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Uganda

Sub-Saharan Africa

Women

Uganda ranks 131 out of 162 countries in the Gender Inequality Index, where a high rank equals high equality. Women should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

Children

Uganda has a Workplace Index score of 5.2, a Marketplace Index score of 5.3 and a Community and Environment Index score of 5.9 in the Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, where countries receive scores between 0 and 10. A score closer to 0 reflects a need for basic children’s rights due diligence, while a higher score reflects a need for enhanced or heightened due diligence. Children should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though. 

Persons with Disabilities

Due to differences in data collection and definitions it is difficult to compare countries on disability prevalence rates. Persons with disabilities should always be considered as a particularly vulnerable group though.

Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

According to the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, Uganda is a country of very great ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity, whose roots lie in a complex early history of overlapping migrations and interactions. Gross abuses of human rights, with a considerable ethnic dimension, took place under the Amin, Obote and Okello regimes of the 1970s and 1980s. Although more recent years have seen a degree of comparative stability, the legacy of these conflicts remains a powerful mobilizing factor in Ugandan politics. Driving forces behind the conflicts have been complex and multi-faceted; economic, religious, ideological and regional aspects have all been significant. In addition to the unstable and overlapping nature of ethnic categories, conflicts have themselves featured a variety of complex alliances. The main minorities and indigenous peoples in Uganda include Baganda (16.5 %), Banyankore (Bahima and Bairu) (9.6 %), Basoga (8.8 %), Bakiga (7.1 %), Iteso (7.0 %), Langi (6.3 %), Banyarwanda (Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa – the latter also listed here separately) (1.6 %), Acholi (4.4 %), Bagisu (4.9 %) and Lugbara (3.3 %), Batoro (2.4 %), Bunyoro (2.8 %, though Bunyoro have challenged this figure), Alur (2.6 %), Bagwere (1.8 %), Bakonzo (2.5 %), Jopadhola (1.4 %), Karamojong (1.1 %), Barundi (0.3 %), Basongora (0.05 %) and Batwa (0.02 %). The main languages are English (official), numerous local languages and Swahili (used among some communities and especially those bordering Kenya and Sudan). The main religions are Roman Catholics (39.3 %), Anglicans (32.0 %), Islam (13.7 %), Pentecostals (11.1 %), Seventh Day Adventists (1.5 %), indigenous beliefs (0.1 %) and others including Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews and Baha’i.

Migrant Workers​

According to the ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, migrant workers as a proportion of all workers is 3 % in the subregion Sub-Saharan Africa.

Persons in Armed Conflict

Uganda ranks 24 out of 179 countries in the Fragile States Index, where a high rank equals high fragility. For monthly crisis updates, check out CrisisWatch

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