Economic Development Assessment in West Nile Region, Uganda

The publication “Economic Development Assessment in West Nile Region, Uganda” was prepared by UN-Habitat in collaboration with Makerere University's Urban Action Lab. It builds upon the 2019 UN-Habitat publication, "Integrated and Multi-Scalar Planning in West Nile Region, Uganda", which had a strong territorial component, presented inter-scalar planning approaches and reflected on governance structures and municipal finance considerations.

This socio-economic assessment report informs and supports further planning processes undertaken to analyse refugee hosting settlements within the municipality of Arua (classified as a secondary city in north-western Uganda). Arua is strategically located bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, and therefore hosts a large population of urban refugees and migrants who continue to contribute to economic growth in the region. Consequently, the increased populations have posed challenges in implementation of urban strategies and services. The report tries to fill this gap through identifying baseline information via conducting area-based socio-economic analyses and economic-development analyses aiming to support urban management strategies that also address the needs of urban migrants. The publication adopts an integrated planning approach that promotes dialogues across planning scales as well as across administrative boundaries including the different urban stakeholders and sectors.