Uganda Civil Aviation Authority in conjunction with Ministry of Works and Transport -Maritime department and Uganda Red Cross Society have held practical trainings on search and rescue from July 21 to 25, 2025 in Kanungu, Rukungiri and Kasese districts ,respectively.
Coordinating and directing the conducting of search and rescue services in Uganda is one of the functions of UCAA and it is against this background that the trainings were held.
Search and Rescue is a service rendered to persons in distress after an unfortunate air or water incident. It is a national obligation which involves the utilisation of available resources to locate, remove and provide initial medical and humanitarian assistance to those in need.
Participants at the workshops included Local government leadership, representatives from Uganda Police, Security agencies, hospitals, schools, National Forest Authority, Uganda Prisons, Fisheries , Uganda Red Cross Society, media, Ministry of Works and Transport- Maritime UCAA among others.
The Resident District Commissioner of Kanungu district, Mr, Ambrose Mwesigye Amanyire, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner Rukungiri, Mr. Wilberforce Ahimbisibwe and the Resident District Commissioner of Kasese, Lt. Joe Walusimbi officially opened the workshops respectively.
The RDCs thanked UCAA for organising the sensitisation workshops and emphasized the importance of community collaboration in emergency response.
They urged residents to report emergencies through the proper channels and further urged participants to disseminate the information received during the workshops to other people in the districts. The leadership in the three districts requested UCAA to organise more sensitisation in the same districts to involve a larger number of district personnel.
UCAA has held similar sensitization workshops previously in Soroti, Pallisa, Ngora, Moyo, Adjumani, Kabale, Kisoro, Kaabong, Kaberamaido, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Kyotera, Masaka, Mukono, Kalangala, Buvuma, Kamuli, Nakasongola, Buliisa, Packwach and Zombo districts among others.
