The proposed project provides an implementation vehicle for a number of activities of the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU), the EU flagship programme in Uganda that is part of the 11th Euro‐ pean Development Fund (EDF).

As the DINU Programme in general, the project is designed to support the GoU in achieving national tar‐ gets for SDG 1"End poverty in all its forms everywhere" and SDG 2 "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture". In addition, the project is aligned with two Strategic Intents of the Uganda UN Development Assistance Framework’s (UNDAF): Strategic Intent # 1 Governance and Strategic Intent # 3 Sustainable & Inclusive Economic Development”. The project design and approach are further aligned with the Second National Development Plan (NDPII), 2015/16 – 2019/20.

The general objective of the project is aligned with the DINU programme objective, i.e. to consolidate stability in Northern Uganda, poverty and under‐nutrition and strengthen the foundations for sustainable and inclusive socio‐economic development.

The specific objectives of the project implemented by UNCDF include:

1. Improve access to finance for SMEs engaged in agricultural value addition through a dedicated

   facility for business development services and blended finance.

2. Improve the stock and quality of the district road assets through a district road rehabilitation fund and dedicated technical assistance and improve local service delivery for road assets.

3. Increase local fiscal space and improve local service delivery through a discretionary grant mech‐ anism and technical assistance to core government functions, including customary land tenure systems.

The key principles that inform the design of the project include use of national systems for project plan‐ ning, implementation, monitoring and reporting; focus on social and economic empowerment of women and youth and support to green economy; financial leverage to actively promote co‐financing and co‐ mingling of funds coming from LG revenues, market‐based finance or development partners; alignment and synergies with the other components of DINU; additionality; and fiduciary robustness.

The total project budget including the UNCDF contribution is €25,852,174 for five years of operation. In addition to its direct financial contribution to the project, UNCDF will be exploring three other options to increase funding availability for DINU, including (1) co‐financing through the UNCDF programmes cur‐ rently implemented in Uganda (or planned to be launched within the next two years); (2) leveraging UNCDF Last Mile Finance Trust Fund; (3) strategic partnerships with other partners, such as multilaterals and bilaterals, UN organizations and the private sector, that will complement DINU activities (parallel funding), hence contributing to achieving higher impact on target districts.