Shaping Uganda’s Creative Future: Parliamentary Forum Receives Key Technical Assistance

Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Creative Industries (UGAPAFOCI) is receiving technical assistance from the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) Facility to shape a dynamic future for Uganda’s Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI). UGAPAFOCI and partners are undertaking this intervention aimed at creating an improved business environment for cultural and creative enterprises sector in Uganda especially for women and young people.

Hon. Rachel Magoola (MP), Chair of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Creative Industries welcomed the intervention ‘We are keen to create a future-facing policy for Uganda and are seeking to collaborate with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, other Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and organisations such as the ICR Facility, to achieve our ambition.’

This initiative is expected to enhance the economic and social contributions of the arts, crafts, music, film, and other cultural sectors.

European Union Ambassador to Uganda H.E Jan Sadek states, “Uganda’s creative industries are a vibrant engine of cultural expression and economic growth, with the potential to shape a dynamic future for the country,” and confirms that the European Union remains “committed to nurturing the talents of Uganda’s youth, recognizing the transformative power of creativity to foster innovation, social cohesion, and prosperity, particularly women and young people in this sector.” He expressed confidence that “this initiative will significantly improve the landscape by enhancing policy frameworks, widening finance access, and strengthening intellectual property protection for creative industries.”

UGAPAFOCI, a non-partisan organisation, focusses on promoting sustainable development and growth of the Cultural and Creative Industries in Uganda. It plays the role of a catalytic medium in the attainment of the sustainable development goals and Uganda’s Vision 2040. Its objectives include:

• Placing culture at the heart of socio-economic development and transformation of communities;
• Advocating for increased funding to CCI by Government, and policies, institutions, regulations, and laws that spur growth of the Cultural and Creative Industries in Uganda;
• Empowering Cultural and Creative Industries practitioners with skills and knowledge;
• Spearheading conservation and promotion of indigenous languages by encouraging and supporting production of content and writing fiction and non-fiction books in local languages;
• and promoting domestic and international commercialization of Cultural and Creative Industries’ products, and networks.

The ICR Facility is co-funded by the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the British Council. This current intervention is implemented by the British Council on behalf of the ICR Facility. The ICR Facility supports public and private stakeholders in African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to improve their investment climate and business environment – https://www.icr-facility.eu/ . Its focus is on making business environment reforms work for women by incorporating women’s voices in public-private dialogues, applying a gender-lens to reform processes and strengthening access to finance for women.

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