World Business Journal was in New York City for the 78th session of the UN General Assembly General Debate, and Vice President Jessica Alupo of Uganda’s address where she spoke about female empowerment, South-South cooperation and Kampala’s plans to host the G77 Third South Summit in January 2024.

“We remain actively involved in regional initiatives, particularly those under the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, EAC [and] the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.”
Vice President Jessica Alupo of Uganda UNGA General Debate, September 21, 2023

At the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) General Debate in New York City, US, in the afternoon session of September 21, 2023, Vice President Jessica Alupo of Uganda gave the country’s address. The theme for the 2023 UNGA General Debate was, “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”. This year’s forum was the first in four years absent any Covid-19 pandemic restrictions or mandates in place.

VP Alupo had also addressed the august 193-member body at the UN headquarters in New York in September 2022, while President Yoweri Museveni gave the country’s address via a remote video-link in 2021, as Covid-19 travel restrictions were still in place in the US, Uganda and across the world. The previous year, in 2020, world leaders did not travel to New York because of the pandemic, and Uganda’s deputy permanent representative of the UN gave the country’s address on behalf of the head of state.

During the address, VP Alupo reaffirmed Uganda’s position on regional integration, and touching upon the UNGA’s theme, the country’s steadfast commitment to global solidarity.
“We remain actively involved in regional initiatives, particularly those under the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), East African Community (EAC) [and] the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),” Alupo said.

With proper trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) beginning on January 1, 2021, Uganda has signalled its interest in March 2023 that it is also ready to start trading under the second phase of the AfCFTA’s Guided Trade Initiative (GTI). The country will look to increase its market penetration beyond the EAC, while full adoption of the GTI poises Uganda to also ramp up its market share in African markets outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Uganda would join its EAC counterparts, Kenya and Rwanda in the GTI, as intra-African trade is expected to increase significantly in a key sector for Uganda’s growth, namely manufacturing, but also address the involvement of one-half of the population in its economy, women.

“With the creation of the AfCFTA, women will participate in cross-border trade within the AfCFTA countries. However, work still needs to be done in Uganda to achieve full gender equality,” Alupo said in her UN address. “We are currently promoting value addition, value chain and public procurement from the various Uganda Women Entrepreneurship programmes.” “On economic empowerment, Uganda has embarked [upon] poverty alleviation programmes which target women and youth participation in the economy.”

While the AfCFTA establishes a preferential trade arrangement by eliminating trade barriers and boosting intra-Africa trade in the form of a free trade area, the GTI will test the operational, institutional, legal and trade policy environment under the AfCFTA agreement.
Uganda is the incoming chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and will host the NAM’s heads of state and government at the 19th NAM Summit in Kampala from January 15-20, 2024, where it will closely work with other NAM countries to strengthen the organisation.

The following week, Kampala will again play hosts, for the Third South Summit, where it welcomes leaders of the G77 plus China from January 21-23, as it continues to support strengthening of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation as well as North-South cooperation within the auspices of the UN.

Click here to see Vice President Jessica Alupo’s 78th UNGA General Debate address.