Donors divided once again on Uganda response

With last week’s announcement, Sweden became the latest donor to withhold all government assistance to Uganda, following the African country’s passage of a divisive bill criminalizing homosexuality. Maria Burnett, senior researcher in the Africa division of Human Rights Watch, told Devex that “the whole discussion surrounding the rights of LGBTI people has become criminal and that obviously has to change the way donors do work.” As with Uganda’s aid embezzlement scandal in 2012, donor response to the harsh law is mixed. While nearly all donors are united in condemning the law as a violation of human rights, not everyone believes cutting aid is the proper response to the anti-gay law. Foreign assistance accounts for 20 percent of Uganda’s national budget, with more than 40 percent allocated to the health sector, including family planning and reproductive health services. Less than 4 percent of donor funding goes to general budget support. Suspending all foreign aid in response to the law may also “create a backlash” on the LGBTI community, Edwin Sesange, director of the African LGBTI Out & Proud Diamond Group, told Devex. The community might be blamed for the aid cuts, resulting in increased hatred and persecution. As such, all bilateral donors that have announced suspension of direct aid to Uganda, thus far, are redirecting assistance to nongovernmental organizations instead. “It will be crucial for any donor country committed to human rights protections in Uganda to support local civil society,” Burnett said. “Ultimately, local groups will be on the front lines of advocating for the law to be repealed, challenging the law in the courts, and fighting for their ability to express divergent views.” Scandinavia, The Hague restructure aid That Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden resolved to cut government aid to Uganda reflects their status as bulwarks of human rights. These four donors, which are also some of the world’s most LGBTI-friendly countries, have laws that give homosexuals rights to marry and adopt children, as well as protect them against discriminatory policies and hate speech. Denmark spends about 310 million Danish kroner ($57.6 million) in annual development assistance in Uganda. It had planned to provide 50 million Danish kroner in support of the Ugandan government’s growth and employment programs. The anti-gay law, however, prompted Copenhagen to redirect funding to human rights and private sector groups instead. Norway, which had been coursing the bulk of its assistance to Uganda’s public sector, will be withholding 50 million Norwegian kroner ($8.3 million) in development aid to Kampala. As with Denmark, Oslo will be increasing support for human rights and democracy groups. The bulk of Norwegian aid supports boosting Uganda’s trade and economy, but human rights and democracy is among the priority areas of the Nordic country’s development cooperation with Kampala. Likewise, Sweden has said that it will be ending state-to-state payments, but will continue to fund civil society organizations. Shortly after the anti-gay law was passed, Minister for International Development Cooperation Hillevi Engstroem said “Swedish aid is not unconditional.” The Netherlands, meanwhile, has gone beyond suspending aid. The Hague — which has allocated 22 million euros ($30.2 million) in 2014 bilateral assistance to the African country — froze 9.6 million euros in development support. This funding was meant to subsidize the Ugandan government’s security and rule of law programs, which included “ensuring the rights of LGBT people.” On top of that, the Netherlands is now evaluating civil society organizations that receive Dutch aid to see whether any of them supported the bill. Among multilateral donors, the World Bank is the only one, thus far, to withhold development assistance to Uganda. But the bank’s move to postpone a $90 million loan to Kampala is also the only one that Uganda has decried as blackmail. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim wrote about how the discrimination he experienced as a young Korean-American were “trifling indignities” compared with those who have had to suffer merely because of their sex, age, race, or in Uganda’s case, sexual orientation. The World Bank’s strategic objectives for Uganda from 2011-2015 include promoting inclusive and sustainable growth, enhancing public infrastructure, strengthening human capital development, improving good governance and value for money. Continued support from 3 donors Japan, meanwhile, is the first country to publicly state that it will not sever ties with Uganda. Junzo Fujita, Japan’s ambassador to Uganda, expressed Japan’s continued support at a news conference, shortly after signing a $200,000 grant agreement for grass-roots projects in eastern and northern Uganda. Fujita noted that Japan, like other donor countries, is “struggling” with the anti-gay law. But he believes that the law and development assistance are two different things, and that people who need “safe water” should not suffer because of it. Japanese aid to Uganda prioritizes four areas: infrastructure improvement for economic growth, income elevation in rural areas, improvement of living conditions and peace building in northern Uganda. Ireland has also been reluctant to cut aid. David Cooney, Department of Foreign Affairs secretary-general, has said that it would be inappropriate to freeze aid to Uganda. Ireland is planning to spend around $62 million on Uganda until 2016, focusing on education, HIV and AIDS, governance and gender-based violence. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has not suspended support either. Uganda is still on the organization’s 2014 eligibility list, which means the African country can still receive funding through 2016. The Global Fund met last week to finalize its new funding model. But while country allocations were not discussed at the meeting, Seth Faison, the Global Fund’s head of communications, told Devex specific amounts for Uganda and other countries will be communicated to recipients later this month. To date, Uganda has received more than $494 million from the Global Fund, of which the bulk were spent on malaria and HIV and AIDS programs. The African Development Bank, meanwhile, has been unsurprisingly reticent on its stand on the issue. The bank did not make its views known when Uganda became embroiled in a corruption scandal in 2012. As in 2012, AfDB is likely to continue its support for Uganda. Restraint from top 3 donors The top three bilateral donors to Uganda, however, have been more cautious in their statements. Although President Barack Obama urged U.S. foreign aid agencies to take LGBT rights in recipient governments in consideration when allocating assistance, the move is seen to be more symbolic than substantive. Obama — and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who noted in a speech that gay rights and human rights were “one and the same” — did not detail how efforts to protect LGBT rights will be pursued. The United States is the largest donor to Uganda, which the donor sees as “a critical force for regional stability in East Africa and a key partner.” While Obama said the anti-gay law would “complicate” U.S.-Uganda relations, Secretary of State John Kerry only noted that the administration would conduct an “internal review” of this relationship. Moreover, the Obama administration’s 2015 budget request includes nearly $408.4 million in health appropriations for Uganda. Health care has been the United States’ main priority in Kampala, with the bulk of funding going to malaria and HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention programs. Similarly, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said in October 2011 that his government is prepared to impose aid sanctions on recipient governments with anti-gay policies. But while Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed his deep disappointment and blasted the law as one that will “increase persecution and discrimination of Ugandans,” a representative from the Department for International Development said the United Kingdom “remains committed to supporting Uganda.” The second-largest donor to Uganda, the United Kingdom has budgeted 97.9 million pounds ($163.6 million) in 2014 development assistance to Kampala. Direct budget support was suspended in November 2012, following corruption allegations, and aid is now coursed through NGOs, the private sector and in coordination with other bilateral and multilateral donors. The European Union, meanwhile, said in a statement early this month that it is “firmly committed to the promotion of human rights worldwide and denounces any discriminatory legislation.” The bloc is currently reviewing how it can best achieve its human rights goals in Uganda given the “changed context.” Austria and Germany have been similarly guarded in their response to Uganda’s anti-gay law. Austria, which has set aside nearly $13 million in assistance to Kampala this year, merely said that it was reviewing its assistance to the African country. Germany, meanwhile, believes the law is a grave violation of human rights but is not sure freezing aid — more than $56 million in 2014 — is the proper response. Read more: Aid freeze deepens after Uganda's anti-gay bill How Uganda's anti-gay law can undermine HIV and AIDS response Uganda's anti-gay law: A silver lining for LGBTI aid? Join the Devex community and gain access to more in-depth analysis, breaking news and business advice — and a host of other services — on international development, humanitarian aid and global health.