Uganda has set up two research task forces to generate evidence that will guide government policymaking, budgeting and public service delivery, the Ministry of Public Service said.
The Institutional Research Agenda (IRA) and Social Economic Research Agenda (SERA) task forces were inaugurated in Kampala on Thursday by Public Service Minister Gen. (Rtd) Katumba Wamala.
The task forces will seek to bridge gaps between research findings and government action, with the SERA team focusing on socioeconomic research and the IRA team coordinating institutional research across government.
The IRA task force will review existing research priorities, identify knowledge gaps, coordinate stakeholders and develop a comprehensive research agenda aligned with national development priorities and government strategies.
It will also propose funding mechanisms and oversee the validation and finalisation of the agenda for government approval.
The SERA task force will generate data to inform policy formulation and spending decisions while identifying local priorities to help ensure government programmes respond to citizens’ needs.
Wamala said the Institutional Research Agenda would be reviewed every five years to keep it aligned with emerging policy challenges and national priorities.
‘The Institutional Research Agenda will be reviewed every five years to ensure it remains relevant to emerging policy issues and national priorities,’ he said.
The minister said the research framework would support Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV) and its long-term strategy for expanding the economy tenfold.
‘The fourth National Development Plan, and the ten-fold growth strategy, these are very key for us to always, whatever we are doing, we should not lose focus of those,’ Wamala said.
The SERA task force consists of technical officials from the Ministry of Public Service, while the IRA task force draws members from different government ministries and agencies to coordinate cross-cutting research priorities.
The government expects socioeconomic research to strengthen planning, budgeting, programme implementation and performance management in the medium term, while supporting industrialisation, job creation, human capital development and public sector productivity over the longer term.
Robert Ngobi, manager of policy research at the National Planning Authority, said Uganda’s government had committed to increasing funding for research to 1% of gross domestic product (GDP), from an estimated 0.4% to 0.5% currently.
He said inadequate documentation and coordination had made it difficult to determine and finance research needs across government institutions.
‘There are institutions whose primary mandate is research, and they have their financing mechanism, like National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI) among others, who get 30 billion shillings every year, but the problem has been documentation,’ Ngobi said.
Ngobi said the development of a National Research Framework and National Research Agenda would make it easier for the government to determine research funding needs and integrate research into institutional development plans.
State Minister for Public Service Lydia Wanyoto urged members of the two task forces to develop specific research agendas that are inclusive, consultative and evidence-driven.
The initiative is part of government efforts to strengthen the use of research and evidence in policy and development planning.