Commemoration of World Cities Day 2024

World Wetlands Day is organised annually by the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) through the Wetlands Management Department (WMD). This year’s event was held at Kaunda Grounds Gulu City under the theme The 2024 Wetlands theme underscored the critical need for human stewardship of the world’s wetlands. There were several build activities conducted in Kampala leading to the commemoration day including flag off of the Walkers and Cyclists, reading of the Minster’s Statement and several other meetings by the national Organizing Committee (NOC). To commemorate the wetlands day (February 2) activities such as; the police procession, speeches/ statements, school performances (poetry, song and drama), and exhibitions for show casing best practices, wetlands field visit to the restored wetland sites, and recognition of actors in Wetlands, among others were conducted in Gulu City.

Several participating organisations including CSOs, SMEs and Academia, showcased products and services related to sustainable agriculture, while others and distributed some publications in forms of IEC materials on wetland conservation/management i.e. Art pieces, banners, brochures, books, and posters.   Wetland management Department also exhibited and displayed a video documentary on wetlands.

The WWD ceremony also took stock of wetland conservation actions, including mass awareness to raise awareness about the value of wetlands day as a call for continued community participation.

One of the key highlighted of the Wetlands day celebration was the 65Km walk/cycle from Kamdini to Gulu City by the Uganda Walkers Association and TEENS Uganda aimed to educated and engage communities on wetlands conservation. The walk/cycle was accompanied by several other activities such as clean up, market dialogues, community meetings with leadership at Town councils and engagement engagements.