Social assistance success in Uganda, and other news (05 Mar 19)

Every week we highlight some of the international development stories from across the globe that have caught our attention.

• Oxford Policy Management’s evaluation of the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) program in Uganda has revealed that the core objective has been met. The programme provides a monthly stipend to persons over 65 years with the aim of supporting household’s basic consumption and assuaging poverty. Read more in Ventures Africa.

• A trade and investment project (TIP) has been launched in Myanmar to improve the business ecosystem. Funded by DFID, with support from the International Trade Centre, it will run from 2019 until 2021 and aims to update the National Export Strategy, expand public and private trade, and support micro-/small/medium enterprises. Read more in Myanmar Times.

• Dubai Cares has formally closed the successful ‘Improving Quality of Learning in India’ project, which has benefitted over 608,000 children, providing support for early literacy, numeracy, and school readiness. A second project, ‘Improving Early Childhood Education in India’, is being launched to target children between the ages of three and six, as well as engaging mothers in the development of children’s foundational skills and strengthening the government infrastructure for early childhood education. Read more in Dubai Cares.

• DFID has funded training for law enforcement officials organised by the International Organisation for Migration and the Government of Mali to help prevent people trafficking in Mali, particularly from west and central Africa. Read more in Africa News.

• The Rwandan government have launched a satellite in partnership with UK company OneWeb to improve internet connectivity in rural areas and for students at Nkombo Island. This is part of a larger aim to move away a low-income agriculture reliant economy and gain middle-income status by 2020. Read more in Daily Maverick (South Africa).

• As part of the Stride project partnership between USAID and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (Pasuc), a new strategy to promote innovation at higher education levels within the Philippines has been launched. There is an aim to create innovation let economic growth through collaboration between universities, local, and global partners. Read more in Manila Times (Philippines).

• DFID has announced a successful partial exit from an Odisha-based microfinance company they invested in four years ago, as part of the Development Capital Investment drive to develop markets that benefit excluded and disadvantaged Indian citizens. Read more in Economic Times (India).

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