I believe that Uganda will emerge as a modern state when it eventually conceives and implements a comprehensive social protection policy. As a country and as a people we must emerge from a condition in which some of our citizens are permitted to subsist in a subhuman state. We must say no to dehumanization, no to destitution and no to the utter neglect of the aged, the disabled, the blind, the sickly and the poor.

Hon. Sulaiman Madada: The Challenges of inequality of Income, Opportunity in Uganda's development.

For the past two decades, Uganda’s economy has undergone phenomenal transformation, growing at over 7 per cent annually, the incidence of poverty has more than halved, No matter how it is measured, it is clear that there have been significant improvements in well-being for many of Ugandans. With consistent, strong economic growth and the discovery of oil, it is clear that Uganda’s ambition to become a middle income country is within sight. However, not all Ugandans have been able to contribute to, and benefit from this growth and transformation. Uganda’s consistent economic and social gains have not been experienced evenly.

Prof. John Roemer: Equality of opportunity and inequality of opportunity in Uganda

A person’s accomplishments depend upon three inputs:circumstances which are beyond his/her control, the effort he/she expends, and government policies.Circumstances include characteristics like: the education of one’s parents, the region in which one grew up, the income of one’s parents, how many children were in the family,and the individual’s native ability.These characteristics of a person’s environment have massive effects on the outcomes he/she will enjoy … but they are entirely beyond the person’s control.Circumstances are a matter of luck: luck of the birth lottery, so to speak. It is unfair for luck to determine how well a person does in life.

Dr. Francis Runumi: The Role of Social Protection in improving access to Health care.

Lack of money has been cited as a major cause of delay in making decisions to access services when the first sign and symptoms of failing health occur to the poor. In the case of maternal and child health, the high incidence of Maternal deaths currently standing at 235 mothers per 100,000 live births is partly attributed to delay in making such decisions by couples. Antenatal care is often ignored and mothers report with complications at time of delivery just because there was no money for the boda boda or no helper to look after the other children at home. There is significant evidence that Out Of Pocket (OOP) expenditure drives the decision making processes of the poor whether going to public or private institutions.