The World Bank has suspended new public financing to Uganda in response to the country’s controversial Anti-Homosexuality Act. In a statement released on August 8, 2023, the World Bank said “the new law fundamentally contradicts its values of inclusion and non-discrimination.”
The 2023 Uganda’s Act criminalizes homosexual acts and imposes harsh penalties including life imprisonment for repeat offenders. However, it has received widespread criticism from Western donors.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signed a bill in May 2023 criminalizing same sex conduct, including potentially the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality,” into law.
