ISER and RAISE Push for Universal Pension Reform in Uganda with “A People’s Pension” Working Paper

25 June 2025, 11:05 am

By Annet Nakato.

The Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), in collaboration with Research & Action for Income Security (RAISE), has launched a new working paper titled “A People’s Pension: The paper sets out a roadmap for establishing a fair, inclusive, and rights-based pension system in Uganda.

Uganda currently lacks a legal framework to guarantee pension access for all elderly citizens. Only about 306,500 of the estimated 2.3 million Ugandans aged 60 and above receive the Senior Citizens Grant (SCG) under the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) program. Even then, beneficiaries receive just UGX 25,000 monthly an amount widely considered inadequate to meet basic needs.

Speaking with the media,Angella Kasule, the Executive Director of ISER argued government to pass a Social Protection Act that guarantees every person aged 60 and above a pension.

Kasule emphasized the need to increase monthly pension to at least UGX 140,000 by 2040 and expanding coverage to include all eligible older persons. The estimated cost is UGX 5.2 trillion by 2040 and would represent only 1.1% of Uganda’s GDP.

The working paper calls on the Ugandan government to act without delay by enacting the proposed legislation, committing sufficient budget allocations, and collaborating with Parliament, civil society, and older persons’ associations to implement the reforms by 2040.