Uganda’s Foreign Policy is an aggregation of the domestic policies projected into the international arena. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government agency charged with the implementation of Uganda’s Foreign Policy, which is shaped around three core areas: regional and international peace and security; regional integration and international cooperation; and trade, tourism, investment and resource mobilization. The foreign policy is to support the promotion and protection of Uganda’s national interests abroad – anchored on three broad pillars: national security, national prosperity; and national well being.

 At national level, the guiding principles which guide Uganda’s Foreign Policy emanate from the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, as specifically laid down in Objective No. XXVIII of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy. These principles are:

 Promotion and protection of Uganda’s interests abroad

• Respect of international law and treaty obligations
• Peaceful co-existence and non-alignment
• Settlement of international disputes by peaceful means
• Opposition to all forms of domination, racism and other forms of oppression and exploitation
• Active participation in international and regional organizations that stand for peace, and for the well-being and progress of humanity; and
• Promotion of regional and pan-African cultural, economic and political cooperation

At regional and international levels, there are a number of instruments guiding and supporting foreign policy principles, including but not limited to: the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community; The Treaty establishing COMESA; Article Four (4) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union; Article Two (2) of the Charter of the United Nations; and any other treaties, conventions, agreements signed by the Government of Uganda and ratified by Cabinet.

 As a landlocked country, fostering regional integration and cooperation is at the centre of Uganda’s foreign policy. Accordingly, regional organizations such as the East African Community (EAC); Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD); and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) are critical to Uganda’s development and socio-economic transformation.