, Agriculture at UShs 17 billion and Social protection at UShs 3.8 billion. Due to low funding to the social development sector which drives the child protection interventions, child protection efforts have, and continue to face, significant challenges in terms of coverage, efficiency and effectiveness.
National Covid-19 funding for Child-oriented Interventions
Due to the impact of Covid-19, the FY 2020/21 was revised, which led to cuts in both the recurrent and development budgets. This meant that MDAs and LGs had to cut some spending such as; Allowances, Staff Training, Welfare and Entertainment, Travel Inland, Travel Abroad, and Consultancy Services, among others. However, despite the fact that Covid-19 pandemic brought unprecedented health and social economic challenges to people, especially children, apart from the education sector, the budgets for other child-related sectors were not revised to address the impact on children.
Of the UShs 3.729 trillion supplementary budgets passed by parliament during the first quarter of FY 2020/21, only 25% (UShs 912.1 billion) was meant to fund Covid-19 related interventions. However, only UShs 3.807 billion was provided to LGs interventions that directly addressed child-related interventions in the education and health sectors. In addition, in October 2020, UShs 53.3 billion was released by Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic (MoFPED) to Local Governments (LGs) to cater for non-wage recurrent education capitation grant for safe re-opening of schools.
Apart from the education sector, this study did not find any explicit funding by any of the sectors that have a direct impact on children towards addressing the impact of Covid-19 on children. The MoES is implementing the Covid-19 preparedness and response plan with funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) amounting to UShs 53.95 billion (USD 14.7 Million) for the period 2020 – 2022. The funding is going towards: ensuring learning during school closure and preparing for school re-opening; supporting safe re-opening, student re-entry and capacity building for resilience; and project management, monitoring and evaluation.
