World Bank to resume Uganda funding after halt over anti-LGBT law

The World Bank said on Thursday it will resume funding to Uganda, nearly two years after the global lender suspended new financing to the country in response to an anti-LGBT law that imposes penalties including death and life imprisonment.

The bank halted funding to the East African country in August 2023 after Uganda's parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), saying the law contradicted its values.

The bank had worked with Ugandan authorities to put in place strong measures to mitigate against potential harm from the law, a World Bank spokesperson told Reuters via e-mail.

"We have now determined the mitigation measures rolled out over the last several months in all ongoing projects in Uganda to be satisfactory," said the spokesperson, who asked not to be named.

"Consequently the bank has prepared three new projects in sectors with significant development needs — social protection, education, and forced displacement/refugees — which have been approved by the Board."

The World Bank is one of Uganda's biggest sources of external financing, especially in infrastructure construction in the transport sector.

AHA mandates the death penalty for so-called "aggravated homosexuality" which includes among other categories having same-sex relations with a disabled person or where gay sex results in transmission of a terminal illness to a victim.

It also decrees a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality.

Reuters