Background

Uganda discovered oil close to a decade ago and has since established that the quantity is commercially viable. The country is now moving towards commercial production. Many oil-related infrastructure developments have been planned, and some have already commenced. Several companies have already been awarded production licenses. Land acquisition for an oil refinery is underway, and the construction of an export pipeline from Uganda through Tanzania has been launched.

Each of these projects has involves human rights risks for communities, workers, and individuals, and these risks will intesify as more projects come on line. Companies working in this sector have the responsibility under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to avoid infringing on the rights of others, and address adverse human rights impacts where they occur. To do so, companies should undertake due dilligence to identify salient human rights risks, avoid or mitigate harm, and provide effective remedy where abuses do occur. Companies should also engage in meaningful consultation with affected communities.

For this engagement to be meaningful, affected groups need access to information about the projects, including about the companies who are involved, their human rights policies, and their past practices. 

About the mapping

The reality, however, is that this information is not often publicly available. To address this gap, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre partnered with the Buliisa Initiative for Rural Development Organisation (BIRUDO) to develop a mapping of the companies involved in the Ugandan oil sector, from upstream producers, to the construction companies that suport them, to the banks that finance them. This online hub is intended to provide local civil society organizations with an easily-accessible repository of information on the companies operating in this sector in order to faciltiate meaningful engagement. This includes the names, locations, and public contact information of companies, as well as information about their human rights policies and practices (including the results of a human rights survey we sent them).