Leyla Özay
Senior Advisor Environmental and Social Assessment
ESIA and SEA capacity development for the National Environmental Management Authority and for other actors in the ESIA and SEA system in Uganda
The NCEA and the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) have a long-standing partnership focused on strengthening ESIA and SEA systems in Uganda.
Recent activities include an ESY map workshop and introductory SEA training sessions delivered to relatively new NEMA staff in April 2023. The ESY map workshop aimed to assess and raise awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the Uganda's ESIA system, and to identify opportunities for improvement. These opportunties included improvements in ESIA review processes, increasing awareness of ESIA among a wider audience, and allocating more time and resources for enforcement. Strengthening capacities for ESIA monitoring and compliance remains a high priority for NEMA. The full workshop report can be accessed here.
The SEA introduction featured a presentation of the SEA distant learning course developed for Uganda and provided an opportunity for exchange and evaluation by NEMA staff that (partly) completed the course.
In the coming years, NEMA and the NCEA will continue their collaboration to build capacity in SEA and ESIA review, monitoring and compliance at NEMA headquarters and its regional offices.