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Population of Uganda is increasing rapidly since 2012 when they reach around 42 million. Besides, by 2019 they have reached for about 44.5 million of population in Uganda (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019), making it the 32nd country in the world in terms of population (Worldometer, 2020).
In terms of the refugee population, there was about 1.1 million of refugees on its soil as November 2018. This include 68% from South Sudan and 24.6% from Democratic Republic Of Congo (Uganda Comprehension Refugee Response Portal, 2018). Today, Uganda hosts around 1.5 million refugees, recording the highest number of refugees in whole Africa as well as some of the largest worldwide (Varella, 2021).
For the first time in almost 25 years, Uganda is experiencing a significant rise in its people’s life expectancy for both genders. This increase is said to be correlated with the increase of years of education among Ugandan children (11.6 years), alongside with a major improvement in the Human Development Index (HDI) value, in which Uganda observes a significant 66% increase, compared to when it was in the 1990s.
Another significant reason behind the tremendous success is the government’s effort in controlling the country’s population growth. “Because they have smaller families than in the 1980s that makes them enjoy some kind of mental peace and increase their life expectancy,” said Paul Nyende, the head of The Institute of Community Psychology at Makerere University.
(Borgen Project, n. d.)
Alongside the positive rising of Uganda’s life expectancy, it is also blessed with a significant fall of infant mortality rate among children aged five and under. In 2020, there was only around 5% of deaths among infants, compared to a staggering 30% back in the 1950s. Parenting education is said to be one of the contributing factors for such trend.
