Noise and vibration regulations for Uganda - with consideration for people and the environment

As part of a cooperation between the Norwegian Environment Agency and the National Environment Management Authority in Uganda, we have worked on the development of legal noise and vibration regulations for Uganda. In this paper, we address the various noise sources that are relevant for Uganda and its inhabitants. We discuss how these can be regulated bearing in mind that Uganda is an "outdoor society", while Norway is an "indoor society", like the rest of northern Europe. Regulating noise is in many ways a luxury phenomenon, especially in Norway, which has a well implemented system with regulations and guidelines. Solutions that work in Norway can therefore not be implemented in Uganda in the same way. The same with limit values: these cannot just be copied. We discuss the process and present the framework for a system where the emphasis is on regulating activities and their time of day, more than levels - this is easier to understand and enforce. The goal is to complete the regulations before the end of 2024 and hopefully it will lead to a more sustainable society, where e.g. fewer children are awake at night, because the bar in the street is open around the clock.