An official at the embassy of Iceland in Uganda has stated that Iceland gave a development grant valued at $8.5 million to the country.
Agusta Gisladottir, the Icelandic International Development Agency’s head of mission, explained: “Last year, Iceland approved $6m for a 10 year development program. This year, $2.5m has been set aside to support Uganda’s development process.”
One of the projects supported by Icelandic funds is the Adult Functional Literacy project. The project works with some 8,000 residents of Kalangala and Mukono islands who make their living by fishing.
In addition to the literacy program, the money supports several other projects in Uganda including fisheries quality assurance, entrepreneurship training, geothermal and some non-governmental organisations.
Gisladottir spoke at a ceremony in Seeta, Mukono, where she awarded a significant donation to the Ugandan chapter of the Council for Economic Empowerment of Women of Africa for the purchase of information technology equipment.
Its a pleasant surprise to note that Iceland, which even though it has financial problems with its economy, does not detract from its pledges of support through development grants to countries like Uganda. Other countries should learn from Iceland.