Kampala teams with Dhaka to fast-track air-pollution governance and policy exchange
Kampala , Uganda
This week Kampala hosted officials from Dhaka — a city with longer experience grappling with urban air pollution — as part of a technical collaboration aimed at strengthening Kampala’s institutional governance, monitoring capacity and policy response to particulate pollution. The exchange is designed to support Kampala’s ambitions for cleaner transport, better waste management and tighter industrial emissions controls.
Visiting experts focused discussions on how to build a centralized air-quality monitoring framework, establish sustainable funding mechanisms for monitoring stations and launch public communications for high-pollution episodes. Kampala’s delegation emphasised the need for tighter coordination between municipal authorities, national environmental agencies and private industry to ensure effective enforcement of standards and better data-driven decision-making. Civil society groups welcomed the initiative but urged a clear commitment to transparent data sharing and measurable air-quality targets.
City planners linked this policy collaboration to broader infrastructure efforts, including expanding public transport and improving drainage — moves that they argue will indirectly reduce urban pollution by cutting traffic-related emissions and limiting open burning.
Why it matters:
Air pollution remains a significant urban health challenge. Effective governance, reliable monitoring and transparent public data can produce faster, measurable health benefits than periodic crackdowns. By learning from Dhaka’s experience, Kampala may shorten its policy-learning curve when it comes to low-cost monitoring, community outreach and enforcement of emissions regulations. If combined with transport upgrades (like a future BRT), this approach could yield compounded benefits for public health and urban livability.
What to watch:
Look for an official Kampala–Dhaka joint action plan or memorandum of understanding announcing concrete commitments. Also watch for plans detailing installation of additional air-quality monitoring stations or the creation of a public air-quality data portal. Finally, any new regulations or enforcement measures targeting industrial emissions or transport pollution will be an important signal of follow-through.
