Sustainable water quality management supporting Uganda’s development ambitions

Water quality challenges are major threats to human health, ecosystem health and economic development in Uganda, but inadequate data and capacity prevents effective management of water quality. The pro- posed project aims to contribute to the sustainable management of water resources in Uganda, with the expected outcomes of “improved knowledge and enhanced capacity in water quality management”. Project activities to achieve the outcomes are structured in three output areas (OPs): OP1. Improving water quality monitoring and information sharing, through existing data collation and monitoring OP2. Developing a water quality modelling framework for Uganda, covering nationwide baseline setup and a case study OP3. Enhancing institutional capacity for water quality management to inform policy and practice The project is primarily targeted towards the Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM) of the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) of Uganda. At least 60 persons (practitioners, policymakers and researchers from Ugandan governments and universities) working in the water sector will directly benefit from the trainings on water quality related aspects. DWRM, as an institution with an overall mandate for water resources management in Uganda, is our main target institution for the tailored institutional capacity enhancement. Other direct beneficiaries include the national and regional development partners, investors, civil society organisations and scientists. They can make use of the data and assessment report on water quality, which are main outputs of this project. Due to the impact of water quality on human health and ecosystem services, a much larger group of indirect beneficiaries is envisioned at the impact level, namely the Ugandans who directly or indirectly suffer from water pollution.