The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the social and economic structures of service delivery with
significant consequences on lives, livelihoods and general economic development. To restrain the
spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has instituted several measures including a partial lockdown of movement of people and closure of places that involve close public interactions.

This has ensued into disrupting social and economic structures especially the local government systems of service delivery with significant consequences on health, livelihoods and general economic development.

This paper makes a critical contribution of assessing the likely impact of COVID-19 on the capacity of LGs to continue delivering basic services to the population. The team adopted a systems approach to service delivery by LGs, largely on account of the many and complex interactions between Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government as well as households and firms in the private sector.

The Report is part of the broader COVID-19 Socio-Economic Impact Assessment undertaken by the United Nations in Uganda and the Government of Uganda.

This paper in particular makes a critical contribution of assessing the likely impact of COVID-19 on the capacity of LGs to continue delivering basic services to the population from the perspective of the available fiscal space.

The study was designed and conducted by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and College of Business and Management Science of Makerere University (COBAMS) under the overall guidance and supervision of Dr. Dmitry Pozhidaev of UNCDF and Prof. Hisali Eria of Makerere University. It incorporates a Rapid Assessment of 20 local governments who provided their estimates of the COVID- 19 impacts and very useful insights into their reponse strategies and plans.

Download the Impact of COVID-19 on LGs and Service Delivery in Uganda.