On December 5, the Uganda Saemaul Undong Center, led by President Steven Barozi, hosted the 4th Uganda Saemaul Leaders Convention at Lugogo MTN Arena in Kampala, which was attended by 1,000 local Saemaul Undong leaders and stakeholders including Tom Butime, the Uganda Minster of Local Government.

The convention was organized to reinforce the cooperation and connections between organizations, individuals, and groups taking part in Saemaul Undong. It also aimed at providing opportunities to discuss ways to integrate Saemaul Undong with local community development strategies through strengthening of netwerks and propelling project initiatives. In addition, to achieve another important goal of sustainability of the movement, experiences and best practice were shared by Saemaul Undong organizations from Uganda and other countries.

At the convention, the Headquarters of Uganda SGL was officialy launched. Other African countries were also encouraged to join the African SGL by following the same procedures as Uganda. A ceremony introducing and granting a variety of awards to groups and organizations for their best practices followed. President of Korea Saemaul Undong Center Awards were presented by President SO, who also gave a keynote speech.

Before the convention, President SO met with Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Uganda&39s Vice President, at his office and asked for higher attention and stronger efforts for vitalization of SGL.

He also met with the Vice Chancellor Arch. Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe of Makerere University and gave a special lecture on Saemaul Undong at the university&39s assembly hall.