Uganda has been elected to the Industrial Development Board of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization for a three-year term running from 2025 to 2027.
The election took place during UNIDO’s 21st General Conference in Riyadh last week. The board, which comprises 53 member states, oversees implementation of the organisation’s work programme and budgets, and makes recommendations on policy matters including the appointment of the director-general.
Isaac Sebulime, Uganda’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, led the country’s delegation to the conference. In his address, he said Uganda was interested in drawing on UNIDO’s expertise in areas including transformative partnerships, knowledge transfer and agro-industrialisation.
Uganda is among five countries selected to receive support under a €15mn UNIDO-Italy programme focused on developing climate-resilient coffee value chains. The programme, called Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee, aims to improve incomes for communities at the beginning of the coffee supply chain.
Separately, Nature Bio Foods, an Indian-owned company operating in Uganda, won UNIDO’s One World Sustainability Award in the Sustainable Supply Chains category. The company, a subsidiary of India’s LT Foods, opened a processing plant in Uganda in 2023 and works with 16,000 farmers producing soya beans, sorghum, chia seeds and sesame seeds for export.
The General Conference focused on three themes: investment and partnerships, women and empowerment, and what it termed “Generation Future”. Sessions examined women’s role in industry and the importance of equal access to education, training, finance and workplace opportunities.
