Country representatives of various UN agencies like International Organisation for Migration (IOM), UNAids, World Health Organisation (WHO), were joined by staff members and local leaders to clean up the area. Armed with spades, rakes and brooms, they loaded the decomposing garbage onto trucks as the market vendors cheered them on.
In his remarks, Alain Sibenaler, the country representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), observed that the sustainable development agenda targets everyone and there’s need for collective participation.
Sibenaler said that if promoted, the development agenda would be able to eliminate discrimination, poverty, and preventable diseases, among others.
The UNFPA country representative explained that there was a co-relation between lack of access to reproductive health services to the rapid population growth. Because of rapid population growth, he said, government is forced to direct limited resources to the expanding basic resources.
“Universal access to quality reproductive health services will not only check on population growth. It will make it easier to provide quality health and sanitation services”, said Sabinaler, who was speaking on behalf of UN in Uganda.
Adding; “It will free up government resources that can be used to boost economic growth, thereby increasing capacity to advance all the 17 SDGS.”
Frank Mugisha, the chairperson of Semuguwa new farmers market, commended UN in Uganda for acting as an example through promoting sanitation and reproductive health. He explained that leaders from the 17 markets would continue sensitising the vendors on the benefits of working in a clean environment.
Kalerwe, a surburb on the outskirts of Kampala is well-known for it’s over 17 markets that deal majorly in food produce. Apart from poor planning, the markets face a challenge of poor waste management and it’s for this reason that UN decided to commemorate it’s day by collecting the organic waste.
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