Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the Expanding Social Protection Programme Phase II project.

The UK has supported the development of Uganda's social protection system for the last ten years, working closely with the Government of the Republic of Ireland and the Government of Uganda, most recently through the Expanding Social Protection Programme Phase II (ESP II). This has established a Senior Citizens' Grant (SCG) which is currently benefitting over 350,000 Ugandans over 80 (60% of whom are women). The Government of Uganda has been fully funding the SCG since July 2021, and the ESP II programme will close later this year. The programme's effectiveness is assessed through annual programme reviews, which are published at https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204861/documents.