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Coalition Against Poverty

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COALITION AGAINST POVERTY.

Pontypridd AM Jane Davidson has recently returned from a visit to Mbale, Uganda. She was accompanied by a team of 16 others from various professions, all with the same intent- to firmly establish a robust Coalition Against Poverty within Mbale, with a hands-on approach to “making poverty history”.

The 10 day trip built on the work of PONT which has established links with Mbale over the past 5 years and is now seeing the pilot projects it has established making a real impact.

The core of the team was a group of teachers from local schools which have linked with schools in Mbale. There are now 38 schools in RCT which have either twinned or are in the process. As a result, youngsters growing up in our area will have a clear understanding of the challenges faced by their friends in Uganda due to the endemic poverty.

The University of Glamorgan was represented by several lecturers looking at sustainable development, road improvements and carbon offsetting .They included Professor David Jenkins who is researching possibilities for improving living conditions in the slum areas of Mbale.

Also on the visit were representatives from Primary health care, the Royal Glamorgan hospital, local churches, RCT council, South Wales Police and an engineer. All were able to make successful links with their counterparts in Mbale which builds a firm foundation for helping to deliver the Millennium Development Goals through the partnership. This forms the basis of the United Nations Gold Star being awarded to communities who achieve poverty reduction through the twinning. Wales has been distinguished by being selected by the United Nations to pilot this award due to it’s strong community links, and RCT is taking a lead in this.

During the visit several members of the team had the privilege of meeting the Vice President of Uganda- Professor Gilbert Bukenya. He showed his passion for development by engaging in a 2 hour discussion on the various aspects of the work of the team.

The following day they met with the Minister of Health for Uganda who is equally impressed by the development, and having seen the health improvements in the Mbale region over the past year, would like to see this type of partnership extended to other parts of Uganda.

Another team of doctors, nurses and hospital staff is due to travel out at the end of November to continue the work of building medical capacity within Uganda.

Sept 06 - We are happy to announce that a term of Medical, Engineering and Political members visiting Mbale in November, to further the Medical projects, and engineering projects which include designing a water pipe network. And for the first time the Political team will develop to the links between RCT and Mbale District.

PONT