Ethnic Conflict, Violence and Peace Building in the Great Lakes Region: Identifying Risks and Developing Solutions

Written By Catherine Mwine 2005

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Social Policy: Themes, Principles and Perspectives in Uganda Catherine. Harriet. Mwine Dedication To the miracles in my life Mwine my husband who is the genesis of the Mwine legacy Job Asasira Mwine Philip Atwine Mwine Amos Amanya Mwine Mary Rita Arinda Mwine With all my Love Review Social policy: Themes, Principles and Perspectives bring together in a single accessible volume a representative and familiar set of exiting implemented social policies in Uganda. Catherine Mwine's Social policy volume is authentic, with spontaneous organic debate in our own context. The texts included have been selected to provide a coherent and holistic view of social policy. The chapters are prefaced by extensive policy extracts which can help in the contextualization of social policy in a wider intellectual debate on policy related issues. The text arguably reveals that social policy has existed as a coherent discipline which has proved its relevancy in the professional space by engaging in various discourses that have led to changes in the social debate, produced new objects of knowledge and created liberal social regimes. When social policy evolved as a discipline, it helped contemporary writers and later historians to adhere to a critical space that prevented a return to a form of subjectivism and positivism in resource allocation. Dr Kisunzu Kakule: Dean School of Social Bugema University In Social Policy: Themes, Principles and Perspectives, Catherine Harriet Mwine talks about the social policies that have affected Uganda. She clearly looks at Uganda’s past and suggests solutions to social problems for future engagements. Using Ugandan examples in this book not only serves as a course workbook, but also as a must read for all lovers of good policies that build the nation.


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Mwine does not only suggest possible policies and plans that can act as life savers in a third world country, she also articulately touches on particular aspects especially in Uganda, and proposes better policies and better ways of implementing them. The book is designed to help three audiences; college or university students, Board room policy makers, consultants and for those people who at one point are endowed with the responsibility of developing enacting and implementing policy in their own province of academic practice. Catherine Harriet Mwine has written extensively even books about social policy, ethnic conflicts in the Great Lakes Region and Land policies in Africa Education discourses in Philippines and Singapore. She has contributed 23 academic papers and book chapters on academia.edu. She is currently working on three religious books. Catherine Mwine is currently a Doctoral research fellow at New Era University, Quezon City the Philippines. Associate volunteer Chaplain, St Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City the Philippines. Student at St Andrews Theological Seminary Quezon City the Philippines Church minister at St Philip and St James, Sampaloc, Banlic Tanay Rizal in the Philippine


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PREFACE This book is a concise conceptualization of fundamental key themes, issues principles and perspectives which govern the dynamics of contemporary social policy planning. My Goal is to provide students with a rapid and holistic sketch of the basic issues and themes of social policy to a style analogous to implemented social policies in Uganda. This style is advantageous in a sense that social policy theoretical discourses ceases to be abstract hence providing students with the inspirations to design policies which can provide answers to contemporary problems. There is nothing in the realm of social development that does not exist in government social policy framework. Using its organizing theme, social policy debates emphasize that social policy and social development are parallel the former is the propeller shaft while the later is the product. Writing this text has not been a picnic; there have been several frustrating moments especially when I first worked into a publisher’s house six years ago and the questions such as, have you ever published? Can we get for you a co-writer? were frustrating. Publishing in Uganda, like any other business, exist within the realm of profit motives. Publishers are not enthusiastic to publish books for high institutions of learning such as universities. These institutions have a culture of buying a few copies which they photocopy for their libraries, instead of buying original copies. Publishers concentrate on primary and secondary school books because that is where they make big profits. This is a paradox because secondary schools prepare students for universities but if the students do not find books in universities how will they be inspired and challenged to build regimes of knowledge which can solve contemporary problems in their societies? I firmly believe that books are the carrier of civilization and providers of knowledge. They help in the production of new regimes of knowledge and without books, history is silent, literature irrelevant and obsolete, science disabled and crippled, especially in the societal context. It is a common phenomenon for people to conclude that in Uganda the reading culture is very low that reading is not in the societal cultural patterns and trimmings. How will people develop a reading culture where there is no facilitated writing culture? Without contextualized knowledge challenge for a change for a better future is always a dream, and inspiration in vein. I write in reference to the conventional practice which I will preface with a brief experience account. I have taught social policy for several years in several universities in Uganda. It is common phenomena in the academia to look for existing literature. However, most of the scholarly works on several social policy issues are written by foreigners with foreign illustrations such as the welfare state, poor law etc. These illustrations are abstract to social policy students in Africa. The resultant effect to this scenario is that the inspiration among the students to apply the acquired body of knowledge is as I said earlier at a standstill. While attention to availability of social policy texts is well merited, intervention to write texts with explorations and historical accounts of our Ugandan and African own policies with authentic illustrations is imperative. This position is visibly lacking in existing texts on social


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policy issues. While writing this book, I worked with a presumption that it will contribute to the filling of this gap, so that social policy as a discipline can find its theoretical and empirical location in our own academic space. Universities are considered to be manufacturers of knowledge and this book is designed to help students of social policy to acquire a knowledge base of developing policies, and to develop analytical judgment of those existing policies which require revisiting. This can lead to production of new objects of knowledge which can break a dependency syndrome on foreign regimes of knowledge, which often can not be applied in our societies. This text acknowledges the legitimacy and authority of the existing literature. However, production of new regimes of knowledge is a moral imperative and a social duty incumbent on all professionals. Since the field I have chosen to plough has been ploughed before and I have been a beneficiary of this knowledge, I find it a moral duty to contribute to social policy space by helping students to examine philosophical origins of social policy in our society, rather than depending per se on abstract foreign knowledge products. In this text, social policy theoretical discourses point out important issues but at the same time raise questions and relevant analysis that can create a continuum of social policy existence in the academia space. Let me hope this book will go through several editions.


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Acknowledgment Primarily, I must acknowledge the founders and organizers of the Masters of Arts Degree in European Comparative Social Studies MA CESS, who were inspired to include the module of social policy on the program. To this effect, I register the support of Dr Nol Reverda, Lector European Social Studies (CESRT) and Director MA CESS program, who has been there for whatever questions I presented to him. I thank Dr Sue Lawrence, University of North London who was my first lecturer in the field of social policy tradition. I want to register special gratitude to the entire MA CESS course-mates with whom I had discussion on issues pertaining to social policy. I remember in the cold winter of 1999 in Maastricht when I experienced a strong reaction to the experience of learning social policy for the first time "thinking that this course is not only interesting but it is useful; I can use it in future, for the betterment of my country". I would like also to express my gratitude to Mr. Epajjar Ojulu of Uganda Christian University, Department of Language and Literature, who kindly accepted to edit this text for correction both in language and style. I also thank Rev Prof Stephen Noll the Vice Chancellor Uganda Christian University for the encouragement he provided when I walked in his chambers seeking university support in publishing this book. I am also indebted to Mrs. Peggy Noll who edited the original draft of this book. Her encouragement was a source of great inspiration for further writing. I am really very grateful to the writers of several articles on the issues of social policy in Uganda. I thank my colleagues and my tutorial assistants at the Faculty of Social Sciences Uganda Christian University, for accepting to discuss with me issues pertaining to social policy. The Dean of faculty, Mr. Benon Musinguzi's leadership created a conducive climate for the staff to develop their academic potentials. This book draws heavily from the writings of Stan Burkey, Micheal Hill, Dr Ginsburg, Dr Gil and other authors of articles from various websites on existing social policies in Uganda, some of which I quoted verbatim. To this effect, I register my appreciation and mention that your great insight and brilliant works have qualified this text to be a scholarly piece. I wish also to thank Mr. Fredrick Mukungu, the Librarian of Uganda Christian University and Ms. Monica Ntege, his assistant, for their encouragement. I also want to register the support of Professor Patrick Mangheni , Director School of Post Graduate and Research, Uganda Christian University and Dr. Paul Mukasa formerly Dean of School of Social Sciences Bugema University and currently working in a university in Ethiopia. I also want to thank Dr. Kisunzu Kakule, currently Dean of the School of Social Sciences Bugema University for accepting to review this text. I also thank Pamela Tumwebaze, Department of Languages and Literature, Uganda Christian University for editing the second draft. My sincere gratitude goes to all my students of social policy over the years with whom I have tested the social policy theoretical discourses and analyzed the existing body of knowledge. In fact these students have been my associates and partners in the production of new regimes of knowledge in Social Policy.


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Above all, I thank my husband, Mr. Julius Mwine, currently BTC, CTB PhD Scholar at the University of Ghent, currently living in Belgium, from whom I gained great inspiration for academic pursuit from his infectious enthusiasm for knowledge. Last but not least, I pay tribute to my children, Arinda Mary Mwine, Job Mwine, Phillip Mark Mwine and Amos Amanya Mwine for their understanding when the rigor of writing encroached on the mother time. In a special way, I thank my daughter Little Arinda whose questions refreshed me at regular intervals and make me feel the joy of being a mother. Above all I give thanks to Almighty God who has been the pivot and anchor in every thing I do. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION DADICATION CHAPTER ONE .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.


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Definitions of social Policy ................................................................................................. 1 Mailo tenure. ..................................................................................................................... 22 Freehold tenure ................................................................................................................. 23 Leasehold tenure. .............................................................................................................. 26 Categories of social policy definitions:............................................................................. 24 Narrow definitions ............................................................................................................ 25 User empowerment ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Broad Definitions: ............................................................................................................. 26 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................ 45 The characteristic presentations of social policy .............................................................. 45 A battle of competing truths. ............................................................................................ 51 The conceptual framework of the policy-making paradigm ............................................ 52 Translating social policies into programmes .................................................................... 52 Relevant national policies and programmes in Uganda that can provide sharp illustrations............................................................................................................................................ 52 Review Questions. ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 53 Type of policies................................................................................................................. 57 Targets................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Non-formal Education ...................................................................................................... 62 Education of girls .............................................................................................................. 63 Child protection targets ..................................................................................................... 63 HIV/AIDS prevention targets ........................................................................................... 64 Strategy description .......................................................................................................... 65 Overall strategy and programme overview ....................................................................... 65 Basic education strategy ................................................................................................... 65 Child care and protection strategy .................................................................................... 67 Adolescent development and HIV/AIDS prevention strategy .......................................... 68 Complementarity and linkages. ........................................................................................ 69 Sustainability..................................................................................................................... 70 Management structure ....................................................................................................... 71 Programme components.................................................................................................... 72 Community capacity building for child and adolescent protection. ................................. 72 Education and development. ............................................................................................. 72 Component rtionale ........................................................................................................... 72 Objective and supporting indicators ................................................................................. 72 Description ........................................................................................................................ 72 Outputs and associated activities ...................................................................................... 73 Community coordination committees strengthened ......................................................... 73 Unified information system established and used ............................................................ 73 Animators mobilized, trained and coordinated ................................................................. 74 Advocacy and provision of information materials maintained ........................................ 74


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Children and adolescents trained in and practising life skills .......................................... 75 Target group and external resource persons ..................................................................... 75 Component rationale ......................................................................................................... 75 Objective and supporting indicators ................................................................................. 76 Description ........................................................................................................................ 76 Outputs and associated activities ...................................................................................... 78 Capacity for integrated coordination, support and supervision unproved.Error! Bookmark not defined. Executive order ................................................................................................................. 81 The administrative policy ................................................................................................. 83 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................... 93 Conceptions of social policy .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Social policy as a philosophy .......................................................................................... 103 Ontological question in relation to social policy ............................................................ 104 Epistimology paradigm and social policy ....................................................................... 104 Social policy as a framework for action ............................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Social policy as a process ............................................................................................... 140 Philosophical bases of social welfare policies ................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Promotion of the public good ........................................................................................... 93 Achievement of social justice ......................................................................................... 144 Redistribution of resources ............................................................................................. 167 Intervention in the free market ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Can Ocuka Woman’s Group. .......................................................................................... 254 Credit information:.......................................................................................................... 254 Mutundwe Twegatte Women’s Group (MTWG) .......................................................... 254 Social policy as a product ............................................................................................... 105 Ghana village managed water project ............................................................................. 255 Project bjectives .............................................................................................................. 255 Project components ......................................................................................................... 255 Rural health project in brazil ........................................................................................... 256 Nicaragua bee keeping promotion project ...................................................................... 257 Social policy as a planning ............................................................................................. 144 Planning ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Setting goals .................................................................................................................... 144 Assessing existing conditions ......................................................................................... 144 Setting social policy goals .............................................................................................. 144 Assessing existing conditions. ........................................................................................ 152 Development of a Strategy................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Policy and Practice .......................................................................................................... 153 The development of an impact model ............................................................................. 153 Selection of the target population ................................................................................... 154


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Additional aspects of program development and implementation ................................. 154 The assessment of how well a program is carried out. ................................................... 155 Measuring a program’s impact. ...................................................................................... 155 Strategy for poverty alleviation ...................................................................................... 156 Indonesia Dryland Farming . ............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Social policy as an ideology ........................................................................................... 157 Social policy as a field of study ...................................................................................... 158 Health indicators in Uganda (World Bank Study) .......................................................... 159 The rationale for public involvement .............................................................................. 161 The incidence of public expenditure ............................................................................... 162 CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................... 166 Principles of social policy ............................................................................................... 166 Social justice ................................................................................................................... 166 Crime and retribution as a dimension of equal justice .................................................... 166 Collective justice ............................................................................................................. 167 Redistributive justice ...................................................................................................... 168 Social equality ................................................................................................................. 169 The intuitive equality of opportunities. ........................................................................... 169 The value principle of social equality ............................................................................. 169 Inequality ........................................................................................................................ 171 The principle of social equity ......................................................................................... 171 Vertical equity ................................................................................................................. 172 Management of childcare and protection activities strengthened ................................... 173 Coordination of HIV / AIDS prevention activities strengthened.................................... 174 Target group and external resource partners ................................................................... 174 Strength Capacity for Policy Development and Quality Assurance ............................... 174 Component rationale ....................................................................................................... 174 Objective and supporting indicators. .............................................................................. 175 Description ...................................................................................................................... 175 Outputs and Associated Activities .................................................................................. 175 Resource mobilized, rationally distributed and managed for basic education, life skills, and childcare and protection and HIV/ AIDS prevention. .................................................... 176 National monitoring and evaluation systems strengthened ............................................ 176 Appropriate, gender-sensitive curriculum, teaching and learning materials developed . 177 Child act and child rights implemented and monitored. ................................................. 177 Collaboration among childcare and protection NGOs strengthened. ............................. 178 Multi-sectoral approach to HIV / AIDS / STD prevention among young people strengthened ........................................................................................................ 178 Life skills curriculum for in-school and out-of-school children and youth developed... 179 Target group and external resource persons ................................................................... 179 Overall mechanisms for monitoring, review and evaluation .......................................... 179 Periodic reviews, reports and external evaluations ......................................................... 179 Routine monitoring and surveillance .............................................................................. 180


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Sentinel community surveillance. ................................................................................... 180 Special Surveys ............................................................................................................... 180 Capacity building for monitoring, evaluation and research ............................................ 180 Programme budget .......................................................................................................... 180 Sources of funding .......................................................................................................... 180 Phasing of the budgets .................................................................................................... 181 Budget balance between components ............................................................................. 181 Vertical equity ................................................................................................................. 183 Equitable policies in the job market................................................................................ 183 The resource Mobilization and management for women and children ........................... 184 Objectives and supporting indicators .............................................................................. 184 The development and programme coordination ............................................................. 184 Social freedom as a development Factor ........................................................................ 186 Interest aggregation in relation to social freedom ........................................................... 191 The history of interest group in Uganda ......................................................................... 191 Social freedom as a development factor ......................................................................... 192 The role of democracy in influencing policy directions ................................................. 192 Authority as a coercive measure ..................................................................................... 195 social control ................................................................................................................... 195 Social problems and social planning............................................................................... 212 The origin of the conceptualizing of social problems. .................................................... 212 The role of sociological profiles in solving social problems. ......................................... 213 Alternative strategies in group power confrontation. ..................................................... 214 Cultural relativity ............................................................................................................ 215 Bibliography ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.


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INTRODUCTION. The subsequent chapters of this volume provide regimes of knowledge which are intended as an introduction for social policy for undergraduate students or post graduate students. The general objective of this text is to provide a coherent overview of the development of social policies which are usually translated into social service or provisions in contemporary developing countries and Uganda in particular. The text can provide relevant material for boardroom policy makers, social policy consultants and social service providers The text explores the diverse definitions and of social policy and they are categorized into narrow and broad definition, giving a historical account of some policies such as the Mailo land tenure policy which is a colonial discourse development and a Marxist class stratification compelling certain segments of the society to remain in a poverty trap. The chapter argues that the above phenomenon can only be reversed by designing of adhoc social policies. The book also examines the characteristic representation of social policy; citing relevant illustrations of contemporary social policies have become obsolete. The chapters examine the influence of political discourses on social policy and implementation. The chapter concludes that indeed, social policy is a process and a reflection of times, the dynamics between the three positions influence the translating of social policy into social programs. The text conceptualized the various perspectives of social policy, integrating in new regimes of knowledge based on the moral philosophical ideologies drawn from epistemological and ontological paradigms. An eclectic existence was borrowed as the author took an electric existence and borrowed scientific principles form other disciplines such as sociology, anthology and philosophy. This integration of knowledge bases can help students and policy makers to interrogate the feasibility of existing policies, a position which can lead to sustainable development. To qualify its main scientific arguments, each theme closes with an extensive presentation and illustrations of existing social policies in Uganda.


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CHAPTER ONE Introduction Social policy studies have helped produce new objects of knowledge that interrogate and challenge social and historical debates that do not permit social policy inquiry and silence all forms of objectives of investigation. Social policy as a discipline has questioned such objects that melt serious enquiry into equitable resource allocation. The discipline exists on those kinds of narratives that are rooted on evidence and empirical significance that sets the tempo of resource allocation and social service delivery. Definitions of social policy Several writers in the social policy tradition have assigned different definitions to the concept of social policy. Since Hill’s (1996) works on social policy, where he so beautifully defined social policy as the study of the role of the state in relation to the welfare of its citizens, other writers have concurred with his thesis. The definition, proved to be of great significance in the implementation of social programs. Following Hill, several writers, especially Alcock (1997) and Blakemore (2003) defined social policy as deliberate actions designed to meet given ends. Blakemore’s ideas have parallels with his contemporaries (Gil 1996, Asingwire and Manyire 1996). Blakemore is best remembered by his contribution to social policy when he defined the concept as the study of the role of the state in relation to the welfare of its citizens, through its deliberate interventions. Blakemore (2003) also contributed significantly to the study of social policies when he said that social policies are forms of official government legislation, or guidelines that govern how laws that can change unfavorable social structure can be put into operation. The general discussion of social policy constitutes a systematic beginning of an important discourse on welfare issues based on government interventions. This has been the theme of much recent works. Beside Blakemore, we may mention the works of Gilbert (1982) and the writers of the volume edited by Buldock, Manning, Miller and Vickerstaff 1999, who defined social policy as a deliberate intervention by the state to redistribute resources amongst its citizens so that they can achieve welfare objective and utilitarian calculation of common good. The above school of analytical thought concurs with the philosophical discourses of Jeremy Betham, who is one of the founding fathers of moral philosophy and an engineer of the utilitarian arithmetic. He emphasized it as the ethical imperative in the social policy discourse, providing philosophical underpinnings for the assertion that if a product is ideal for the development of humanity, then it should be harmonized, and using social policies as the harmonization factor. The galaxy of social policy definitions proves that the concept is not a mere province of academia but has an applied dimension as a tool that can be used to improve the welfare and sustainable livelihood of citizens. In order to avoid an imbalance in the realm of resources redistribution, social policies become a perfect instrument. The above definitions were used as a


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frame of reference in the Ugandan social policy and social services space which have been cited in the subsequent chapters of this volume. Balmer (1986) provided a historical depth and a comparative breadth to the study of social policy when he suggested that social policies are guiding principles of life which entails the participation of the three arms of government, and a change in the social structures, cultural values and peoples’ attitudes. Social policies are the determining factors of a country’s programs and services in areas of education, health services, employment and housing, which are fundamental to human development. Social policy is not outside the realm of science because it is a discipline of both statistical inference and analytical judgment; it is a highly publicized realm that interrogates the nexus of resource allocation and people’s welfare. I draw this perception from the vast experience I have as a lecturer of social policy. This has prompted me to define social policy as the expressions of the government, groups, communities or organizational Inter and multi-disciplinary deliberate actions, motivated by basic and perceived human needs resulting in interventions that may lead to change in attitudes and behaviors which maybe hindering human or organizational development. It is obvious that all social policy thinkers place high premium on the welfare of people and my definition of social policy in particular gets philosophical underpinnings from the utilitarian account which emphasizes that if a product is basically needed for human survival, then there should be a policy to harmonize it without leaving it to market forces. To secure social contracts, governments can choose among a wide variety of policy instruments and knowledge of the public objectives of a program to give insight into why a certain policy instrument is chosen. For example, food and adequate housing have been cited as one of the basic needs, and then of course every government must have food policy and housing policy. Although the bulk of the discussions on poverty have been devoted to familiar themes such as food insufficiency, inadequate housing, education and health, I will take unduly harsh and critical view of the Ugandan position on housing policy which it has left to market forces. In Uganda, only those who can afford are the ones who access adequate housing, leaving the majority of urbanites to live in one roomed houses with an average family of five children and teenagers among them with just a curtain separating the children and the parents. Although perhaps children who grow up in slums are never as generally influenced by external pornographic exposure, as some of us imaged, the reality have today quite rightly revealed that these children are subjected to live pornography in their own households. I was comparatively slow to come around to this point of view but would now go somewhat further than most policy thinkers in drawing a balanced conclusion on the effect of inadequate housing on a society in general. It is now reasonably clear I would urge that the negative multiplier effects of this negligence on the part of the government leads to moral decadence and an increase in school drop outs hence a continuum of poverty among slum inhabitants.


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Interdisciplinary approach is the emergence of insights and understanding of a set of questions and implementation of social policy through the integration of different methods concepts and models assembled from a wide spectrum of disciplines to generate novel social programs. This approach can help to synthesize new theoretical discourses as different professionals confer and rely on each other to draw conclusions and plan interventions which can lead to change on people’s attitudes and behaviors. . The interdisciplinary position is reflected in several policies which are cited in the subsequent chapters of this text. These policies are among others ; water policies, a scenario where social workers are required to sensitize the masses on the significance of using clean and safe water but when it come to construction of safe water sources such as bore holes and protected springs the expertise of engineers and economists has to be sought and integrated in the policy planning. Without interdisciplinary integration in policy planning, the whole process remains rhetoric and lip service. On the contrary, multidisciplinary approach, when used in policy planning, it is a situation where professionals stay in their own boundaries of academia space and use theories, models and methods derived from their body of knowledge. When we examine the multidisciplinary position, we find that it is actually the foundation of the interdisciplinary account because knowledge integration also requires a professional to prepare primarily, their own products of knowledge then integrate it with other segments of knowledge from other disciplines. Ginsberg’s (1994) works also succinctly defined social policy as activities and principles of a society that can guide the way it intervenes in and regulates relationships between individuals, groups, communities and social institutions In the same context, I write in reference to Gil’s (1992) publication which gives a preface with an explicit account that implementers of social policies should try to identify and change environmental variables that hinder development at psychological, social economic and political levels. Social policies that give illustrations of the stated definitions Health policy 73% of Uganda’s poor have access to medical care. In subsequent decades, numerous specific social policies and panaceas for solving health care problems in the third world have come to form the corpus of social policy development. The actors include government ministries, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), development agencies and religious organizations to name just the most influential in various times and space. There is clear evidence that government’s universal primary healthcare policy and recent reforms in the health sector have brought about a significant expansion in the use of health care systems.

Since 1986, the government of Uganda has been making deliberate efforts to improve delivery of healthcare, working together with private health providers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). After all there were several decades since the previous regimes which left social welfare provisions to other actors, which was in itself widely regarded as a contribution factor to


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health problems. Since then, research exploring the linkages of health and welfare has been one of the most rigorous in contemporary social policy discourses. Out-patient Department (OPD) has increased dramatically in most health facilities across the country, from 9.3million new cases in 1999/2000 to 17.7million in 2002/2003. Immunization coverage has also increased dramatically. The proportion of people in the poorest 20% of the population, who seek care when ill, also rose from 46% to 73% between 1999 and 2003. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has fallen from 30% in 1993/2004 to 6% in 2002/2003. Over the years more public health centers have been built and equipped. The number of private health units has also increased. Five years ago, the Ministry of Health launched the health sector strategic plan (HSSP). The plan aims at making quality health services affordable and accessible to the public. HSSP was developed within the framework of 2025. Poverty Eradication Action plan (PEAP) and the national health policy have also gone through a lot of positive dynamics. It sets provisions for the delivery of the minimum package of the health services the Uganda national Minimum Health package (UNMHCP) to all the people in Uganda with particular emphasis on the most vulnerable. The health sector stakeholders such as government, development partners, private sectors health providers and civil society developed the plan through a collaborative approach. According to the Ministry of Health report “effective delivery of the UNMHCP contributes to improvement in health outcomes”. HSSP is implemented through the sector wide approach (SWA), which involves public private partnership. There has been improvement in all the indicators over the HSSP period. Performance against the five PEAP indicators shows improvement in most cases surpassing the 2002/2003 performance levels. The global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria has been a major boost to the sector, thus increasing availability of key health services.

The government universal primary health care (PHC) policy and recent reforms within the health sector have caused significant expansion in the use of the health system. To meet the increasing demand for health services, the government has built 400 new level two health centers and up-graded 180 level three. However, public hospitals and health centers have shortage of drugs and human resource such as doctors. The health sector has continued to experience shortage of trained health workers. There are still difficulties in attracting qualified health workers who can work in difficult areas and districts. The health sector has worked with other stakeholders to ensure improved packages for health care. Programmes which are interpreted from the health policy


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Mulago hospital is Uganda’s national referral teaching, and research hospital. It has a total bed capacity of 1500. It provides specialized and super specialist services in surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, oncology, radiology with computerized tomography (CT scan), intensive care, renal dialysis, dentistry and oral surgery. Orthopedics including limb fitting, ear, nose and throat (ENT). Dermatology, genital/urinary (urology) medicine, neurosurgery, cardio-thoracic (heart) surgery and accident emergency.

The hospital was founded in 1913 and has recently undergone rehabilitation and redevelopment of new and better equipped service centers include assessment centers in Upper Mulago, theatre suits and acute care unit for very sick children, aimed at improving services and enhancing the convenience of patients and visitors.

Mulago has an annual patient turn over in excess of 120,000 patients and attends to over 480,000 outpatients in the assessment centre, general outpatient clinics, special clinics and accidents and emergency department. The hospital delivers 27,000 mothers per year. The hospital is organized in the following directorates:

o Directorate of surgery o Directorate of medicine o Directorate of obstetrics and gynecology o Directorate of diagnostics and therapeutics o Directorate of nursing The department of medical social work where I did my fieldwork placement is directly under the directorate of medicine according to the organ gram. The line of communication in the organ gram is as shown below: Hospital director Director of medicine Principal medical social worker Senior medical social worker Medical social workers

Mandate of Mulago hospital To provide specialized tertiary healthcare, train health workers and conduct research in line with the requirements of the ministry of health. Vision: to become the leading centre of excellence in healthcare delivery in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Hospital mission:


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To remain Uganda‘s leading teaching hospital and prime provider of highly specialized healthcare services to referred patients to enhance quality of life.

Core Values Mulago Hospital has the following core values:

o To consider patients health, safety interest first. o To cherish prompt attention and professional care to the patients. o To save life with diligence. o To offer comfort and hope to patients in pain and suffering. o To strictly observe the highest ethical standards in healthcare delivery. o To maintain highest levels of confidentiality about patients information. o To ensure transparency and accountability. o To uphold human dignity irrespective of social economic status, religion and

colour. o To cultivate a culture of mutual respect and teamwork. o Commitment to developing staff to their highest professional potential. o Commitment to the hospital vision, mission and core values. o Commitment to advancement of scientific knowledge and competence. Social work field work report 2006

Programs of the department of medical social work.

� Interviewing clients � Diagnosing clients � Planning intervention � Implementing the interventions � Evaluation of the outcomes of the intervention.

Activities of the agency � Visiting and talking to patients. � Identifying patients who have social problems � Supporting patients emotionally � Counseling patients � Guiding and advising patients � Escorting patients to their communities at home � Placement of needy patients in institutions and foster homes � Following patients in the community of origin � Reintegration of patients in communities � Data collection and analysis � Keeping records � Preparing reports.

Pediatric infectious diseases as social program

Background:


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The Pediatrics infectious diseases clinic (PIDC) of Mulago Hospital (Balyola College of Medicine Children’s Foundation) and Makerere University department of Pediatrics and child health was established in 1988 as a weekly outpatient clinic providing care and support to Ugandan children infected with HIV/AID. Over the years, the urgent need for care and treatment services for children has grown, with Uganda now having an estimated 100,000 children living with HIV/AIDS in the country. In July 2003 the PIDC moved to its new location on the Old Mulago hospital campus, where it now provides outpatient care and treatment to children and adolescents five days per week. The PIDC is the largest Public Pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic in Uganda, treating clients from birth to nineteen years of age.

Vision: To become pediatric and adolescent HIV centre of excellence through service delivery, training and research in Uganda and beyond.

Mission: The department of pediatric and child health exists in order to promote, protect and support the health of children and adolescent in Uganda such that they attain self fulfillment, to train health professionals to carry out research, and to excel in all they do with dedication.

Pediatric infectious diseases’ clinic/bcmcf - u The estimated 2.8 million HIV/AIDS infected children in sub-Saharan Africa have unique needs for treatment and care at every stage of their development. The PIDC is committed to building Uganda and Africa capacity to meet their needs through:- • Pediatric health professional training and in service program. • Attachment and mentorship programs • Increase access to HIV testing. • Foster prevention counseling • Support family- centered care prevention • Laying foundation for adherence • Weekly clinical care conferences open to all clinicians treating pediatric HIV/AIDS

patients; and • Treating HIV/AIDS children and adolescents.

AIDS INFORMATION CENTRE

Background:

The AIDS Information Centre, a non government organization, was first set up in 1990 to

provide Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus

(HIV) the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

AIDS is a life threatening condition that often leaves sufferers feeling helpless and hopeless,

at a time they most desperately need lots of care and support.


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The very high rate of HIV infection that Uganda experienced during the 80's and early 90's

created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them

was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on

all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes.

AIC emerged out of the need for people to know their status. At the time AIC began offering

services, there was no organization that provided HIV testing services and yet HIV prevalence

rates were at there high. Many people resorted to national blood transfusion services where they

donated blood with an assurance that they would be able to know their status. Other clinics and

hospitals that did test, did it without the patients informed consent. No counseling was provided;

there was no particular support for those HIV+ results. In addition some AIDS support

organizations couldn’t provide testing services to people who voluntarily requested them.

Vision: AIC exists to have an environment in Uganda where individuals feel free to have

VCT, can access the service promptly and at an affordable cost.

Mission: AIC exists to prevent the spread of HIV and mitigate its impact by being a model

of excellence in the provision and expansion of Voluntary counseling and testing,

information and education, and the promotion of care and support.

The AIDS Information Centre has four strategic objectives which were implemented

starting 2003 through 2007 in order to achieve the vision and the mission of the

organization. These are:

• To consolidate the voluntary counseling and testing integrated service delivery at the

AIC direct branch offices and to continue supporting selected indirect sites.

• To strengthen capacity for voluntary counseling and testing service delivery at

community, national and international levels.

• To create demand for voluntary counseling and testing and foster and enabling

environment for voluntary counseling and testing service delivery.

• To strengthen the institutional capacity for AIC to implement the 2003-2007 strategic

plan.


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The Probation Welfare Services Probation services department started in 1948 and it was subsequently accommodated in the criminal procedure code in 1950, under section 314 to 317. Because of its unique characteristics, the probation service enjoyed a semi – autonomous status and control of staff was generally dealt with directly between its headquarters and the chief secretary’s office. During the 1950s, top administrators gave a lot of support to social welfare work, which resulted in the blue print famously known as sessional note No 4 of 1958 / 59, giving legal recognition and guidance to the operations of voluntary welfare organizations and social work in general. In 1948, the service was accommodated in the department of public relations and social welfare. This department had been newly established as a Second World War strategy to utilize the skills brought back by ex-service men for the purpose of improving living conditions in rural areas. Later the department of public relations and social welfare was renamed the department of community development and it continued to accommodate the probation and after care services. The department remained under the ministry of culture and economic development until after the 1978 liberation war; when the department was transferred to the ministry of rehabilitation in 1980. Later, the ministry was renamed the Ministry of Relief and Social Rehabilitation. In 1991, the government of Uganda commenced the reorganization and restructuring of the civil service. The ministry of Relief And Social Rehabilitation was combined with that of labour to become the present ministry of Labour And Social Development. Originally, the service was aimed at treatment of juvenile offenders by way of placing them on probation. In 1968 a new section was created and this was known as vocational rehabilitation for Disabled Persons, adding to the many roles the department was playing by that time. After the 1979 liberation war, it was felt that the probational welfare staffs were the best qualified public officers to handle services of widows, orphans, famine war stricken area and other disaster hence the department became engaged in food distribution and other relief operation for widows and orphans. In 1989, the Uganda government signed the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child, which was ratified in 1990. Uganda also became a signatory to the organization of Africa Unity charter on the rights and welfare of the child, which she ratified. The department’s work is now under pinned by the provisions of the UN convention and OAU. Activities of the agency

1. Supporting families and children who are in bad situation, for example providing food, shelter and clothing.


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2. Creating community mechanism to handle and take care of children for example the office trains CRS for 10 days and these works at parish level. Child’s rights volunteers (CRV) are trained for 5 days.

3. Organizing, co-coordinating, meetings, workshop seminars with all non-governmental

organization (NGO) CBS, which deal with child-care for example, Save the children.

4. Inspecting children and orphanages. 5. Community sensitization and training. This includes teaching the community about

relevant issue for example, child abuse, and child neglect to mention a few.

6. Tracing, resettlement and follow up of children. This comes after the child has got lost. This office makes sure that it traces the biological parents of the child.

7. Counseling the clients in different situations.

8. Fostering the child/adaptation. If the parents abandoned the child, and some people want

to take care of the child this office takes all the initiatives.

9. Prevention and control of crime and Juvenile Delinquency. The department works closely with legal agencies for example, court, police, and prison to ensure presentation and control of criminal behavior in children.

10. Identifying and mobilizing local artisans to train vulnerable children in skills.

Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture Policy

Several studies have documented over years that about 80% of the population in Uganda depends on agriculture. Plan for modernization of Agriculture policy provides good illustration of (Alcock 1997, Hill 1996 and Blackmore 2003) who respectively defined it as the role of the state in relation to the welfare of its citizens. This is revealed in the explicit the strategy that Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) is a central element of Uganda's poverty alleviation strategy is key to enabling the rural population to improve their livelihood and ensure food security through changing subsistence agriculture by turning farming into a business.

For the rural population - more than the 85% of the total population - agriculture is the main way of making a living either as pure subsistence farmers or with a little semi-commercial farming. The majority of these subsistence farmers are poor people faced with many constraints that keep them poor such as lack of knowledge and skills, lack of credit, lack of information and knowledge about what to produce and how to produce to earn more money, HIV/AIDS, malaria, insecurity and poor yields. The most features of their poverty include: food insufficiency, lack of money to meet health and education costs, low yields, and few productive assets, lack of essential services, large families, and inadequate support from the communities.


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Subsistence agriculture is producing mainly for home consumption while farming as a business (commercial agriculture) is producing with the objective of selling produce to earn money. Commercializing agriculture is hoped to result into many people being able to earn incomes to meet other needs, improve their lifestyle, create more jobs in rural areas, ensure food security and use natural resources sustain ably. In order to modernize agriculture we need to recognize the resources we already have such as land, good weather, and people and start by improving our agricultural production with what we already have. The government had been working closely with all the stakeholders by providing agricultural advisory services, health services, good roads, access to improved seed and knowledge and information about good storage methods, processing and marketing.

Modernizing agriculture requires the support of local governments, and therefore, there is need for empowering local authorities to ensure they have the capacity to undertake the new challenges. Local governments were expected to deliver agricultural services and financing in collaboration with local and external stakeholders, NGOs, CBOs and the donor community as well as the private sector.

The Government has not been directly involved in production, processing or marketing agricultural products; rather, the focus is to enable and creating the environment for a more market-oriented agricultural sector. Thus, the aim of the PMA is that through advisory services and knowledge building, farmers should be provided with skills to re-orient their production towards the market and the government should create an environment, through policies and regulation, required for a strong private sector involvement to the achievement the PMA goal of modernized agriculture.

Modernizing Agriculture and poverty alleviation Modernizing agriculture can alleviate poverty through, first of all, increased production which ensures food sufficiency for all communities. Secondly, farmer access to knowledge, improved seed, and other relevant information will lead them to produce more high value crops that sell well in the market. Incomes from sale of produce, farmers can access other household necessities and social services such as health and education services and can be able to increase household income. Through PMA more jobs can be created in the agricultural industry and agriculture-related activities such as transportation, storage, processing, marketing, and so on. The positive multiplier effects of the whole program is that, poverty can be alleviated as a result of:

• Increase in incomes because of the rise in farm productivity • Increase in the share of agriculture that can be marketed and • Creation of many on-farm and off-farm jobs related to agriculture


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Government expenditure on PMA policy In order to support everyone involved in the process of modernizing agriculture and alleviation of extreme poverty from Uganda. To this effect, the government funded the following important areas:

Agricultural Research and Technology Development:

The main aim of this component is to make research and technology address the needs of subsistence farmers. A decentralized client-oriented and participatory formulated research agenda to ensure more relevant and responsive advice will be formulated with all stakeholders. Research and technology outputs will be disseminated through agricultural research and development centers (ARDCs) located in each of the 12 agro-ecological zones of Uganda, namely: Abii (Arua),Kachwekano (Kabale), Mukono (Mukono), Mbarara Stock Farm (Mbarara), Nabuin (Moroto), Kyembogo (Kabarole), Serere (Soroti),and Ikulwe (Iganga).

Agricultural advisory service.

To coordinate service provision to subsistence farmers, a National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS) has been created to provide advice on productivity-enhancing technologies and soil conservation; knowledge and skills development; marketing, storage and agro-processing. The unit of planning and decision-making is the sub-county. The farmer forums which are expected to be formed in every sub-county will work with district and sub-county officials to contract private sector service providers for extension services. Farmers are expected to demand, manage and monitor the advisory services that meet their needs. The NAADs program is now being tested in 6 selected districts of Uganda.

Rural finance

Rural financial Intermediaries will be promoted and strengthened for provision of rural financial services on a viable and sustainable manner. The public sector will provide a legal and regulatory framework as well as capacity building for private sector involvement in Micro-finance institutions (MFI). However, government will be not be giving loans to farmers.

Agro-processing and marketing

Government is not going to provide free inputs or market farmer produce as it did in the past. Instead, inputs distribution, agro-processing and marketing are to be carried out by the private sector, while the public sector will set policies, remove barriers and put in place commercial laws as well as legal and regulatory framework. The Government will be


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responsible for providing supportive infrastructure, including rural electrification, which is critical for PMA goals.

Agricultural education

Human resource development to meet the challenges of transforming the agricultural sector is crucial. Agricultural education will be incorporated at all levels of the educational curricula and adult education will be supported under PMA. An agricultural education syllabus will be formulated that will promote agriculture as a business, discourage the use of agriculture as a punishment in schools, encourage farmer participation in agricultural knowledge and information exchange and recognize the role of indigenous knowledge in agriculture.

Sustainable natural resource management

Implement the 1998 Land Act and develop a comprehensive land-use policy to facilitate development of land markets, efficient land-use (including irrigation) and management as well as administration.

Physical Infrastructure

One other thing government will spend its money on will be the development of basic physical infrastructure that will support the efforts to modernize agriculture. These include: roads, rural electrification, communication infrastructure and energy development programs.

Implementation of PMA The President has already launched PMA activities. The PMA Secretariat, which can be the main coordinating body, was set up and its staff were recruited and the Non-Sectoral Conditional Grant was sent out to 24 participating districts. Some of the components of the PMA like the NAADS advanced operationalisation and farmer-driven advisory system was also set up. There are three key players in the implementation of the PMA namely: private sector, local governments and Central Government. Others include civil society organizations and development partners. In the private sector, farmers are the largest group.

Private Sector

The private sector includes stakeholders such as subsistence farmers, traders, processors and service providers who should be directly responsible for undertaking key activities of operationalisation and success of the PMA, which activities include production, processing, storage and marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs. The private sector will also be responsible for the provision of advisory services through contracting.

Local governments (at district, sub-counties and parishes levels)


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Under the PMA, local governments should be responsible for:

a) Coordinating production of local government agriculture

c) Provision of services for the management al sector plans

b) Technical supervision of agricultural advisory services and control of pests

d) Land survey and administration

e) Forestry and wetlands management

f) Control of soil erosion, bush fires, local hunting and fishing; and

g) Licensing produce marketing.

Central Government

The core function of central government was too put in place good policies, laws and procedures for successful implementation of the PMA. The different ministries are supposed to handle the responsibilities for policies, laws and procedures that fall directly under their individual mandates.

Civil Society

These include NGOs, CBOs, individuals, unions, professional bodies and associations that are involved in the promotion and delivery of services. They are very important resource which should be involved, in collaboration with other stakeholders, in the process of planning, implementing, financing and delivery of services, especially at lower levels of government.

Development Partners

Development partners in the PMA include international donors and bilateral partners/governments that support national development activities in the agricultural sector through grants and soft loans. These can play a fundamental key role in funding key activities under the PMA. The PMA offers many opportunities to individuals groups, companies and communities. The PMA encompasses very many sectors, ranging from production, harvesting, storage, processing, marketing, transportation, inputs distribution, advisory services, natural resources management, physical infrastructure provision, construction, etc. Depending on what you do, you will benefit from the support and opportunities that PMA offers. Education Policy


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Education policy is one of the parameters of state funding which provides illustration that the state plans for the welfare of its citizens both in short and long term objectives. Education is a process by which society attempts to preserve and upgrade the accumulated knowledge skills and attitudes in the formal setting in order to continuously foster its society well being. Uganda system of education is composed of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. There is both formal and informal education; the primary education was expanded by introduction Universal Primary Education In 1997. Secondary Education was planned to be free in 2007. Education system of Uganda is comprised of both private and public providers, with a structure of seven years of primary education, six years of secondary education (divided into four years of lower secondary and two papers of secondary) and three to five years of post-secondary education. The present system has existed since the early 1960s. Primary education in 1989 the last years for which official figures are available, the government estimated that more than 2.5 million youth were enrolled in primary schools, of which about 45 percent were female. In 1989, secondary schools enrollment on all levels was 265,000 pupils of which 238, 500 were enrolled in forms, one through six in government-aided secondary schools. Education policy is of great importance in the following ways; Education is a source of investment to people because it liberates people’s minds and at the same time it helps to change their attitudes which may hinder development. It is also through education that people can acquire a body of knowledge base and skills which can empower them to compete favorably in the job market. It controls population growth rate, due to the education of a girl child they spend too much time at school instead of producing, and also educating people about family planning which reduces the number of dependants and eradicating poverty. Education is source of skilled manpower inform of labor force, it provides labor force to the country like accounts ,economists, engineers, doctors which facilitates the smooth learning of all economic activities which is a great importance to the nation. It leads to the improvement in the proper health, when people are educated they tend to invest more in their health through food consumption remain because people understand the significance of balanced diet and prevention of non-clinical diseases such as dilheria. Several studies have revealed that mothers who have attained a certain level of education endeavor also to send their children to school an attitude which can make education and development sustainable indices in a society.

Universal Secondary Education Policy


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Ministry of Education implemented the Universal Secondary Education (USE) program, in collaboration with the Internal Security Organization, to ensure that head teachers do not inflate registers. More than 800 schools participated in the day-long exercise. It involved roll-call, verification of admission registers, identity cards, original result slips and recommendation letters from primary schools, birth certificates and passport size photos.

Contrary to the USE guidelines, some schools were found to have students who scored beyond aggregate 28 in the Primary Leaving Examinations and those who completed before 2006.This, in essence, demonstrates the extent to which some people will go to take advantage of government funding.

The above phenomenon should be a constant reminder to the Government to count the students regularly. However, despite the implementation of Universal Primary Education program, children continue to drop out of school, even when there is no fee to pay. If children drop out of the program, then the capitation grants meant for that school should be reduced accordingly.

Kamwokya Christian Caring Community: An illustratio n of social policy definitions Kamwokya Christian Caring Community derives its existence from implemented policies such as privatization and liberalization policies. Every agency or any other social service provider can only operate within a particular policy framework. The agency provides sociological underpinnings for social policy definitions which confirm that even though the state may not have funds to provide certain social services to its citizens, it can design policies that can allow other actors to provide those services and improve the welfare of its citizens. KCCC was founded by the Catholic church of Holy Trinity Parish Kamwokya in the outskirts of Kampala city. It was set up to address the AIDS pandemic in the late 1980’s, which had a big impact on the community. It aimed at making people’s lives better and offering support to the sick and those who needed care. This organization offer several services such as Voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing services, food relief supplies to the enrolled patients, Anti Retro Viral Therapy at a monthly minimal cost of Uganda shillings,10,000/= (Ten thousand shillings only). The agency runs literacy program, both for children under primary school education at the Sr. Mariam Duggan school facility and adult vocational studies at Goal Vocational Training Center in Kyebando. A computer literacy center located at Duggan school, a micro savings and credit cooperative society as well as out-reach medical centers both in Kyebando and Bukoto at St. Andrew’s Catholic sub-parish church. These were set up to decentralize service provision to the clients who always had to walk long distances to come for treatment at the central location in Kamwokya.


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Programs run by the agency include:

� Primary health care � Gender and Social Welfare � Community Water and Sanitation � Vocational Skills Training and Development � Youth and Children Programs

The Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF: An Illustration of government responsibility The Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) is one of the strategies of development which stems from government moral responsibility towards its citizens. This program emerged out of a policy to harmonize equal and equitable distribution of resources. The Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) is a five-year government of Uganda community driven project funded though IDA credit from the World Bank and by the Government of Uganda with contribution from the communities. This project comes on realization that despite significant gain in reducing poverty recorded in much of Uganda, the north has continued not only to lag behind but indeed, fall further into deeper poverty. The project is, therefore, meant to enable northern Uganda “catch up” with the rest of the country. As a transitional tool, the NUSAF entails a funding mechanism that will empower Northern Uganda by enhancing their capacity to systematically identify, prioritize and plan for their needs and implement sustainable development initiatives that improve social – economic services and opportunities, thereby contributing to improved livelihood by placing money in the hands of the communities. Specifically, the projects served the following purposes:-

(i) Strengthen the community participation, leadership development and encourage sustainable utilization and mobilization of natural resources.

(ii) Improve quality and access to social services and community initiated infrastructures such as classrooms and teachers house constructions, health centre construction, feeder road constructions, water and sanitation, among others.

(iii) Provide institutional support to vulnerable groups such as women, people affected by conflict, and those with disabilities.

(iv) Support community reconciliation and conflict management. (v) Provide institutional support to build capacity to manage the project, disseminate

information, monitor and evaluate activities as well as strengthen local government institutions that provide technical support to the project.

Activities/components of (NUSAF) The activities of NUSAF are based on five major components as listed below;-

(i) Community Development Initiatives (CDI)


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(ii) Vulnerable Group support – (VGS) (iii) Community Reconciliation and Conflict management – (CRCM) (iv) Institutional Development – (ID) (v) Youth Opportunities Program – (YOP) Community Development Initiatives (CDI): The CDI finances demand-driven community based initiatives to construct and rehabilitate small scale socio-economic infrastructure guided by sub-project menu that falls within sector policies. Communities are facilitated to participate in identifying, prioritizing their needs, planning and managing, monitoring and evaluating sub projects by civil society and government extension workers, private individuals and agencies operating in the localities. The CDI component focuses its activities to address the following sectors: - 1. Education: The sub project in this areas may include:-

- Rehabilitation, expansion and new construction of primary schools and community initiated secondary schools.

- Offering support to UPE in order to increase enrolment and later on post primary schools thus reducing the rate of school drop outs, especially among girls.

- Equipping primary schools and community initiated secondary schools with most essential furniture and equipment.

- Construction and rehabilitation of nursery, pre–primary institutions that are part of early child development using permanent materials.

- Rehabilitation, expansion of community resource centers. - Literacy drives and other such program for communities

2. Health: The sub projects in health includes: - Improvement of primary health care facilities such as village health

units/dispensaries and health centre. It includes: new construction and rehabilitation.

- Prevention based sub projects for diseases such as STDs including HIV/AIDS malaria, TB and water borne diseases through improvement for sanitation.

- Community health awareness and building capacity to fight communicable and epidemic diseases

- Support to Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs to increase nutritional levels of poor communities through facilitating and establishing small-self sustaining day-care centers for poor children.

- Improvement of hygiene. - Increase the number of health canters thereby reducing the distance traveled by

people in search of health services.

3. Water and sanitation: The sub projects in water supply and sanitation may include the construction and rehabilitation of the following;-

- Springs capping - Hand dug wells with hand pump - Shallow wells with hand pump


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- Rain water harvesting - Bore holes with pipes, motorized schemes, solar energy, etc - Valley dam and tanks - Sewerage - Latrines and activities that increase community awareness on water supply and

sanitation, and build capacity for community managed interventions. 4. Economic infrastructure: These sub projects may include: construction and rehabilitation

of; - Small scale irrigation schemes - Crop storage - Small market places - Community and feeder roads and bridges for community dips and crushes

5. Agriculture and environment: Sub projects in agriculture and environment may include promotion of any of the under listed;-

- A forestation, including establishment of nurseries. - Energy efficient stoves. - Agro-processing and value addition to production. - Support restocking of cattle and small ruminants. - Demonstration for improved seeds and high value crops. - Improvement of markets for women. - Solar powered units. - Construction and rehabilitation of fish landing sites.

Vulnerable Group Support (VGS) Component: The overall goal of he NUSAF, VGS component is to use targeted interventions in a participatory, equitable and sustainable manner to reduce vulnerability among the disadvantage members of the community thereby reducing poverty among the support groups. The VGS component comprises of categories of people such as the IDPS, ex-abductees, guns, drop outs, youth drop out. NUSAF through the VGS components supports these groups in area of;- (a)

� Psychosocial and spiritual counseling. � Life skill training and provision of equipment production tools and seed capital. � HIV/AIDS awareness activities.

(b) The aged destitute people are eligible to projects such as;- � Home based care for the old. � Special medical care within the primary health-care framework. � Recreation centers and facilities/community centers. � Skills training tools and training centers. � Economic empowerment such as income generating activities. � Time and energy saving technologies.


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c) The HIV/AIDS infected and affected people can benefit from;- � Physical-social and spiritual counseling � HIV/AIDS peer education programs � Prevention of HIV transmission � Drop in centers � Vocation skill training for orphans and tools acquisition. � Simple basic medication for HIV/AIDS related conditions within the primary health

centers. � General awareness and attitude change programs � Feeding and nutrition programs for patients. � Provision of social safety nets for HIV/AIDS infected people � Support HIV/AIDS out reach programs.

(d) Foster families and orphans may apply for;- � Economic empowerment programs for households. � Activities that will promote utilization of vocational skills acquired through training. � Skills training. � Health, nutrition and psychological care services for orphans.

(e) Disable person is supported in any of the following area;- � Activities that will promote the independence of people with disabilities. This includes

purchase of equipment and other economic empowerment activities. � Skills transfer to parents/ guardians of children with severe disabilities. � Vocation skills training at community level. � Procurement of mobility hearing and visual aids. � Special education support.

Community reconciliation and Conflict management (CRCM) component The objective of CRCM component is to identify and support innovative ways for community reconciliation, conflict management and prevention using both traditional and non-traditional approaches. It includes participatory tools that enhance community dialogue, facilitate social capital preparation. The CMRC component came in place after realizing that poverty had disempowered communities and caused regional imbalance in development and increased poverty (The Household Report 2000). It is also noted that conflicts had worsened poverty by isolating communities from each other especially children and spouses from their partners. The vicious cycle of insecurity, governance problems and capacity weakness discouraged production and social services delivery. The Youth Opportunity Program component (YOP):


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The NUSAF Youth Opportunity Program (YOP) is a component proposed to implement interventions that target the youth who have dropped out of school with the aim of supporting their social rehabilitation and re-integration into the communities with the assistance of community based organizations (CSO), NGOs, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), private sector and vocational training institutions. The YOP came into place after realizing that conflicts that have taken place in northern Uganda have adversely affected the communities in the north with many youth being the worst affected. Consequently, there has been emergence of various and distinct categories of vulnerable youth and young adults within communities. Depending on the degree of afflictions, the manifestation of this is seen in the large area of;-

- School drop-outs or victims of closed schools - Child soldiers - Formerly abducted persons - Street children, among others

NUSAF under the (YOP) is, therefore, supposed to ;-

- Support skilled training activities for the internally displaced, ex – abductees, school drop-out and their communities and families.

- Support sustainable reintegration of ex- abducted children and ex- rebel youth soldiers through social preparation of household and communities.

- Provision for psychosocial support, thereby contributing to peace building process.

The major objectives of YOP are;- - To provide specific skills and start-up tool kits to enable them get employment,

earn income and improve their livelihood - To contribute towards community reconciliation and conflict management. - To build capacity of NGO’s, CBOs and the private sector to expand to unique

needs of the youth. Principles of (NUSAF): The main principles underpinning the operation of NUSAF are as follows;

- Autonomy of management and speed delivery - Active and intensive community participation in project identification,

prioritization, implementation and management. - Sound environment resource management - Community contribution to development effort Direct flow of funds to community sub-projects - Gender responsiveness - Transparency and accountability to reduce corruption. - Reinforcement of community self-reliance and indigenous knowledge utilization. - No political interference - Targeted interventions


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- Private sector participation - Utilizing existing institutions and deepening decentralization.

The NUSAF also took over and transformed in a more active way the moral imperative trend in nationalist thinking towards the view that the causes of the more apparently multiplier effects of the national development and moral duty of the state are located inside rather than outside of the policy framework.

Policy Frame works that can influence the policy making process

The social frame of reference that can influence the policy-making process based on social structure is the Marxist conceptualization of class stratification. However there is one obvious exception to this remark. Contemporary studies starting with Chambers (1993) have made notable analyses of poverty and social policy; we can make the later as part of the government’s deliberate actions and the former is certainly closely related in thought and action. In this respect, social policies that are designed to mitigate adverse effects of class stratification can help in the improvement of the welfare of the underprivileged and marginalized segments of people in society. The Weberian theoretical discourse also points out important issues but at the same time raises questions relevant to our analysis. The Marxist discourse would also seem, then, to be logically flawed were it appears at first sight to be supported by important historical evidence, and incapable of withstanding serious comparative analysis even when it is logically sound. This ought not to be uprising, because, writers in the Marxist tradition have typically worked from an extraordinarily weak base in deductive class stratification theory. An example in Uganda that can provide sharp illustrations to the above conceptualization is the land tenure system. At the time of writing, there are three land tenure systems in Uganda.

1. Mailo land tenure system 2. Free or leasehold tenure system 3. Communal land tenure system

Mailo tenure system The colonial discourse developed mailo land tenure system, adhering to the classical imperialistic principle of divide and rule, resulting into a class stratification which the nationals do not understand the philosophy behind its existence. The colonialists coined the mailo land system based on the feudal system in Europe, on the premise that if people are propertied, they would be at higher social hierarchy which would stop them from working in the fields. The colonialists wanted to empower the Kabaka, king of Buganda, to become more powerful than other monarchs such as the omukama, king of Bunyoro, and Toro. It is for this reason that the kabaka was made president, a move which was later to become a constitutional disaster. This was a strategy to use the Kabaka to create a continuum of the colonial rule in the region.


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This system of land tenure sprang directly from the Buganda Agreement of 1900, signed at Mengo on 10th March 1900 between the colonial administration and the Kabaka, all chiefs and people of Buganda. Uncultivated land which covered almost half of the total land area of Buganda, composed of mainly forests and swamps was declared crown land. The other half was parceled out among rulers. The Kabaka, his relatives and the chiefs (Nalwanga 2002, Katusiime 2002) received private and official estates measured in square miles (mailo). The land was surveyed and the titles of the grantees registered. Features of land tenure system were: (a). The freedom of disposal was restricted in the sense that transfer of ownership to a non-

Ugandan required the consent of the governor. (b). Established communal rights, for example, to water and passage, were preserved. (c). A statutory landlord and tenant relationship was created between the mailo owner and

peasants. This new relationship replaced the former relationship between the chief and peasant.

Freehold tenure Freehold land tenure was created out of crown land in three ways:- In the first place, the estates granted under the Toro and Ankole agreements with the colonial administration were considered grants curved out of Crown land. This freehold came to be known as native freeholds. However, the rights to important resources found on these estates were reserved for the Crown. Like ‘mailo tenure’, a statutory landholder tenant relationship was established between landholders and the peasants living on the land. In the second place, freehold tenure was created by way of sale of crown land to individuals under the provision of the Crown Lands Ordinance, 1903. These freeholds were granted mainly for development purposes; consequently they were subjected to some developmental conditions. The land disposed off remained unoccupied, unused or underdeveloped; it was liable to be forfeited to the Governor. Moreover, rights over important resources remained vested in the Crown. A few ‘freehold’ land ownerships were granted under this ordinance, especially to non-Africans. However, as from 1916 it was the policy of the Protectorate government not to grant freehold land to non-Africans. Essentially, freehold tenure was created by conversion from customary tenure to Crown lands. This was as a result of an attempt to implement the recommendations of the East African Royal Commission 1955, that in order to encourage development of the land, granting of individual land titles should be encouraged. The idea was rejected in most districts in Uganda, except in Kigezi, Ankole and Bagishu.


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Consequently in these areas, pilot schemes were carried out for the adjudication of land titles under the Crown Land Rules, 1958.

CHAPTER TWO Categories of Social Policy definitions: At the depth of social policy conceptualization, I am prompted to define social policy as a multi-disciplinary plan or deliberate course of action used in directing affairs as chosen by the government or organization to meet given ends that can lead to improvement in the welfare of all the people. Policy can act as a roadmap from which social services and social programs can be interpreted and implemented by governments or organizations. Social policy definitions can be divided into two categories. The first is the narrow definition and the second is the broad definitions.


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Narrow definitions of social policy Narrow definitions are primarily concerned with solving social problems that focus on the behavior and welfare provision to individuals and families. They do not focus on the wider environment in which the individual lives. The above definition reflects the bias implicit in a definition. A bias is an unconscious tendency to notice and interpret facts in a way that supports one’s value preferences. Any phenomenon within the narrow category when dealing with the problem of poverty can make the following question to emerge. “What is wrong with the people who are poor?” This question is focused on the individual and may be his/her family and it falls under the narrow definition of social policy. When handling the same problem with the broad definition, another question but in a different context may emerge, “What is wrong with a society with many poor people?” Narrow definition advocates that social problems arise when individuals can no longer take care of themselves because they are physically or mentally unable or lack the fundamental skills necessary to create survival strategies of the problem. Programs that facilitate food ratios and handouts to the disadvantaged segments of the society are interpreted from social policies that are designed within the narrow definition. On the other hand programs that foster changes in the land tenure system to facilitate access and control of resources of land as illustrated in fig 1, are drawn out of the broad category of definitions. Figure 1 showing Access and Control Profile: A tool used in development work. Access Control Resources


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Woman Man Woman Man Land + ++ —- +++ Equipments, hoe, oxen + ++ — +++ Labour (hired) — + — —- Cash + + —- —- Education / training + —- _ + Others Benefits Outside income -+ ++ + Asset ownership ++ ++ -- ++ Basic needs (food, ++ ++ +- ++ health (family planning ++ ++ +- ++ housing ,animals ++ ++ -- ++ Cow ++ ++ -- ++ Goats ++ ++ ++ +- Chicken ++ ++ ++ +- Key ++ On the basic requirement scale _ _ Far below the basic requirement line +- Slight accessibility to the basic requirement Broad Definitions of social policy Broad definitions focus on the relationship between social problems and the wider society or environment. The broader definitions, for example, provide deeper deliberations and connection between social problems and social forces, social structures such as the land tenure system. Social policies developed under broad perspectives of social policy would offer a wide range of interventions for addressing social issues. Such an approach ultimately proves satisfactory, when a community experience food insufficiency and the broad definitions require analyzing the dynamics of the land tenure system which hinders certain segments of people to access the basic needs as it is elaborated in the land tenure system in Uganda below and in land policy in chapter ten of this volume. Land tenure system in Buganda. The leasehold tenure was created in two main ways. Primarily, leases were granted out of Crown land under the Crown Lands Ordinance, 1903, for a period of 99 years. These leases were grated mainly to Europeans and Asians for agricultural development. Thus, development covenants were by law implied in these leases. Secondly, leasehold was also created out of privately-held freehold and mailo land. These types were governed by lease agreements creating them (Lwanga 1996).


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The dynamics within the mail land tenure system involve two stakeholders; the property owner versus the squatters (landless, bon fide occupant or ‘Kibanja’ owner). This system provided that the squatter was neither allowed to grow perennial crops such as coffee or vanilla nor build a permanent house on that land. The competitive advantage the landlord has over the squatter is that the former possesses a certificate of registration which he/she can mortgage to access credit for investment in development projects. This can lead to alleviation of poverty in his/her household. The unfortunate aspect of this social structure is that both statuses can be inherited. Land as a means of production is a development factor; the children of the squatter will always inherit their parents’ landless status through generations, creating a psychological fixation. I look at a scenario when these segments of the population resign to their poverty, thinking that their poverty is under the direct governance of chromosomes and it is genetically engineered. It is not an uncommon scenario to hear statements; “I am a poor person, my great grandfather, my grandfather and my father were poor people, then how can that status change with my generation?’ directed to development workers. In this case many poor people are, as Freud succinctly put, “confounded in their poor behavioral patterns” (Baron 2002). Poverty-related issues, however, are not genetically engineered nor are they under the governance of chromosomes or biological dispositions. Unfortunately when policies put certain segments of the population out of boundary, and they remain peripheral, they create an artificial climate where people have to pretend and gloss over denial as a survival strategy. In order to guard our position and avoid blame for social pathologies, social policy discourse can prove to be an important instrument. At the peak of a rigorous critical writing on poverty, we can not expect to develop, design and enact favorable policies for the majority of the population who are trapped in the poverty trap when we only work with the classical definition of poverty. In the classical definition, a number of writers (Chambers 1995, Multhus, 1999 Stan Burkey 1997) among others have made much of the fact that poverty is lack of basic needs such as food, shelter, education etc. In my opinion, to some extent, the available definition on poverty therefore compels people to remain in the poverty trap because it fails to reflect land as the fundamental prerequisite of most of the basic needs. Fore this reason, most of our theoretical categories and guides to poverty alleviation policies have been preempted exclusively from the western experience of advanced industrialized space, where children are asked “where does food come from? “From Shoprite” (departmental store) they answer. For us who are not leaving in holistic industrialized societies, food does not come from the departmental store, it is grown on land. Another instance of misconception in the definition of poverty is when a widow is given the family house in her husband’s will but then the relatives of the late husband claim that “you were given only the house not the land on which the house stands! In general, it can be said that, ignorance of the impact of the classical definition of poverty leads us into serious misconceptions during the process of developing land policies.


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Marx’s great works have had sociological underpinnings of profound validity in the field of social policy and under the broad definitions in particular, when he asserted that social problems result from a combination of inequality and discriminating social forces or structures in the environment. For this reason, therefore, the environment can be a causative factor of existing social problems. Below is an example that can provide illustrations of a situation analysis which entails two categories of farmers in Uganda and they are both targeted for intervention. Figure 2 showing: Evaluation Indicators under the broad and narrow definitions of social policy Resources Intermediate Farmer Subsistence farmer Land +++ _ _ Farm implements eg oxen, Panga, +++ + - Hoe etc Surplus production +++ Basic needs eg food, Housing clothing etc +++ + - Hired labour ++ _ _ Property ownership eg Radio ++ __ __ Bicycle +++ __ __ __

Key +++ Above basic requirement scale, ++ On the basic requirement scale, _ _ _ Below the

basic requirement scale, _ _ Far below the basic requirement line.

One is a subsistence farmer, who may be a squatter (landless). Another one we will call him/her an intermediate farmer, not the big commercial farmer, and he/she owns land. Under the narrow definition, development agencies and government agricultural industry plan several interventions that may include increase in food production. This can be done by providing improved varieties of seeds, farm implements and harmonized agricultural subsidies. Fig. 1 is intended as an aid to understand the difference in the social environment in which the two farmers interact. In another instance, when dealing with the problem of HIV/AIDS, the provision of ARVs and counseling services, stem from the narrow definition of social policy. Programs that target the mitigation of stigma and the encouragement of positive living and behavioral change stem from the broad definition.


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More often than not, development workers design projects targeting both farmers without categorizing them. This has led to many projects benefiting one category of farmers who have more access to resources. If development agencies organize a workshop and put announcement on radio, the intermediate farmer, unlike the subsistence farmer, is more likely to hear it. If the venue is far, he has the bicycle to facilitate him. The intermediate farmer also gets food surplus from which he can sell and get access to hired labor or hire a tractor, and be empowered to alleviate poverty levels in his or her household. So, such a farmer is more likely to have time to participate in development work. The above analysis finds its location in the theoretical and empirical bases of the socialist feminist school of thought that criticizes the role of society in structuring and authorizing some few individuals to control all the factors which empower people. Among these factors is education, land or property, skills and knowledge. Individuals, who possess them have the highest indices in a society. They usually create huddles for others to participate favorably in the labor market. The broad definition of social policy stems from the socialist feminist paradigm basing on its implicit explanation of how social structures and conditions can lead to individual failure, culminating into social problems and under development in nation states. For this reason, therefore, ad hoc social policies can be an intervening factor. Socialist feminists go on to argue that gender-friendly policies addressing the broader environment or social construction are paramount. Without gender-friendly policies, people’s financial independence can only be bought at the cost of increasing poverty, among the underprivileged. At the most fundamental level, the case of gender friendly policies lies in the designing and implementation of favorable policies. Policies that can illustrate the broad definitions of social policy Poverty Eradication Policy (PEA) Uganda’s poverty eradication action plan: national sustainable development strategy In 1995, Uganda started a process of developing a comprehensive and sustainable development strategy, with an overall objective of wiping out abject poverty in the country. This process culminated in the formulation in 1997 of the draft Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP)1, which aims at reducing the population living in absolute poverty to 10% in 2017. In 2000 this was revised to incorporate new information generated from the widened consultations and

1 The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) is issued in three Volumes: Vol.1-Strategic Policy Framework, Vol. II-Public Investment Plan and Vol. III-Principles for Improved Partnerships. These and all major publications by MFPED are available at the Website: www.finance.go.ug


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analysis, particularly from the pilot Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs) undertaken and analyzed over the past 3 years. The revised PEAP also reflects progress in various sectors in terms of elaborating on their policies, investment plans, outcomes and performance indicators. Besides Roads and Education Sectors, the major additions relate to the Health Sector, Modernization of Agriculture which covers environment, Private Sector Competitiveness, Water and Sanitation and Justice, Law and Order. The PEAP, for that matter is a fairly Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF)2 and the PEAP summary was adopted in 2000 as Uganda’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)3. Based on the PEAP as the guiding policy framework, Uganda has pursued the development and implementation of sector-wide policies, investment plans and programs, with the participation of representatives of as many stakeholders as possible, in a genuine partnership, which involves Government at the centre and in the decentralized lower levels of government in the districts; external funding agencies (development partners); the Civil Society and NGOs and the Private Sector. Uganda's strategic action plan for mass poverty eradication is based on four interrelated pillars for ensuring: sustainable economic growth and structural transformation; good governance and security; ability of the poor to raise incomes; and improve their quality of life. In Uganda, the focus of economic planning has moved away from the forecasting and management of macroeconomic aggregates, to the process of refining and implementing a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) which is sustainable in terms of policies, plans and programs, ensuring proper resource management (NSSD) and operating within a fully Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), to transform Uganda into a modern economy in which all agents, in all sectors, can participate in economic growth, keeping in mind the needs of future generations. This presentation attempts to assess the extent to which the NSDS principles have been relevant in the process for the formulation and implementation of Uganda’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, the PEAP/PRSP. The paper highlights principles in which the country has had greatest success and those which still present major challenges. Principles that have led to success in PEAP (i) Strong political leadership

Uganda’s strategy formulation and implementation has been backed by strong top political leadership starting from the national level. The broad-based NRM Government,

2 The CDF is a holistic, overarching framework which covers macro and microeconomic, financial, structural, social, institutional, environmental and human resource considerations which enables a country to transform society and the economy to effectively reduce poverty. 3 The World Bank and the IMF accepted Uganda’s PRSP as providing an adequate basis for their assistance programmes and for reaching the enhanced HIPC completion point.


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under the leadership of one President, has survived for now twenty years, and this has guaranteed that the policies (or trend in policies) and institutional changes required for the strategy development are effected, the resources are committed and institutional roles are clarified and responsibilities are assumed. Through decentralization, this leadership principle is extended to the process in district and urban authorities.

(ii) Shared strategic and pragmatic vision

Given the background of where Uganda was coming from in 1986, building a strategic and pragmatic vision took long to prioritize. It was not until 1999 that Uganda in a national consultative process produced Vision 2025, on which basis the 2000 Revised PEAP/PRS overall goals were built. Vision 2025 reflects the country’s history, core values and aspirations with objectives and goals which are achievable.

Nationally owned and country driven processes

Uganda’s experience since 1995 presents a base of strong national ownership. With reference to major stakeholders and country driven processes, because of the commitment by government to develop and implement a poverty reduction strategy. The processes for elaborating the sectoral policies, the sector investment plans, targets setting and programming of interventions are all driven by the country. More and more stakeholders are being involved in these activities particularly, as regards local governments, private sector and civil society. The area requiring greater improvement is that of keeping Parliament focused on the national development agenda and avoiding their pursuing personal interests in this process.

(iii) Build on existing knowledge, expertise and capacity

To a very large extent, Uganda has endeavoured to use all information, expertise and capacities available in developing the poverty reduction strategy. Optimizing use of local skills, particularly within the civil service, has been hampered by poor remuneration and the delayed fiscal space to provide for this requirement. Otherwise, extensive use of the private sector, research and academic institutions has been made. Use of traditional knowledge and institutions, if greatly improved, could reap significant benefits especially in the health, agriculture and environmental management areas. Capacity development is recognized as a high priority particularly for poverty analysis, monitoring and evaluation, accountability and general planning and budgeting, and particularly in local governments.

(iv) Build on existing processes and strategies

Uganda’s strategy for poverty reduction (PEAP/PRS) was certainly built on the then existing strategies, policies and processes. Since 1986, Government had systematically insisted on moving systematically from reconstruction, to rehabilitation and then to


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sustainable development. The processes for planning in a Sector Wide Approach (or Program Approach) and prioritization of expenditure were already in place. Participatory development had already been accepted and provided for under the decentralization policy and processes were developing to engage different stakeholders in planning and budgeting. Government had already undertaken serious policy reforms and planning and budgeting has been developed until it culminated into a Medium Term Framework (MTEF).

(v) A strong institution should spearhead the process

The former Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and later the merged Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has stood out as the lead institution in spearheading the process of strategy development and enforcing systematic implementation. This has been possible with full support of the Head of State and the political and technical strength of the Ministry. For this reason, the choices for the senior Minister and the Permanent Secretaries in this Ministry have always been critical. Fortunately for Uganda, there has been great stability for the appointments in these positions4.

(vi) Ensuring the widest possible participation

Uganda has worked very hard to build strong mechanisms for wide participation by all stakeholders, first as a right and to open up for new ideas and sources of information; expose issues and develop a consensus on policies and actions. The decentralization policy, regular policy dialogues e.g. Private Sector Forum, SWAPs, PPAs, public hearings on environmental matters and consultative budget processes etc. are all examples of efforts for wide participation. National commitments in relation to international commitments require that we work in close and effective partnerships within our regions and with our development partners. Uganda has developed partnership principles as Volume III of the PEAP and was active in supporting the process for development of the OECD/DAC Guidelines for donors in their support for poverty reduction. The civil society organizations have been active in PEAP revision policy dialogue, research and advocacy and service delivery. Considering that economic growth in Uganda is considered critical for poverty reduction, participation of the private sector and civil society in general will require even greater enhancement.

(vii) Anchor the strategy process in sound technical analysis

4 The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to The Treasury, the technical head first of the MPED and later the merged MFPED served for 16 years in this position.


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As far as poverty is concerned, a lot of effort has been made to build appropriate technical databases and undertake analysis on which the strategy processes are anchored. Since the 1995 World Bank Country Study findings5, poverty analysis and monitoring has been put top on the agenda. The establishment of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics as an autonomous institution with a network to the lowest levels; the institutionalization of an Annual Household Surveys, Service Delivery Surveys, poverty assessments and the establishment of A Poverty Monitoring Strategy and Framework are some of the major efforts. In analyzing Household Survey data since 1992, Uganda has used international expertise both to ensure credibility of the analysis while building capacity at the same time. We have established clear trends indicating that poverty is declining, although more recently, for areas of the north, poverty increased, thus pointing to serious issues of inequality and regional imbalance. The inclusion in poverty analysis of external pressures like globalization, climate change and other external shocks, remain a major challenge.

(x) Link the short to the medium and long term

The national planning framework provides for Uganda’s long-term vision to be handled in the framework of the PEAP/PRS, whose aim is to reduce the level of abject poverty to 10% by 2017. While the long-term plans may not be so clear, the medium-term planning and budgeting system allows for annual plans (short-term plans) to be rolled over the medium-term, to achieve specific outputs which contribute to agreed targets or outcomes. The targets are set by sector over a longer term and these are expected to be achieved through performance on intermediate targets.

The linkage between periods is very critical given the multi-dimensions of poverty and the requisite reduction strategy, the limited human capacity and financial resources to achieve these goals and targets. In addition, the International Development Goals (IDGs) now developed as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) require sustained achievements for long-term outcomes at the country levels.

(xi) Coherence between budget and strategy priorities

Government has introduced Outcome Oriented Budgeting (OOB) and Result Oriented Management in an effort to relate budgets to the desired outcomes and results. For most sectors, the annual budget process is directly linked to the expected outputs and outcomes in the implementation of the PEAP. In particular, resources available under the Poverty Action Fund (PAF)6 are targeted to action areas of greatest impact on poverty. This

5 “The Challenge of Growth and Poverty Reduction” - A World Bank Country Study, 1996. 6 The PAF was established to present accountability for the use of HIPC initiative funds and additional donor support for PAF activities.


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increasingly direct linkage between the PEAP priorities and the whole budget has helped to coordinate donor policies, in terms of which areas to support, and has disciplined Government not to engage in long-term plans and long wish lists of activities which are unaffordable. Improving the capacity to project resource availability and predictability, both domestically and from external sources significantly enhances the coherence between budgets and the strategy priorities. The biggest challenge still being faced relates to balancing the need for an effective Government and legislature while ensuring sufficient allocation of resources to strategic priorities.

(xv) Ensure continuity of the strategy development process

Although Uganda is operating without political parties, the basis of the development strategy within a national vision; the institutionalization of participatory processes frameworks and mechanisms for planning and budgeting; the entrenchment of decentralization whereby people participate in taking decisions at lowest level; and the quality of the Public Service at the Centre should together provide sufficient guarantee for continuity of a sustainable strategy development process.

Principles Presenting Major Challenges

(viii) Integrated and balanced strategy

PEAP is fairly comprehensive, and while bottom-up planning is inherent in the decentralization policy, there are serious challenges to integrate more strategically all the sectors of the economy, particularly as they impact on the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups of society (the poorest of the population). Balancing the poverty reduction strategy between economic growth (which has to be rapidly accelerated), social development (which is urgent considering the quality of social indicators including the rate of population growth) and effective management of the environment (allowing access to natural resources for production and subsistence) but making sure that there is no environmental degradation, even in the face of natural disasters. While perfect integration and balance may not be achievable, the experience of preparing the Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture has demonstrated the importance of this principle.

(xii) Set realistic but flexible targets

The process of setting targets both on the macro and micro levels have proved very challenging. For poverty reduction, the macro targets like GDP growth, domestic revenue to GDP, and inflation are very crucial. While the earlier period saw greater success in the setting and achievement of the macro targets, the past few years have not been as successful due to a mixture of internal and external shocks. As for sectoral targets, issues


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related to inputs and capacities for service delivery have been a serious challenge. Working in a SWA, and through regular sector reviews involving intensive analytical work, it is becoming increasingly easier to set more realistic targets (based on the wider information availed particularly on constraints in the process) and allow for adequate flexibility.

(xiii) Link national and local priorities and actions

The law and the process for national planning provides for the linking of national and local priorities and actions. In fact the law (both the Constitution and Local Governments Act) promote bottom-up planning. Decentralization has meant devolution of power and many functions leaving those that rightly belong to the center at that level7. The consultative planning and budgeting process and PPAs are helping to facilitate this process of translating national strategic priorities into local priorities and actions. However, the detailed planning, implementation of policies and programs and monitoring of performance remain a major challenge for some time on account of institutional and human capacity gaps. The related challenge is for mobilizing and allocating resources to priorities. This principle gets more challenged in an election year where linkages become very blurred.

(xiv) Build mechanisms for monitoring, follow-up, evaluation and feedback

Uganda drafted a Poverty Monitoring Strategy to be implemented in an agreed framework and with a network of players at different levels and across the various sectors of the economy. Sectors have been focused on developing a few appropriate and monitorable performance indicators, and for different levels. The intensive analytical work during sector reviews has been instrumental in refining indicators and identifying follow-up actions. Determining the appropriate environmental management performance indicators proved quite difficult. Based on the findings of the PPAs, the integration of quantitative and qualitative indicators is inevitable. Activities under the PAF are particularly monitored by all stakeholders.

The system of comprehensive poverty monitoring is developing, with a balanced emphasis of tracking the fundamental objectives of policy and tracking the indicators of Government performance in this respect. In since 1999 Uganda has been issuing a biannual Poverty Status Report (PSR) to indicate progress achieved, based on the performance of different sectors and on poverty indicators agreed for monitoring.

7 The responsibilities of Central Government are specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution 1995.


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Evaluation of progress and the long-term impact of the overall strategy and the feedback on lessons particularly to the policy makers and affected population remain a challenge. However, what is clear is that given the capacity constraints, progress in all these areas is a long-term objective. To an extent, the PPAs are being used to disseminate monitoring results and obtain feedback on the impact of policies and programs.

The experience of Uganda presents a relatively good case for testing the principles of NSDs for confirming the importance and the challenges faced by countries struggling to develop and implement National Sustainable Development Strategies. What is also clear is that the challenges have to be managed in an environment of good governance, political will and reasonable human and institutional capacities to assess the economic, social and environmental situation, and evolve a nationally owned and participatory strategic process for sustainable growth and development. What is also very clear is that effective partnerships with development partners are critical to keep this process moving.

Poverty eradication is a policy put in place to reduce poverty. This includes improvement in education, health, water and sanitation and also social development.

Education is a structured form of socialization in which knowledge skills and values are formally transmitted from teachers to students. As a result Universal Primary Education [UPE] Government policy, the gross enrolment of pupils in primary schools has increased from 5.4million in 2000 to about 6.5million by 2005. This has increased on the number of students joining secondary schools later join institution of higher learning hence reducing the level of illiteracy.

Health refers to the condition of the body and the degree to which it’s free from illness and the state of body being well. Here the Government has trained and recruited health workers at the lower level units and general hospitals. The Government has also abolished user fees in public health units, which have led into a dramatic increase in the utilization of public health facilities, especially by the poor. The provision of basic medicines and health supplies has greatly improved the lives of poorest people.

Water and sanitation refers to the program by government and non governmental organizations providing safe clean water to society. It also ensures hygiene to avoid outbreak of disease Access to safe water in rural areas has improved from 54.9% in 2002 to 61.3% in 2004/5. Access to water in urban areas by National Water and Sewerage Corporation stood at 68% end of 2005.In Uganda over 75% of the population effected by diseases caused by poor personal and domestic hygiene and sanitation. Social development is a program implemented to address issues of social exclusion, equity, unemployment, disenfranchisement for different segments of people such as women, youth, and children and displaced persons.


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Strengthening social service delivery to enhance poverty eradication. Methods deployed in accumulating and aggregating data in Uganda The experience of Uganda exhibits a variety of mechanisms that were used to solicit views and priorities relevant to PRSP. These include: � The UPPAP process � The poverty status report (PRS) � Structural Adjustment review Initiatives (SAPRI), and � CSO active engagement in the Poverty Eradication Action Program (PEAP).

The UPPAP process was used to ensure that the voices and perspectives of the poor were included in the document. This process uses participatory methods to complement the traditional household survey methods, based on broader definition of deprivation, including risk, vulnerability, physical and social isolation, powerlessness and insecurity of person and property. This allowed the inclusion of the multi dimensional nature of poverty into the PRSP and possible measures to address it. For instance, Uganda’s PRSP/PEAP recognizes that good governance and security are important for poverty reduction. The PRS was completed in 1999 bringing together evidences of what has and what has not been achieved in poverty reduction in implementing the PEAP. The PRS draws on a range of survey results, such as Uganda Household Surveys, the National Service Delivery Survey, administrative statistics and rapid rural appraisal. The SAPRI’ process which includes extensive research by CSO’s in Uganda on effects of SAPs (Structural Adjustment Programs) on the poor is also listed as having been part of CSO engagement in the PEAP revision process. Another mechanism used to accumulate data has been through the CSO Poverty Task Force, which coordinated work at central and district level to analyze issues relevant to PEAP. Uganda Debt Net WORK (UDN) and Oxfam lead this participation of CSOs in January 2000. The CSO established a full time technical team to work with the taskforce with in the very tight deadline. The technical team hosted by UDN, the task force was also able to organize regional consultations, and CSOs divided themselves into the areas of competence and expertise. For example, Oxfam looked into disaster management, Action Aid education and VECO. Through workshops CSO analysis was made and general comments and both ware fed to drafting team, in the MFPED. Despite this impressive use of difference, CSO initiatives to develop the PRSP in Uganda had some weakness that undermines participation. Oxfam notes that overall participation of CSOs was not adequate because of lack of competencies to analyze the national budget, monitor public expenditure and analyze policies, especially economic policies. For example, Oxfam … is part of Poverty Eradication Working group of the budget, but the contribution in the latter has been


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minimal if not nil. Therefore, citizens have no voices in shaping the macroeconomic and structural policies. Also lacking in this process was a mechanism of including parliament and enhancing ownership as well as information on the PRSP/ PEAP. The PEAP makes no mention of parliament in this debate. From the perspective of country ownership, this is an area of concern. The parliamentarians as elected representatives of the people have no role to play in informing such process. This is an area that needs to be further investigated, not only in Uganda but around the world where we find that, “parliaments do not at present seem to accord a principal role.’ This shows that there is lack of consistency in the poverty agenda, with parliamentarians not participating in the overall framework of PRSP but playing a crucial role in policy and legislation which affect the implementation of poverty reduction strategy. Others also point out that the behavior of International Financial Institution (IFIs), undermines the effectiveness participation of CSOs. Organizational frameworks for integration of poverty reduction efforts The Ugandan experience has been largely one of using the space at the policy level to actively advocate for inclusion the voices of the poor, CSO concerns and perspectives in the poverty reduction strategies. This has been possible through a concerted effort by CSO to organize themselves into groups to work especially on the PRSP process. Oxfam’s experience of working as the implementing partner of the government project UPPAP is another attempt that can be used to effectively integrate the activities undertaken under the theme poverty reduction. UPPAP is a partnership between government of Uganda and Oxfam GB as well as donors and other CSOs. This has allowed for greater reception by donors and government of the poor and NGO’s. The process of institutionalizing Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPAs) is still underway in Uganda. The debate is around how to maintain and enhance the partnership between the different stakeholders and improve the ownership of the process. However, there is a need to allow for space for criticism and questioning during these debates and researches round poverty reduction. Mechanisms should be in place to enable this type of exchange to take place. As more NGO’s believe that, the PRSPs are no different from SAPs in their substance, due to the failure of IFIs to rethink their questionable assumptions around poverty reduction. In Uganda, the failure to listen to these voices from NGOs could be problematic in fully utilizing the space created by greater participation in policy debate formulation. The Jubilee South Pan- African Declaration on argued that PRSPs were in fact SAPs in disguises. The declaration stated that “the World Bank and IMF are facing a deepening crisis of legitimacy. Thus they have introduced PRSPs mainly as public exhibitions exercises to demonstrate a supposedly new found concern for poverty in the poorest countries of the South, and prove that they have a genuine desire to see the people of these countries ‘participating” in finding solutions to their poverty.


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Institutionalizing participation The Ugandan experience with the PRSP process shows the need to institutionalize the dialogue on a firm basis. The PRSP has opened space for interface between government, donors, NGOs and the poor. This kind of space has impressed upon NGOs the need to engage in policy advocacy that has been depicted by steps taken by CSOs to participate in the donor consultative group meetings, debate on poverty issues such as the national poverty forum , monitoring the implementation of poverty action fund and actively interfacing with government in other policy areas that affect the poor such as the Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture(PMA) Which steps are to be taken to prepare for monitoring and revision phases of PRSP-process? Are there mechanisms installed to record the implementation process in order to feed into the next PRSP revision? Carrying forward the PRSP process through monitoring the implementation process in the preparation for the next revision are areas that need strategic planning and engagement by CSOs. CSOs in Uganda have to move past emphasis on consultations and seek evidence that the voice of the poor and the CSO are directly influencing policy choices within the PRSP. NGOs in Uganda have started to debate this possibility and the future involvement in the PRSP. For instance, Oxfam GB in Uganda is actively encouraging partner organizations to keep working in policy advocacy around PRSP and pro poor issues. Carrying forward this process although not expressively looked at within the PRSP is on going as shown above. Therefore what is needed is for CSOs to start to develop inter linkages between the policy environment and the pro poor positions uttered by the government and IFIs. This would lead to better coherence, enhancement and transformation in both government and donors to be able to develop more fundamental reforms that would respond to the issues affecting the poor and thus reduce poverty. The Uganda experience demonstrates a high level of CSO participation in the PRSP process; however, participation was affected by lack of capacity to influence macro-economic policy, which form the basis of the document. Parliamentarians were not included in the process, the monitoring, implementation and accountability to the poor have not been developed, and the process can be easily undermined by IFIs who have stronger advocacy positions with government than CSOs, the poor and parliament. Despite these draw backs the process has been embraced by CSOs and many have continued to engage in pro poor policy advocacy, monitor government policy and debate poverty. The gap in the process is largely to do with developing a way forward given what has been already achieved; CSOs in Uganda have to deal with this aspect. CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION -LESSONS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES � In all countries NGO’s and CSO’s have established a consultative forums for PRSP � Capacity related problems especially in discussing strategic framework has been

observed in all these countries,


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� The PRSP secretariats and the various technical committees have been composed of civil society representatives and governments (in Kenya the civil society and private sector have permanent representatives for the PRSP issue.),

� In Tanzania the CSO has organized a parallel technical committees in four major thematic areas

� Lead agencies (NGO’s) were selected to facilitate consultations at the lower level in Kenya

� Thematic groups were instrumental in organizing participation and including the voice of the voice less such as the pastoralists, chronically vulnerable areas, gender, etc

� Some fears about civil society / NGO participation are: -There is a fear that the consultation process is based on mistrust between civil society and governments. This has been reflected with poor information sharing, direct selection of participating NGO with afflation -There is a fear that the CSO / NGO might be swept by foreign ideas and over ride the national agenda.

� The need to move from consultative to participative role is emphasized � Institutionalizing participation is required � The government has been to a certain extent responsive to the comments of civil

societies (this has been the case in all the three countries), however major changes in policies were not observed

� In most cases NGO’s Seek participation proactively It has been emphasized that the governance issues related with PRSP are also applicable for

the NGO and Civil society groups i.e NGOs shall be transparent, accountable and participatory

The decentralization policy; an illustration of social policy definitions Objective of decentralization policy To serve the districts through the coordinated delivery of services which focus on national and local priorities in order to promote sustainable, social and economic development of the district. When National Resistance Movement (NRM) assumed power and took over government in 1986, President Museveni told the nation that NRM government was not a mere change of guards but a fundamental change. Since then, he has pronounced a number of policy changes in form of Election Manifesto, which he wanted to be implemented by different sectors and government ministries. In the 2001 Election Manifesto, the President pledged to consolidate Good Governance, peace and security and looked at decentralization as one of the vehicles, which can be used to achieve these goals. The Ministry of Local Government has since 1992 when decentralization was


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launched made a substantial contribution towards the fulfillment of the President’s Manifesto particularly in the areas of good governance, service delivery and poverty eradication. The Ministry’s mandate is consistent with the president’s manifesto which is “ To guide, harmonize, mentor and advocate for all local Governments in support of the Movement Government’s vision to bring about socio-economic transformation of the country.” The Ministry’s major focus is to assist Local Governments to deliver the following outputs; � Good governance � Service delivery and � Poverty Alleviation Ministry of Local Government coordinates, mentors, guides and directs local governments so that they can bring about good governance. This is part of the Ministry’s vision which is “to have effective, transparent and accountable Local Government capable of delivering efficient and sustainable services to the people, thereby bringing about socio-economic transformation and development in the country.” A large proportion of the work of the Ministry of Local Government is to implement the policy of decentralization, which is supposed to generate good governance, provide framework for reduction in poverty and bring about sustainable development. The policy of decentralization has been implemented by the Ministry through; � Transforming powers, functions, responsibilities and services to popularly elected local

councils. � Facilitation of thee democratization process by promoting inclusive representation and

gender sensitive decision-making in local councils. � Allowing local councils to develop and operate their own budgets by raising local revenue

and allocating expenditure on service delivery. � Conducting periodical/regular local council elections � Placing emphasis on transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs. There is no country in the world, which does not have any level of decentralization. However, the policy is relative from one to another because of the form and extent of decentralization they have chosen to adopt. Uganda has opted for an elaborate form of decentralization. Many countries in Africa have embraced decentralization but are reluctant to implement this policy, unlike Uganda, which took a bold step into the implementation of the decentralization policy. It is also worthy noting that Uganda received an award for its outstanding performance in carrying out decentralization reforms in Africa. This was during the Afri-cities Summit that took place in Yaoundé Cameroon, Dec. 2003. Democratization process through Good Governance Council Elections:


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Decentralization policy is about sharing political power and resources between central government and local government. This was achieved with the gradual implementation of the policy as substantial powers have been transferred to LG’s. To date, we have local councils, which are freely and democratically elected by Universal adult suffrage right from the village to the districts. Local Council Courts: Village and parish Councils are also entrusted with dispensing and administering justice. They also work as Local Council Courts. On average council handles two cases per week. We have 40,000 villages, therefore, over 80,000 cases and disputes are now resolved weekly. The local council’s courts have promoted the rule of law because they handle cases expeditiously, fairly and cheaply. Accountability : Writing books fort accounts and producing final accounts to statutory audit is the first step towards accountability and transparency. The ministry has, therefore, worked hand in hand with the local governments to build their capacity to meet the requirements on accountability. Financial management in LCs has improved dramatically and many higher local governments are able to fulfill this statutory requirement with minimum difficulties. The challenge now is to ensure that the lower local governments also meet these requirements. Service delivery in local Governments PEAP is the principle economic policy program in this country. LCs delivering services to the population is in conformity with PEAP goal. The basic services which LCs delivers to the population include: � Besides construction and maintenance � Access to safe water � Construction of schools and classrooms � Provision of Agricultural Extension Services � Construction and rehabilitation of health centers Besides shs 804 billion is transferred to LCs every year as government’s contribution towards the cost of service delivery to local Governments and these accounts for 30% of the National Budget. A number of projects and programs have been established under the Ministry and are aimed at improving the quality of service delivery. With the devolution of powers from the centre to the local governments, there has been registered lack of capacity both at political and technical levels to fully execute their mandates.


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Poverty Eradication in Local Governments The Ministry has developed a number of projects and programs intended to improve the quality and quantity of service delivery to the population by the local governments. The programs designed by the Ministry of Local Government are in line with the PEAP goals. The local Government Development Program II: This is the biggest development project, which the Ministry of Local Government is currently executing. The program seeks to improve delivery of basic services, engender economic growth and reduce poverty in line with the policy of decentralization. The overall objective of the program is “to improve Local Government institutional performance for sustainable, decentralized service delivery. LGDP II, a US$ 165 million project, is funded by the World Bank, Royal Netherlands Government, Republic of Ireland, DANIDA and the Government of Uganda. Under LGDP, LCs has been able to open new feeder and community roads and rehabilitation existing ones. They have built, sunk bore-holes and made water more accessible to the population. LGDP covers the whole country. i.e in all the 56 districts. Area Based Agriculture Modernization Program (AAMP): This program was intended to stimulate growth and increase of the rural poor. The project is funded by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and Africa Development Fund (ADB). The programme is being implemented in the districts of Sembabule, Mabara, Bushenyi, Kanungu, Rukungiri, Kabale and Kisoro. The program also focuses on investments aimed at commercializing small holder agriculture, increasing household incomes thereby reducing the incidence of poverty. Agriculture sector program support (ASPS II): This program was designed under the Ministry of local Government to bring about an effective, efficient private sector serviced, sustainable and decentralized advisory service. ASPS is funded by DANIDA and the Govenrment of Uganda and is being implemented in the districts of Bundibugyo, Kabarole, Rakai, Masaka, NAKASONGOLA, Toror, Palisa, Nakapiriprit and Moroto. To day, over 997 poor farmer groups have benefited from various seed and stock multiplication inputs, training in several enterprises ranging from crop and animal husbandry, soil fertility management, fish-farming, apiary, savings mobilization among others all in a bid to eradicate poverty in the households. The District Development Support project (DDSP): The objective of the program is to improve food security, raise health and nutrition status of the population in the program area, provide water and sanitation and construct rural roads in order to promote agricultural development.


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The program is funded by the IFAD/BSF and is executed by the ministry of Local Government. It is implemented in the districts of Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Kamwenge, Kibaale and Hoima. Challenges

1. Over a number of years, Local Governments revenue has been declining and this year revenue collection by LCs has hit a record-low. LCs have to work hard to reverse this trend and try to raise as much revenue as possible in order to maintain and sustain the heavy investments they have made in service delivery under the various development programs.

2. Abject is still pervasive in many parts of the country. LCs, with support of Central Government, should continue to undertake poverty eradication initiatives in a bid to lift the people of this country from the abyss of poverty to reasonable standards of human dignity.


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CHAPTER THREE

THE CHARACTERISTIC PRESENTATIONS OF SOCIAL POLICY Several researches particularly that of Fink (1985, Bade 1989 and Edwards 1975) made a significant contribution to the study of social policy when they presented a taxonomy of the characteristics of social policy. The taxonomy provides that social policies are: (a) A reflection of the times (b) A political process (c) A battle among competing “truths.” A reflection of the times

Time like an ever Rolling stream Bears her children away,

Social policy always reflects the times during which they are formulated. When policy makers identify circumstances that adversely affect the populace such as poverty, they seek solutions in the form of social policies. The enacted policy may survive the test of time, but become absolute in time and space. However, it would reflect the prevailing welfare conditions in the society at the time of its designing and implementation. The implementation of the above characteristic in the social policy space would help policy makers to revisit such policies which no longer provide answers to contemporary problems. An example that can give sharp illustrations for the above characteristic is the Uganda provident fund. This is a welfare policy which is documented as National Social Security Fund (NSSF).In the initial establishment of this policy through on Act of Parliament; it targeted employees at that point in time. Essentially, when an individual was qualified in any trade or profession, he/she would be immediately employed until retirement. In recent times, the winds of change have blown in unemployment not withstanding the age and academic bracket. The internal policy packages within NSSF documented that it should be a contributory fund. The employer and the employee have to contribute 10% and 5% respectively out of the latter’s salary. Consequently, the accumulated package would be collected by the employee at the age of 55 years. In recent times it is not uncommon for an individual to be unemployed after working for only 2-5 years. This policy reflects the times when unemployment rate was minimal and life expectancy was also low? Through the rigor of social change a policy may become obsolete with the passage


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of time when it no longer provides answers to contemporary problems. Questions and needs may emerge that may require enactment and implementation of a policies that can provide answers to contemporary problems. Even social programs, models and techniques experts use in the helping professions, reflect the time and space they were designed are also changing. In the crusade against HIV/AIDS, different professions are faced with challenges of developing policies, models and techniques that can be used when counseling children born with the virus. At the genesis of the AIDS pandemic, professionals were dealing with mature individuals who contracted the virus. In recent memory, also, research reveals in harsh realities that 10% of the children are born with the virus. Usually, several people work with the presumption that AIDS and sexual intercourse are parallel. For this reason, therefore, child victims are stigmatized and isolated. These children feel bitter and they don’t understand why they ere are suffering and stigmatized. This segment of the population requires different social policies and different scientific knowledgebase if they are to be helped. Some governments and Uganda in particular, have designed health policies that can help HIV positive people to access free ARVs. AIDS information centre (AIC): An agency which provides services leading to mitigation of AIDS pandemic

The AIDS Information Centre, a non government organization was first set up in 1990 to provide Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is a life threatening condition that often leaves sufferers feeling helpless and hopeless, at a time they most desperately need lots of care and support. The very high rate of HIV infection that Uganda experienced during the 80's and early 90's created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes. AIC emerged out of the need for people to know their status. At the time AIC began offering services, there was no organization that provided HIV testing services to the people and yet HIV prevalence rates were at there highest. Many people resorted to national blood transfusion services where they donated blood with an assurance that they would be able to know their status. Other clinics and hospitals that did test, did it without the patients informed consent. No counseling was provided; there was no particular support for those HIV+ results. In addition some AIDS support organizations couldn’t provide testing services to people who voluntarily requested them. Vision: AIC exists to have an environment in Uganda where individuals feel free to have VCT, can access the service promptly and at an affordable cost.


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Mission: AIC exists to prevent the spread of HIV and mitigate its impact by being a model of excellence in the provision and expansion of Voluntary counseling and testing, information and education, and the promotion of care and support.

The AIDS Information Centre has four strategic objectives which were implemented starting 2003 through 2007 in order to achieve the vision and the mission of the organization. These are: • To consolidate the voluntary counseling and testing integrated service delivery at the

AIC direct branch offices and to continue supporting selected indirect sites. • To strengthen capacity for voluntary counseling and testing service delivery at

community, national and international levels. • To create demand for voluntary counseling and testing and foster and enabling

environment for voluntary counseling and testing service delivery. • To strengthen the institutional capacity for AIC to implement the 2003-2007 strategic

plan.

In the advent of street children as a social problem, social workers employed the rehabilitation model. They would try to befriend these street children, in due course the following questions would emerge: Who are your parents, if we go and talk to them and they allow you to go back, would you accept and go back home? This model was a winner. Many street children went back to their homes. After some time, however, the children who came to the streets when they were 9 years, spent there six years, they produce children on the streets. If such children were asked to be taken back to their homes, the expert would be talking in ‘tongues”. For this reason, therefore, there was need for a new model, new organizational policies and social programs to address the problem of street children. Actually there is no policy that can survive the test of time in two decades. After a certain time frame, problems develop new dimensions which require new policies and new social programs to address them.

National policy and Strategy for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC policy) by Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development. The writings of Munene et al have drawn attention to another aspect of the role of the state in the periphery, and another major theme in social policy concerning street children in 1993, there were approximately 4,000 street children in ten major urban centers in Uganda. The common starting point in this second generation of social policy debate is that it is formalistic to mention that the number of street children has increased significantly, although Munene emphasize that there is a lack of comparable surveys and figures documenting the increase compiled by Hon. Felix Okot-Ogong, Minister of State, Children and Youth Affairs. (MGLSD). National policy and Strategy for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC policy) by Ministry of Gender, labor and social development. OVC policy was created for people working


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directly with vulnerable children to explain the programming priorities and recommended guiding principles in the national policy strategy (deals with children from 0-18 years). The MGLSD is part of the Ugandan government that is responsible for children and youth. It has established a framework for responding to the concerns and needs of orphans and other vulnerable children and to achieve the aims converted by this policy and help organizations to their work according to the policy Some of the biggest problems facing Ugandan households, and affecting Uganda’s children are; poverty, HIV/AIDS. Health ,education, housing conflict, water and sanitation, food security, among others. One of the most important principles in the OVC policy is that it was meant to help orphans and other vulnerable children to their full potential through concentrating on the most vulnerable cases both the children with great needs and the poorest households. The selected processes must be done as cooperation between community members, local government and non-governmental organization. This will help these activities strengthen the families’ ability to offer children protection, love and care. Activities in the policy should reduce the vulnerability of all people by directly addressing the problems that were listed above, such as education, health and HIV/AIDS. All projects undertaken should increase the level of participation of every one involved , the children, the families and the communities, making them part of their own solutions such participation and all activities should take into account the age and gender of the participants and those receiving help through the activity. Gender equality is another principle that was used in a base in the designing and implementing of the OVC policy in Uganda. They stressed the equal rights of men and women, and of girls and boys and should help the communities and families treat the orphaned and vulnerable children with respect. This involves removing stigma and discrimination, as only then can vulnerable groups be sure of getting support that they need. Stigma is when people think about something or some one as being bad, so they behave badly towards them the inclusion of neglected groups is important for all activities as it helps to break down barriers between people. More still, building and strengthening partnerships is another principle, it also says that the services available to vulnerable children should be the same as those that any other child would expect to receive. In other words, they get the same opportunities. The supply of services would be enhanced by a decentralized approach, which means that any services offered should be organized as locally as possible. On the different level, the policy supports the intervention of different groups through activities.


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One of the perspectives used was the idea of international agreements like conventions which have been arranged between countries to help the individual countries to help the individual countries maintain a minimum standard of decent behaviour. Conventions and agreements can be powerful tools for the protection of vulnerable children because they can lead to cooperation between countries, which are good for every one. Uganda has signed international meetings as part of its commitment to organization such as the United Nations and the African Union. Uganda still needs to make the agreed changes to its own laws. Another perspective that was used as base units in designing and implementing of the OVC policy in Uganda was that the government of Uganda has established an over all plan to guide the country’s development. This is called the “Poverty Eradication Action Plan.” It has helped the government to implement international agreements and create new policies so as achieve the goals it has already set. There are many projects running in Uganda today for the benefit of orphans and vulnerable children. Some are the work of private organizations religious groups or the local and national governments. Another perspective that has been established in the designing and implementing of the OVC policy is that a training manual has been produced by the ministry (MGLSD0, covering all the core program areas, for the benefits of those who will work in the communities in addition a “tool kit” has also been prepared. This is a book, which shows the way to help people carryout activities on the ground. It contains practical and tested methods for action planning in the community, implementing program, and conducting training. Theoretically, ecological/systems theory was applied, where by it helped the Ministry understand complex relationships or interactions and it shows that problems that social workers deal with originate from the people facing the problem and their social and physical environment for instance we see that at the family level, (micro systems) there is child labor by the family members, for instance the stepmothers do this often, there is still poverty at home where the child’s needs are not approached, for example education, food, medical among others. The child is denied psychosocial support by the family or community, forcing the children to streets. The community has problems for instance the local council system lacks administration, and there is also a lot of poverty around the community, more still, there is lack of by-laws which are formed in community to prevent such problems for instance laws like no excess child beating which would control the children from going to streets. In conclusion this policy (OVC) has both political and political significance in changing the lives of the orphans and other vulnerable children. Its roles and perspectives are of a good change in Uganda. Its ambitions of the state have motivated people like me to have a good plan for the children of Uganda. At the same time it has attracted donors like USAID through inter-religious council of Uganda to integrate the OVC program.


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A Political Process There is no doubt that policy making is a political process as it was conceptualized in the subsequent chapters of this book.

Indeed a variety of Political action Shapes the process At every turn of any Social policy process

Thus social welfare policy develops through a lively process in which a number of desirable social objectives are considered. Some options are chosen others are not. The activity takes place publicly, with many diverse groups and individuals contributing to the debate. Ultimately, the decisions are made by public officials such as legislators, court justices, administrators, and the president. It is crucial to recognize the centrality of politics in the creation of our welfare policies. These political factors help explain why policies change so rapidly, and why policies are developed that do not deal effectively with social welfare problems (Fink, Pfouts and Debelstein 1985). Always the battle of different views supported by data can determine the policy direction. Example policies on illegal abortion, prostitution, homosexuality and marital rape. In a society as complex as ours, there can be no clearly “right” or “wrong” social welfare policies. It usually takes a long time to assess the results of a given policy; in the meantime, conditions in society continue to change. Even if the policy seemed “right” when it was enacted, it is never quite as satisfactory over time as was anticipated, because policy makers cannot forecast the future. The policy-making process is made even more complex by the fact that the policy that may seem right at one point in time may become obsolete because of new beliefs and ideologies that may arise within the society. The above argument may be underpinned by the liberal policies concerning the Uganda Domestic Bill which entails the following elements: co-ownership of property, reduction in age of consent and marital rape. Beyond the glossy wrappings of championing democratic and equality policies, lies a hollow interior desperately lacking in substance. It is not outside the realm of politics because in Uganda there are more male Members of Parliament than women. The men who are the majority refused to decide in favor of co-ownership of property, thinking that “what if I marry a young woman?” On the other hand, the majority of the men are in favor of reducing the age of consent from eighteen to sixteen. They work with the presumption that at 16 years a girl is fat enough to get married. In the same regard, the issue of marital rape is really contentious. The male MPs claim that there is no such issue called marital rape. To them, any time should be tea time. Even though the female MPs are very


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assertive by insisting that at 16 years a girl is still a child, and men sometimes rape their wives, since the men MPs are the majority, they guided the policy direction in their favor. The above argument strengthens the classic imperialistic principle that “mass democracy prevails” even in policy making arenas. Consequently, the enactment of suitable legislation has been frustrated. There is no policy that has been designed to balance the equation of co-ownership of property, reduction or increase in age of consent and existence of marital rape. Although the struggle to design favorable policies is a social duty, incumbent on every political space, segments of the Domestic Bill failed to develop into policy because politics is always in the taxonomy of policy making. Several policies found location in the Ugandan social policy space as a result of political processes, when mass democracy prevailed and the majority Members of Parliament who support the Movement political system voted for policies which would not have passed if they were the minority. The policies that can provide underpinnings for the above political discourses are the liberalization and privatization policy which resulted in the sale of several government parastatals such as the Uganda Commercial Bank. There is enough evidence to dispel some of the myth that has crept into the political discourses compelling them to influence social policy debates. A battle of competing truths The battle of competing truths in recent times advocates for homosexuality as an instinctive and inherent genetically influenced behavioral pattern. On the contrary, another battle of competing truth asserts that homosexuality is not under the direct governance of chromosomes nor is it a biological disposition. Consequently, the above battle of has influenced homosexuals to agitate for policies that can protect them. The battle of competing truths, however, can only be underpinned by existing scientific data that either supports gay behavior as a natural behavior that can not be controlled or the argument that states that gay behavior is learned and can be done a way with. The later argument flows from the behavioral Psychological paradigm. Whichever side of the battle wins the minds of policy makers determine the policy direction. During a lively social policy lecture, I asked one student who is a priest to give a synopsis of expected sexual behavior for their age bracket. He told the class that they should not engage in pre-marital sex because the negative multiplier affects out-weigh the benefits. The students shouted him down, as evidence of a change in their views, beliefs and values, which influence their sexual behavior patterns. In light of the above events there is need for approved reproductive health policies. Social welfare programs are always interpreted from designed social policies. These policies are always established in the policy-making arenas, for example the Parliament, and by a body of


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policy makers such as the Members of Parliament, in response to specific public problems and concerns. The process of formulating policies is un even and complex. It is rather imperative for social workers to understand the objectives of the policies, if they are to implement favorable programs. The correlation between the knowledge of social policy and the type of programs that can be derived from the conceptualization and understanding of the policy making paradigm is shown in the diagram below: Figure 1 showing the Conceptual framework of the policy-making paradigm Source: Fink and Pfouts 1985 Translating social policies into programs The process of translating social policies into programs requires the policy to gain moral legitimacy and authority bound in the existing law framework. The above view represents the facets of an empirical domain I want to explore. Fink‘s (1985) works is a discourse in the service of social policies which should be translated into programs that can be absorbed at the grass root level. National policies and programs in Uganda The social policy discourse cited from the Uganda policy framework is a collection of several welfare and social policy programs such as basic education, childcare and protection, and HIV/AIDS control and the Uganda National Program of Action for Children (UNPAC). UNPAC confirms the Government’s policy and commitment to achieve a set of specific targets for improving the condition of children during the 1990s. It further defines how the achievement of these goals is linked to macro-economic planning in Uganda, as set down in the rolling three-year Public Investment Plan. The other important policy framework is the ratification of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the subsequent steps to review and revise relevant legal provisions. The organizational structures and processes put in place to follow up and guide the implementation

Public problems

Public concerns

Social Issues

THE POLICY

MAKING

PROCESS

1. Executive

2. Judiciary.

3. Parliament.

Social policies

Public Programs

Professionals


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and further development of UNPAC and the CRC have been closely linked to one another. The implementation of both of these policies is currently under the ministry responsible for child welfare and probation, which provides a good opportunity to emphasize the problems of child and adolescent neglect and abuse, a key concern in this program.

The policy on “democratic decentralization” is one of the most important development priorities in Uganda, and there were efforts to decentralize the UNPAC process to district level and beyond, to provide an excellent framework for community-based actions for children and adolescents. (The recent appointment of all LC vice-chairpersons as secretaries for children further strengthens this framework by identifying individuals with mandates and responsibilities to monitor and promote the rights and needs of children and adolescents). In the education sector, the 1992 White Paper was taken to Parliament for discussion and approval. The White Paper was revolutionary in the sense that it was committed to universal primary and minimum basic education by the year 2003. The most important policy focus is on democratization of education, quality improvements, and vocational education. The lack of explicit policy on childcare and protection was a problem in the past but is being addressed. A policy formulation exercise on childcare and protection was in progress under the coordination of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Policy guidelines that existed underscored the community-based approach to childcare and protection, with institutionalization as a last resort or stop-gap measure. The government policy on HIV/AIDS was acknowledged as one of the most progressive in Africa. There should be strong emphasis on the- multi-sectoral nature of the problem and of solutions. All ministries were expected to develop their own specific AIDS control programs, guided and coordinated by the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC).

Malaria control policy Major foci of empirical work in the social policy discourses have continued to be dominated by political significance and schematic tendencies derived from Weberian space as is now beginning to be recognized in the problem concerning malaria problem in Uganda. Malaria is a devastating global public health problem accounting for 300 to 500 million. Cases per year resulting are over 1,000,000 deaths. Ninety per cent (90%) of the malaria mortality occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, and almost all the deaths are children under five years of age.


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In response to the increasing malaria burden and the opportunities presented by new tools, the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership was launched in 1998, with the aim of reducing the malaria burden by at least 50% by the year 2010. In 2000, African heads of state committed to implement world health organization’s key malaria control interventions and to meet specified targets to reduce malaria disease. Insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) are a low-cost and highly effective way of reducing malaria particularly among pregnant women and children under 5 years who sleep under them. One Abuja target aims at raising ITN usage levels from less than 20% in 2000 to >60% by 2005. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) was established in 2002, giving malaria-endemic countries access to additional external funding for malaria control. National Societies are increasingly responding to the needs of the “most vulnerable” in their communities through participation in large scale community public health efforts (HIV/AIDS, polio, measles, and insecticide treated bednets – ITNs). The global Measles Partnership spearheaded by the American Red Cross, CDC, and the UN Foundation with support from the Federation, World Health Organisation and UNICEF, is working with Ministries of Health and national governments. Using these vaccination campaigns as a platform, several countries with strong participation of Red Cross National Societies have successfully demonstrated ITN coverage of greater than 90% in the districts where Red Cross volunteers integrated ITN distribution with vaccinations. Similar results are possible if ITN distribution is associated with other ongoing Red Cross interventions including measles or routine vaccination, Community Based First Aid, HIV Home Based Care, Mothers Clubs, and other community health efforts. Recognizing the success of these pilot efforts, UNICEF and World Health Organization have published a joint statement recommending that malaria control can be effectively integrated with vaccination programs as one option and invited Non Governmental Organizations and other public health actors to support and implement integrated approaches. The Federation’s Strategy 2010, ARCH 2010, and on the Health Commission’s previous decision6 defining malaria among six priority public health areas. The achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals as an essential part of the health agenda of the Federation and individual National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to reduce the unacceptably high burden of malaria disease. The commitments of the April 2000, United Nation African summit on Roll Back Malaria (RMB), in Abuja, Nigeria. Governments committed to working together with partners to achieve the ambitious Abuja targets. Red Crescent and Red Cross ITN distribution efforts in communities where high coverage at a low delivery cost was achieved. These decisions and the Federation’s health and care goals to enable communities to reduce vulnerability to disease and injury, to care for their people, and to prepare for and respond to public health crises, are the basis for the following statement.


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Objectives; The International Federation and individual National Societies shall: 1. As auxiliaries to their governments, advocate for and support malaria control as an integral part of their community health programs as a way to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population and achieve high coverage without duplicating government efforts. 2. Within the context of the malaria country plans, identify the special “niche” for National Society interventions focusing on the RC’s specific advantages of its volunteer networks and community mobilization resources. 3. Ensure that RC efforts are additive and not duplicative of any country program efforts. 4. Participate actively in the development of country plans through the “Country Coordinating Mechanism” (CCM), the National Malaria Program, and through the Ministry of Health’s “Interagency Coordinating Committee” (ICC). 5. Work with partners to ensure the availability of technical, financial, material and high quality human resources for the implementation of malaria activities. 6. Integrate malaria interventions whenever possible with well conceived and structured partnerships which have the potential to achieve greater impact on a wider scale. 7. Strengthen the National Society’s volunteer management system, giving special emphasis to community-based social mobilization and behavior change in vulnerable populations. 8. Support national and sub national efforts that promote and implement malaria interventions either singly or as an integrated effort within RC health activities at the community level. These can include vaccination campaigns and other ongoing activities such as “Community Based First Aid” (CBFA), HIV/AIDS Home Based Care, Water/Sanitation, Mother’s Clubs,10 and youth programs. 9. Advocate for and identify partners and resources to support long term routine efforts to maintain high post campaign coverage among newborns, newly pregnant women, and newcomers in communities with vulnerable populations.11 These efforts are consistent with ARCHI 2010 and other Federation strategies for health and care. 10. Ensure that malaria interventions are part of the health care services provided in refugee settings and in emergencies. 11. Ensure that services provided in any prolonged emergency will develop into sustainable integrated community based health activities. Responsibilities


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National Societies and the International Federation have a responsibility to ensure that all health programs adhere to the disease prevention, treatment, and control protocols officially promulgated by the Ministry of Health and recommended by WHO and are in compliance with this policy; that all staff and volunteers participating in such programs are aware of the rationale and details of this policy; and that, to the extent possible, all governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners are adequately informed of this policy. National Societies have the responsibility to ensure that their practices are in conformity with the prevailing standard as set by WHO and to encourage their governments to adopt the policies adopted by the said organization. National Societies have the responsibility to identify their role in an overall country program with regard to health while adhering to the Federation’s strategies and policies. The International Federation will build on its experiences and continue to identify opportunities to combine its traditional support to individual National Society country projects with multi-country partnership based sectoral initiatives. National Societies and the International Federation have the responsibility to develop, introduce and implement a mechanism for monitoring and verification of compliance with this policy. This policy was adopted by the 11th Session of the Governing Board, 27–29 April 2005. 10 ARCHI 2010 toolkits provide guidelines for ongoing community level malaria interventions 11 Maintaining high routine levels for the long term would build on the successes of campaigns and ensure long term disease reduction.


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CHAPTER FOUR TYPE OF POLICIES

A variety of views in the academic province of social policy contended that social welfare policies take four characteristic legal forms. 1. Statute law 2. Executive order 3. Administrative policy 4. Welfare policies Statute Law is produced by the legislative arm of government working at different levels. Statute law is a very powerful form of public policy and is considered by policy makers a fundamental way of designing and implementing social policies. The following examples of statute law can provide sharp illustrations and can help students of social policy to gain insight and find its location in the theoretical and empirical bases of social policy planning and program implementation. The first example that can be cited in our society today is the Children’s’ Statute (of 1996). The statute law advocates that children have the right to access basic needs that are fundamental for their holistic growth and development at all levels in physiological and social space. The whole package of the basic needs within the Children’s’ statute constitutes the following among, others. Children have the right to the following:


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Food, health, education, love and care, shelter, clothing etc

The significance of accessibility to these basic needs flows out of the utilitarian calculation of the common good and other Kantian moral imperatives.

The following programs in Uganda were designed using the statute law as the baseline for their construction (Uganda Nation Policy Framework 2000). Ministry of gender, labor and social development implementation of the convention on the rights of the child in Uganda; An illustration of the statute law The Government of Uganda ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in November 1990 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the child in 1994 signify-ing Uganda's commitment to ensure observance of the rights enshrined in both the Convention and the Charter. Uganda also promulgated the Ugandan Constitution in 1995. The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda article 34 specifically provides for the protection of the rights of chil-dren. Uganda also ratified two other optional protocols namely, the optional protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography and on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the optional protocol on the elimination of the worse form of child labor. However, under the Ugandan law, treaties such as the CRC cannot be directly implemented as they are not self executing. Domestic legislation had to be enacted in order for it to gain force as law. It was for this reason that the Government of Uganda translated the CRC into a national leg-islation the "Children Act" 1996 with a view of bringing into force all the provisions of the CRC. The process of the enactment of the Children's Act made it possible to bring about legal and administrative reforms intended to improve on the rights of the child. A number of interventions have been developed and implemented in Uganda following the ratification of the Convention. The implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Uganda has been a collec-tive effort by the Government, NGOs, donors, and religious organizations. The key responses by government have been the creation of an enabling environment for the implementation of the CRC. Donors, NGOs and religious organizations have provided a significant proportion of the resources (financial, material, human and organizational) for the implementation of the CRC. Strengthen the National Council for Children, and the coordination between various government bodies, ministries and LCs involved in the implementation of children's rights, at both national and local levels. Ensure closer cooperation with NGOs working in the field of human and children's rights Strengthen the human and financial capacity of various government institutions promoting chil-dren's rights. Priority in resource allocations to facilitate realization of economic, social and cultural rights of children with focus on health and education. Awareness and Understanding


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Ensure that the provisions of the Convention are widely known by both adults and children espe-cially in rural areas. Also train and retrain law enforcement agents staff e.g. police, army, judi-ciary, lawyers, magistrates, teachers, social workers, child care institution staff, health and medical personnel, etc. Both government institutions and NGOs have, with the support of donors, developed and dis-tributed child rights advocacy materials. These materials were produced in various forms and format such as; calendars, posters, brochures, t-shirts, caps, audio/visual materials and newslet-ters. Dissemination of the Children Act is also done through debates, essay competitions, music, dance and drama, child rights clubs in schools and Child Rights Advocates in the communities. Indeed the children's Act has been translated into 10 local languages. As far as training of law enforcement officers is concerned, Save the Children Denmark and UK and UNICEF facilitated the training of the Uganda Police on the CRC and the Children's Act on how to handle cases of child abuse and domestic violence. Save the Children Denmark then trained the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) on the protection of children's rights par-ticularly in conflict situations. Training of trainers and district-level training of officials concerned with the implementation-of the CRC and the Children Statute has been done. A manual for the training of national trainers of child rights advocates has been developed and the training of 340 child rights advocates completed. Various categories of professionals working with children have been trained. Training undertaken so far has been at two levels: training on Children Statute in all the 45 districts and training of paralegals in 10 Districts on CRC. The categories of professionals trained includes: District Administrators, Local Councilors, media reporters, Community Development Officers and Assistants, District Probation and Welfare Officers, the Police, Magistrates, Teachers, Prisons staff, Child Rights Educators and Advocates. Government ministries, local authorities, NGOs and private consultancy firms have been involved in providing this training. This is a domestication of the CRC, has been translated into 10 major local languages. Copies of the translated Statute were distributed to all districts and major NGOs. The MGL& SD has also produced and distributed a simplified English version of the Children Act. These 10 languages cover more than 90 per cent of the population. The main challenge has been to ensure wide dissemination of the CRC and the Children's Act. Dissemination of the CRC and the Children Act at district and lower level is primarily the role of the District Probation and Welfare Office (DPWO). A national situation analysis of childcare and protection issues in relation to District Authorities conducted by the MGL&SD at the end of 1998 identified eight obstacles that hinder the implementation of the Act. The main obstacle is inadequate funding of the DPWO by both central and local governments. DPWOs are allocated on average about US$400 per month for all operations; but some receive as little US$30 per month for all operations. Other reasons for the delay in the dissemination of the Act are: understating in districts; lack of awareness about the Act by Local Councils including Secretaries for Children Affairs; poor transport and communications facilities in the DPWO; negative


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attitude of the community; political interference; lack of community participation in implementation of the Statute; and poverty in households. It should also be noted that in the initial stage sensitization process of the CRC, much emphasis was given to the Children's Statute than the internalization of the CRC, much stress has been put on children's rights than their responsibilities, negative cultural attitudes which look at CRC as a western influence imported into the African Culture. There are several limitations that have been cited in the CRC debate, the most damaging of all is scenario were the state has not put in place facilities in form of social services that can empower it to reprimand child abusers. I want us to look at a scenario when a parent has four children and for some reasons, he/she happen to bet one to near death. This parent may be arrested but what if he/she sentenced to 2-5 years in prison. Who will look after the three children? On the centrally, in welfare states, social service provisions and facilities that can cater for the three children. Consequently, the professions may be disabled to execute the CRC in Uganda just because has been partially adopted from welfare states were the state takes full responsibility of the children in terms of social welfare provisions such as education, health and food. The CRC requires facilitations in form of supporting social policies that may be interpreted in to favorable social welfare provisions. Implementation The Uganda Government is committed to ensuring that all her children enjoy their rights, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This commitment is exemplified by the measures that have been taken at the country level. The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda guarantees children the right to education, medical treatment, care and protection and other social economic benefits. In addition, after the 1990 World Summit for children, the country's unwavering political commitment was translated into action. The Uganda National Program of Action for Children (UNPAC) was developed and launched in 1993. UNPAC provides a framework for all actors to protect the rights of children in the areas of child survival, development, protection and participation. The Children Act which is a child friendly law operationalizes the Constitution and reinforces the UNPAC. Here in we present actions that have been taken by the Government of Uganda on the imple-mentation of the CRC, based on the guidelines and recommendations made by the United Nations Child Rights Committee on the country's initial report and its addendum. The Government of Uganda prepared and submitted initial reports and the addendum on the CRC in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Specifically, the report presents policy initiatives and child friendly legislations that have been enacted, the programs that have been implemented as welt as special protection measures, which target the children in difficult circumstances. The enabling policy environment has added impetus to the implementation of the CRC. The efforts of Civil Society Organizations, Development Partners and Non Governmental Organizations have contributed greatly to this. Government of Uganda is committed to continue its efforts to address the issues that affect survival, development, protection and participation of


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children. In future, in order to protect and promote the rights of the child, main areas of concern for Government will include improvement in primary health care, universal access to safe water, prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS, and provision of quality education to all children. To achieve this, Government will continue to pursue the policy of poverty eradication and promotion of good governance which form the basis for protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights of children in Uganda.


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Basic education targets for primary and re-primary education. The overall program objective of ensuring that children access basic needs was to promote full cognitive and psychosocial development of children and adolescents within a supportive family and community environment that is conducive to education for all, plays a key role in the prevention of HIV/AIDS/STDs, and provides adequate care and protection for children and adolescents.

The targets to be reached by this program by the year 2010 are consistent with those adopted in the Uganda National Program of Action for Children in 2000

Access to primary education for school age children increased from 69 percent to 95 per cent and the completion rate of the primary education cycle from 32 percent to 50 percent.

The supporting goals are: Enrolment and Survival

• The net enrolment in PI should be 95 per cent of all six year-olds;

• The survival rate of enrolment in P5 to enrolment in P7 should be 60 percent;

• The completion rate of P7 to enrolment in PI should be 50 percent; and

• The gross enrolment for students of primary schools should be greater than 95 percent.

Non-formal Education

• 40 per cent of those who attain P5 but not P7 should complete P7 equivalent: i.e. they should undertake at least 2 years of non-formal vocational training after completing primary school in primary five.

Quality Education

• To produce a revised primary school curriculum which provides a minimum learning package to ensure the achievement of functional literacy, numeric and life skills at specified levels;

• To ensure that 75 per cent of teachers are qualified; and • To ensure that all schools receive sufficient instructional materials.


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Early Childhood Care

• To provide play groups and day- care centers through the mobilization of community participation by LC 1 women’s representatives; and

• To ensure 100 per cent registration and regular inspection for pre-primary schools. Education of Girls

• The net enrolment ratio for girls in PI should be 95 per cent of all 6 year olds;

• The survival rate of girls entering PI and reaching P5 should be 60 per cent;

• The completion rate from PI to P7 for girls should be equal to that of boys at 50 per cent; and

• The gross enrolment ratio for girls in primary schools should be at least 75 per cent by 2000 and 95 per cent by the year 2010.

Child Protection Targets

Improved legal protection of the rights of all children The supporting goals:

• For society to be made aware of the rights of children, including rights to property;

• For children to know their legal rights;

• To ensure that child law reform in line with the Child Law Review Committee’s proposals is completed and implemented;

• The protection of children on remand and in prison through the due process of the law;

• To ensure that the recruitment of children into the armed forces is prohibited by law; and

• The legal protection of child laborers and those in domestic employment.

• Protection of the rights of children with disabilities to equal access to public services and freedom from discrimination.

The supporting goals:

• The promotion of effective measures for the prevention of disabilities; and • The promotion of effective measures aimed at reducing the impact of disabilities;

• The integration of children with disability into society.


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Protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and hazard, for all children and in particular, those who are not cared for, or supported by parents or relatives.

The supporting goals are:

• The protection of orphaned children;

• The protection of street children;

• The protection of unaccompanied and displaced children;

• The protection of children who work ; advocating for 100 % abolition of child labor maybe difficult because contemporary income supplements which can be used to ensure sustainable livelihood exist on income generating diversity from both adults and children in the household framework.

• To ensure that children receive education and training;

• To give protection to child soldiers and children affected by armed conflict;

• To provide protection to children who are at risk of being physically, mentally or sexually abused; and

• The protection of children from hazard, e.g. harmful substances for example drugs, beer etc. HIV/AIDS Prevention Targets The targets:

• To reduce mother to child transmission of HIV by reducing conception in HIV-positive women;

• To reduce transmission of HIV through reduction of STDs and changed sexual behavior;

• To reduce transmission of HIV in the health care setting and through socio-cultural practices; and

• To reduce the socio-economic impact of HIV-infected parents on children through reducing suffering and prolonging the useful life of their parents, and through assisting communities to support and care for orphans.


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Strategy Description Overall Strategy and Program Overview

In accordance with the overall country program strategy, this program focused on the community and the family to create demand for basic education, to induce behavior that leads to improvement in care and protection of children, and to enhance positive development of child and adolescent behavior, especially with regards to their education, health and sexuality. The program addresses the need to provide an integrated package for the full growth and development of the child by developing integrated management and inter-sector service promotion strategies at the community level.

The main strategy is to build capacity at various levels in order to sustain and strengthen community assessment, analysis and action for children. This strategy is developed through the following levels:

• Community level to strengthen community capacity to mobilize, meet and sustain education demands, child care and protection needs, and HIV/A1DS prevention measures to families and households.

• Service delivery

To strengthen and improve the capacity of education promoters, extension workers, social workers, NGO and CBO partners in the provision of services.

• Resource mobilization and management

To strengthen district and sub-county capacity to mobilize and manage resources to facilitate education, care, protection and HIV/AIDS prevention among children and adolescents.

• Policy development and quality assurance

The above program was developed to help policy developers and resource- planners to equate education needs to all children.

The program was to be fully integrated at community level. At other levels, the program activities were expected to be integrated into actions relevant to all program priorities, and some specific actions designed to address problems related to basic education. An example that can illustrate the above position is the Alternative Basic education for Karamoja (ABEK). Adhering to the above position, the providers of UPE in Karamoja were compelled to teach the children from the fields were they graze cattle. Basic Education Strategy


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The Government launched a major reform program to address the main issues of access to quality resource mobilization and management in order to provide good primary education.

The World Bank and USAID committed substantial resources in support of these reforms, which include the review of the primary school curriculum, distribution of instruction materials, review of teacher education courses, infrastructural rehabilitation of classrooms and teacher training colleges and the strengthening of school management systems.

UNICEF support was planned to complement these inputs primarily by mobilizing families and households to make effective demands for their children’s education, to improve access to basic education either through the formal school systems or through alternative complementary education programs, to improve the performance of education promoters through training and support supervision, build education management information systems (MIS) for proper planning and budgeting, to establish linkages with other sectors to reduce duplication and cost, and to ensure sustainability. In order to provide minimum basic education to all children, the program tried to: Support social mobilization efforts to ensure that the right to basic education for all children is fully recognized and actively pursued. These efforts focused at family and community level and were based on a joint approach with childcare and protection and HIV/AIDS control activities. The support was provided through

The full involvement and participation of education sector staff and institutions;

Support the development by the Ministry of Education of the initiative to provide complementary opportunities for Primary Education to meet the needs of unschooled children or school dropouts. This initiative meant to provide the minimum basic education needed to lead a productive life. It was intended as a stop-gap measure until universal primary education would be fully achieved. This initiative focused primarily on lower and middle primary (P1-P2 and P3-P4) but may also include upper primary (P5-P7) if demand develops and resources permit.

Alternatively, children benefiting from the initiative to provide complementary opportunities for Primary Education who wish to continue their education may be given an opportunity to do this through the district education office and join the formal education system starting from P5.

The proposed program used experiences gained from various non-formal education programs in the world, including the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) but was to be implemented in Uganda using teachers and other facilities within the formal primary school system.

This would provide both a good linkage to the formal system and also an opportunity to give existing teachers an extra income while pursuing and improving their professional capabilities.


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The most important experiences gained from conducting non-formal education programs include improved pedagogic methodologies, making it possible to teach slightly older children to complete primary syllabus in less time. Successful implementation of complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative would, among other things, depend on carefully adapted curricular and availability of teaching and learning materials.

It was important to ensure that the complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative would not become established as a permanent alternative to formal primary education and also to ensure that it does not hamper but rather enhance other urgent efforts to improve the quality of the formal primary education system in Uganda and to make progress towards universal primary education.

The programs was also to: • Support the development of community-based early childhood development activities which

would free young girls from child-care responsibilities during school time to enable them to attend school;

• Support the review and strengthening of the management system for basic education,

including the management and mobilization of resources. As the education sector requires substantial resources (and these are hard to secure), it would be important for the district, sub-county and the community to learn how to generate and manage scarce resources effectively;

• Support advocacy at the policy level to formulate more gender-sensitive policies and laws affecting children’s education, especially of girls, by organizing national seminars on new education ideas, training policy developers in gender-sensitization and by using all available channels of the media; and

• Build capacity to develop enabling policies and monitor the quality of education. Child-Care and Protection Strategy The main thrust is to empower parents, guardians and communities with the knowledge and skills to enable them to make informed decisions about child-care and protection in a context of limited resources, with specific emphasis on children in especially difficult circumstances.

The program would be achieved through the following:

• Strengthening the capacity of relevant government cadres, LC vice-chairpersons. NGOs and CBOs together with their resource persons so that they can provide advice, support and services when required. A number of these resource persons would be trained as “paralegals” in order to provide accurate information on rules, regulations and laws, and implementation mechanisms related to child protection;


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• Strengthening the coordination mechanisms at all levels, including coordination between the LC system and government departments, and between them and NGOs and CBOs. This required establishment or strengthening of coordinating structures and information systems and clarification of roles and responsibilities in order to avoid duplication and conflicts;

• Strengthening resource mobilization and management at all levels starting with families and communities, enhancing NGO and CBO actions and assigning sufficient government resources for those actions for which Government has to assume responsibility; and

• Supporting the development of policy frameworks for issues related to child care and protection. Advocacy for enactment of relevant legal provisions and unambiguous implementation of laws pertaining to child protection would also be supported.

Adolescent Development and HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategy

While all adolescents are at a risk of HIV/AIDS infection, the most vulnerable groups are the out-of-school youth, children of illiterate parents, neglected and abused children and girls without parental and community protection. The root causes of these problems must be addressed at family and community levels, while those at risk are also reached with information and other support.

The strategy was to provide support in the area of advocacy and policy formulation, health promotion, resource mobilization and capacity building for adolescent-focused activities. This would be carried out in conjunction with the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC), the AIDS control programs in line ministries, NGOs and communities. Children and adolescents would to be involved at all levels, with particular emphasis on girls and out-of-school youth. Each of these areas of intervention would be achieved through specific activities at family, local community, district and national levels.

At family and community levels, the capacity of the family, the community and schools would be strengthened to promote safe sexual behavior among adolescents, particularly to delay first sexual debut and to avoid pre-marital sexual activities.

This would be achieved through: • Promoting dialogue between parents and between parents and children, and instilling in

children at an early age a feeling of responsibility and concern for their own health; having acquired a set of desired health values from parents and teachers, adolescents are likely to be uncomfortable when they engage in health risks;

• Promoting peer education; • Encouraging and assisting adolescents to develop programs which can promote health

seeking and safe sex behavior by getting information and demanding services which address their reproductive health needs;

• Promoting and strengthening counseling services for children and adolescents both in schools and the community; and

• Emphasizing the special problems, disparities and vulnerabilities of the girl child.


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• For service delivery and resource management, the capacity of sub-counties and districts was strengthened to promote safe sexual behavior among adolescents through:

• Sensitizing and mobilizing opinion leaders and decision-makers; • Advocating for and facilitating the development of policies and plans for HIV/AIDS

prevention among adolescents; • Training facilitators in life skills; and • Supporting the training of paralegals to deal with crimes of sex abuse which unduly expose

adolescents of both genders to HIV/AIDS. At national level, support was meant to advocate for and strengthen capacity to support activities promoting safe sexual behavior among adolescents through: • Sensitizing and mobilizing decision-makers; • Assisting counterpart institutions, ministries (particularly the Ministry of Information) and

NGOs in advocacy for and formulation of appropriate gender-sensitive policies on • HIV/AIDS among children and adolescents; • Assisting the formulation and dissemination of gender-sensitive materials that promote safe

sexual behaviors; • Strengthening HIV/AIDS education in the schools curricula and strengthening family life

education and other life skills programs; and • Assisting the UAC secretariat to carry out its coordinating role at national and district levels,

especially for activities focusing on adolescents. At all levels capacity would be built to monitor performance of activities promoting safe sexual behavior among children and adolescents through developing indicators, and strengthening existing information management systems at community, sub-county, district and national levels. The program assisted districts to formulate Plans of Action for HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents within the framework of District Plans of Action for Children (DPAC). “Safeguarding Youth from AIDS” (SYFA) is a priority focus of the whole program, and probably the most urgent priority in Uganda. Continued HIV transmission among children and adolescents is not only a serious problem in itself, but also proof that the education, care, protection and development support systems for children and adolescents are neglected and need major improvements. Indicators of HIV transmission, including proxy indicators (STDs, defilement, age of first sex, etc) was therefore used extensively at all levels in order to provide a basis for assessment and analysis of HIV/AIDS control efforts in particular as well as child survival, protection (both the girl child and the boy child) and development actions in general. Complementarity and Linkages Physical development is a crucial aspect of childcare. The health program plays the leading role in this respect, including developing skills for growth monitoring, promotion of breastfeeding, promotion of disease prevention, and improvement of the care of the sick child. The WES program also contributes significantly to the care and physical development of the child through reducing the mother’s workload (through greater proximity of appropriate water and sanitation facilities) and through reducing the burden of disease.


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Because the program approach adopted for basic education, child-care and protection, and HIV/AIDS is based on principles of complimentarity and integration, mechanisms for coordinated planning and management, communication methodologies and efforts to reduce gender gaps are central themes for both BECCAD and CCA programs. In particular, there was need to have close linkage between the complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative and the functional literacy activities supported by the CCA program.

CCA had the resources to promote and organize the activities, while the materials developed and teachers trained for the complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative were used as the main resources for service delivery. Program sustainability The fundamental issues for the sustainability of basic education, child-care and protection and HIV/AIDS control are the perceptions and knowledge among people in communities and in society as a whole about children’s and adolescents’ rights and needs in these areas. If basic education is perceived and embraced as a fundamental right for all Ugandan children, then the available resources and the mechanisms should be put in place to make sure that this happens. The same principle applies to childcare and physical health in the child from an early age. This “life skills” concept is central to the strategy adopted for HIV/AIDS control.

Collaboration between all programs was pursued at district and community levels to maximize resource utilization, especially in training. The Coordination, Communication and Advocacy (CCA) program also contributes indirectly to this program through its encouragement of functional literacy with special emphasis on women.

The sustainability of actions should be considered in relation to the sustainability of principles. If actions do not contribute to the sustainability of principles then such actions should not be sustained in the first place. On the other hand, if actions contribute significantly to strengthen the principles then they should be pursued even if they may seem difficult to sustain in the short run. For example, advocacy for the rights of children because there is a vacuum of social service provision that make social workers disabled when they try to create awareness among parents that for example child Labor undermines the rights of children.

The parents may argue that he/she makes the child work for long hours in the field so that they can reduce food insufficiency levels in their households. The parent may even ask the social worker or LC official to direct him/her to the government offices where he/she can go and get food for the children if they have not grown the food themselves. Women, community mobilization for education for all, child care or HIV control are all activities that are likely to lead to long-term effects on people’s behavior and for demand for basic services, and are therefore justified even if fully financed by external resources.

Based on this principle, the program addressed sustainability as follows:

• At community level, sustainability was created through building and strengthening participatory management structures to promote awareness and respect for child and


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women’s rights and needs. This was also achieved through mobilization and sensitization and establishment of management structures and information systems to ensure that the process of assessment, analysis and action is sustained in the community.

• For service delivery, sustainability focused on improving skills and knowledge of service providers, cadres, functionaries and the establishment or strengthening of coordination and management structures. The focus is to build on existing structures and available skilled staff.

• For resource mobilization and management, sustainability was pursued through advocacy to increase participation in the district planning process. In addition, skills for planning and resource mobilization were developed and strengthened through provision of logistical support.

For policy and quality assurance, the capacity of national managers and decision- makers were strengthened with a view to ensuring the “sustainability of principles” of planned program. Through sensitization and advocacy, long-term commitment and institutionalized processes were put in place to ensure rational resource allocation. In addition, the development of policies and guidelines was a long-term strategy for ensuring quality in programming. Management Structure The management structure for BECCAD interventions is built upon three broad existing structures, namely the LCs, the NGOs (in particular the umbrella organization, UCOBAC) and the extension workers and social workers at district level and below. In addition, due to the multi-sectoral nature of the program, the management structure also includes some new institutional arrangements.

At the national level, an Inter-Sectoral Committee for BECCAD was planned to be established as a means to ensure coordination and collaboration between the relevant agencies. The membership of this committee included MFEP, MOES, MOH, UNICEF and other major CBOs and NGOs. In addition, one member of the CCA program management team would also be a member of the committee so as to ensure closer collaboration between these two programs. The committee is to be chaired by MFEP and serviced by a focal officer in MFEP Social Services Section and a UNICEF officer.

At district level, in accordance with the decentralization policy and the 1993 Local Government (Local Councils) Statute, the District Development Committee (DDC) planned to assign responsibilities to the most appropriate sub-committee, either an existing statutory committee (e.g. Education or Welfare and Sports) or a committee specifically for BECCAD.

However, the Letter of Understanding specified which committee is so assigned. The same committee structure would exist at the sub-county, parish and village level. The main extension workers operating at these levels should be the Community Development Assistants and the Probation and Welfare Assistants, counselors, youth leaders and Assistant Education Officers,


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complemented by a network of paralegals, NGOs and CBOs. The above was the strategic plan at the time of writing. Program Components Community Capacity Building for Child and Adolescent Protection Education and Development Component Rationale Low budget allocations to the social sector by the central Government and districts contributed to the inability to meet the basic needs of children and adolescents. Government and private sector planning increasingly focused on the community and the family as partners in mobilizing and managing resources to develop sustainable care and protection for children and adolescents. The decentralization policy further strengthens the community-based approach. Objective and Supporting Indicators

The overall objective at this level was to strengthen community capacities to meet and sustain basic education demands, initiate and manage intervention for care, protection and development of children and adolescents, and support HIV/AIDS prevention among young people. The main indicators for this objective were: • Improved family knowledge of the basic needs and rights of children; • Committees selected and trained at sub-county level on gender issues within the community; • Availability and use of disaggregated data and information on women, children and

adolescents;

• Increased enrolment and retention in education, with emphasis on the girl child;

• Improved legal protection of children from exploitation, abuse and neglect, in particular those with disabilities and those without parental care; and

• The number of adolescents adopting positive behavior as a result of increased parent- Child dialogue and guidance on sexuality, growing up and HIV/AIDS.

Program description

This component pursued a comprehensive community-based approach on all issues related to basic education, childcare and protection and control of HIV/AIDS throughout the country. The main activity was to strengthen village level committees which would act as focal points for assessment and analysis of the situation of children and adolescents and to coordinate various actions. The LC vice-chairpersons would constitute the formal entry point and focal point for these activities and the program would assist to ensure that they are supported with suitable committee members and given the skills and tools necessary for carrying out their responsibilities. The major responsibilities included establishing, strengthening and using community-based information systems to monitor all children and adolescents within the


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community and register relevant information that would enable the committee to identify those who are at risk of neglect and abuse, and to formulate action programs that improve the general well-being of all.

Various aspects of such a community-based approach have been tried with encouraging results within program supported by UNICEF and NGOs. This program would bring together these experiences more systematically into a more comprehensive approach that is able to serve several child- and youth-focused purposes at the same time, and to link this up with the new role of the LC vice-chairpersons. The revised approach were tried out in different settings during 1995 and then expanded as quickly as possible with the objective of having the committees in place and operational in practically all communities in Uganda by 1998. The specific steps and activities required to put this extensive system in place are described in more detail below. Outputs and Associated Activities Community coordination committees strengthened The proposed parish development committee of the LC II would be strengthened to address basic education, childcare and protection and adolescent development, based on existing structures for sustainability. The entry point for this process was the LC II vice-chairperson. The effectiveness of the committee would be determined by the number of functionaries trained and the efficient functioning of the information system. The coordination role of the committee would be achieved through the effective participation and representation of the relevant functionaries. Activities included: • Mobilizing and sensitizing parents and community leaders in at least 50 per cent of parishes; • Training members of the committee in accessing information and compilation skills in order

to coordinate activities; and • Providing support for coordination activities in every district. Unified information system established and used

• To enable committees to assess, analyze and develop solutions, existing information systems on vulnerable children, including orphans, would be made more comprehensive. This information system would also be part of the community-based information system, which includes information on growth monitoring and immunization.

• It is expected that this information would spur the community into specific actions to improve the education and care for children and adolescents. Specific functionaries responsible for information management would be trained, including LC vice-chairpersons and parish chiefs.

• Families and communities would also be orientated on the use of such systems and in maintaining it by providing relevant information for the system.

Activities included:


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• Design of information system format;

• Collection of relevant data and information; and

• Training in data collection, analysis and reporting. Animators mobilized, trained and coordinated Various community animators, including LC executives and women leaders were earmarked as key actors at community level. A system would be built to improve linkages between these key animators and, where possible, to conduct joint mobilization and training programs at this level. The objective was to improve knowledge and define roles and responsibilities to sustain positive behaviors for basic education, child care and protection and HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents. Activities included:

• Sensitizing and training selected animators, educators, family and youth leaders; and

• Distribution of materials required by animators. Advocacy and provision of information materials maintained

The production of advocacy and learning materials on issues covered by this program for use by households and community level animators would be coordinated wherever possible.

The focus included improvement in access and utilization of such materials to improve knowledge, especially on the rights of women, children and adolescents.

Increased opportunities for dialogue and discussion on basic education, childcare and protection and HIV/AIDS prevention, and the gender-responsive composition of participants, would further improve knowledge and action. Community animators would be trained to mobilize and promote the use of advocacy materials. Community surveys and research would be conducted to measure levels of awareness and change in behavior.


• Establishing coordination guidelines;

• Supporting mobilization and formation of coordination committees;

• Providing technical support to regular inter-sectoral planning meetings; and

• Training in resource mobilization and management.


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Children and adolescents trained in practicing life skills

The purpose of providing practical life skills to children and adolescents is to improve their knowledge and skills for making informed decisions about sex, health and employment, and providing the capacity for use of available resources to improve their welfare.

The emphasis of this component would be to target the girl child who is most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, neglect and abuse, and has unequal opportunities for education and employment. In recent times however, the society has gone through many dynamics in terms of behavioral patterns that have exposed even the boy child to risk and vulnerability of HIV/AIDS. There is need to protect the boy child also. This can be done in the promotion of change in the child protection statute that protects the girl child per se. The example of arresting the boy who is a minor when he has made a girl pregnant, by throwing him in prison were he can get into contact with hard core criminals, presents an alarming reality that the society has not provided checks and balances that can also protect the boy child.

There is also need to change the vocabulary in the child statute that focuses only on one gender, the girl child. The vocabulary is not inclusive, it only stresses that “if a girl is sexually harassed”, there is need for a universalized and inclusive vocabulary that can target the boy child also. In addition to training of adolescents in institutional and non-institutional settings, e.g. through artisans and counselors, parents would be mobilized and sensitized on the needs of adolescents.

Activities included: • Distribution of advocacy materials; • Training of educators; • Training in life skills; and • Monitoring. Target Group and External Resource Persons

The target group would include the LC vice-chairperson, LC secretaries for women and youth and committee members. Community animators would be selected from within the community, and may include LC executives, leaders of women and youth groups, teachers, relevant CBOs, religious and traditional leaders, cultural groups and other respected members of the community.

The facilitators would primarily be extension staff and other resource persons based at the sub- county level, including sub-county chiefs, community development assistants, LC 3 executives, assistant inspectors of schools, trained paralegals and health educators. Component Rationale

Community actions and demand for services, information and support to basic education, child care and protection, and HIV/ AIDS prevention need to be matched with access to such inputs, which have to be provided by the human and institutional resources available.


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Primary schools, which constitute the most widely distributed institutional network, need to be supported to play an enhanced role in providing access to basic education and also in supporting issues related to child care and protection and to HIV/AIDS. They also need to be complemented by efforts to reach the unschooled and dropouts with an alternative approach to education. The activities of existing programs such as child-to-child and the school health education programs need to be maintained and further intensified.

For childcare and protection, probation and welfare staff is available only at district level. There is, therefore, a need to work through other extension workers, such as community development assistants and social workers, to provide direct support to families and communities and to liaise with NGOs and CBOs which are already the major actors in providing direct support to CEDC.

For HIV/AIDS prevention, it is important to mobilize all the above-mentioned actors and institutions as well as other available and potential partners to join in the concerted and intensive control efforts. Objective and Supporting Indicators are:

The objective of this component is to strengthen the capacity of schools, extension workers, social workers, NGOs and CBOs to provide integrated services in basic education, childcare and protection and prevention of HIV/AIDS among children and adolescents.

The indicators of the above objectives:

• The Number of facilities and programs available to children and adolescents, with special focus on both the girl child and boy child;

• Number of facilitators, animators, caretakers and functionaries in place. • Improved performance of education providers, welfare and community development

extension staff and youth workers in AIDS prevention; • Percentage increase in enrolment and retention with emphasis on equity; • A program for complementary opportunities for primary education effectively established; • Improved caring and protection of children, especially CEDC; and • Increased number of adolescents and families actively involved in HIV/AIDS control actions. Description

In providing technical services to communities in the areas of education, child-care and protection and HIV/AIDS control, specific skills and facilities are required which may not always be possible - or even desirable - to integrate. The program would therefore support processes to ensure maximum complementarities and coordination of support, guidance and advice to the community in these three areas. This would be achieved through the strengthening of the coordinating mechanisms primarily at sub-county level and to involve the various extension staff and facilitators in joint seminars and training activities. The LC vice-chairpersons would be instrumental in ensuring effective coordination.


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Wherever possible, facilitators would also be supported to carry out multiple functions in assisting families and communities to meet all the basic needs of children and ensuring that their rights, particularly those of girls are protected.

The program would help strengthen the capacity of the District Education Office, with particular attention to the community mobilization skills needed to improve enrolment in school and complementary education, and in the development of teaching and learning materials for the complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative. These would cover life skills, including the promotion of healthy life styles targeted at adolescents both in and out-of-school.

The program would also strengthen probation assistants, where they exist, and improve linkages with community development staff making vital linkages with the community. Skills for mobilizing resources and broadening the concepts of care and improved support for early childhood education would be developed. Legal protection would be improved through the training of paralegals and childcare advocates.

The program would also identify and train HIV/AIDS prevention counselors and animators and create sustainable under the guidance of the coordination committee to foster discussion on HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and to conduct community sensitization and mobilization among adolescents and between parents and adolescents.

The development of relevant well-coordinated, gender-sensitive training materials would assist further the process of integrated service delivery.

This program component includes a large number of major and rather complex activities. It is important to link provision of services with community mobilization in order to avoid frustrations on the part of the communities and to maximize efficiency in service delivery. The activities would, therefore, be implemented in phases with the community capacity-building component described above. Most of the service delivery activities would require considerable time for preparation, field-testing and evaluation, and it is crucial that these steps are initiated early enough and implemented according to time schedules; otherwise overall performance of the program would be jeopardized. This would put considerable demand on coordinators at different levels and require careful selection of and effective support to the resource persons needed for technical inputs during the course of program preparations and implementation.

Most of the areas of service delivery would be supported in close collaboration with NGOs. In addition, other partners would be involved from the LC system and different government departments as well as independent opinion leaders and community resource persons.

The task of organizing all these actors into a coherent effort for children and adolescents requires flexibility in terms of approaches, based on a consensus on the basic principles of the “rights of the child”. The activities were planned to cover the whole country, but the implementation


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modalities would differ depending on local situations, collaborating partners and other conditions. Outputs and Associated Activities

This activity would strengthen the technical and logistical capacity of relevant extension staff and NGO partners for supervision, inspection, monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring and evaluation schedules, guidelines and indicators would be jointly developed. In particular, support supervision to district staff of the schools inspectorate would be strengthened to improve the quality of inspection and support to institutional and non-institutional community level education.

Where probation services exist, their outreach capacity and scope would be extended to cover not only legal protection but also improvement of care at household levels and monitoring of CEDC. Community development assistants would be targeted as stop-gap measures where there are no probation and welfare assistants (PWAs). The capacity of health educators and youth assistants would also be strengthened to promote safe sexual behaviors and to monitor indicators of behavior change, such as increased levels of abstinence, delay in the age of first intercourse, and condom use.


• Training and refresher courses in using comparison skills for analysis for district inspectors and assistant inspectors of schools, youth assistants, community development assistants, health educators and probation and welfare assistants;

• Development and production of supervision and inspectorate guidelines and checklists;

• Development and production of monitoring and evaluation instruments for probation services, life skills, early childhood development, complementary opportunities for Primary Education and HIV/AIDS prevention activities; and

• Technical and logistical support for supervision. Facilitators for promotion of community-based early childhood development and care taking should be trained

Early childhood development and care taking for neglected children is important for physical, cognitive and psychosocial development. As the problems and possible solutions differ greatly between different locations and even between different children, the program would train facilitators that are able to interact with the communities to assess and analyze the problems and


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to find suitable and affordable solutions. The facilitators would also assist the community in organizing new care taking arrangements and train local “child care attendants”.

The facilitators would also be able to act as advisors to the LC vice-chairpersons and the community committee overseeing child care and adolescent development issues and to constitute a link to other important resource persons and institutions that may be able to assist children or families with special problems, including children with disability.

Persons to be trained as facilitators would be selected by the community and could include teachers, women group leaders, etc.


• Development and distribution of curriculum, training and resource materials for facilitators; and

• Training of trainers and training of facilitators: Complementary opportunities for primary education provided

The complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative is designed to provide an opportunity for the unschooled and dropouts to re-enter the education system. It incorporates the development of packages of teaching and learning materials based on the existing core primary school curriculum, with a syllabus in mathematics, science and social studies.

As most of the children benefiting from this initiative would either be over age, part-time or in difficult circumstances, the learning packages would have to be specially designed, developed and field tested. This would be done in consultation with both teachers and learners. To place these learning materials in context, a needs assessment survey would be conducted in sample districts at first, which would help to determine specific learning needs of children in special circumstances, for example, those in fishing and mining villages, near trading centers, or in urban slums. Special attention would be given to the needs of girls so that they are able to receive a minimum level of relevant basic education.

A three-year pilot phase would be implemented to spread and incorporate new ideas and to allow time to develop more effective strategies to provide minimum education for out-of-school children. During the pilot phase teaching and learning materials would be developed in three packages: the first phase would develop materials for P1-P3 level; the second for P4- P6; and the third for P7-P8. Initially, the materials developed would be piloted over a small area before going throughout the country.

In the first year the materials developed would be used in three parishes in one of the pilot districts. The target population would be a minimum of 60 children distributed to three “learning posts”. The village committee in conjunction with the district education office would select the children for the initiative based on a set of criteria, such as the inability of the child’s family to


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pay school fees. The materials would also be given to other NGOs or church groups who are already, in a limited way, providing education to out-of-school children.

This would also increase the numbers within the targeted population. All the activities would be closely monitored, and materials would be revised as needed. The district education office and some of the selected head-teachers and the parish committee would have a major role in monitoring program effectiveness and usefulness for the next phase of intervention.

In the second year, another four parishes would be chosen in the same district for piloting the second level (P4-P6) materials. The target population would be another 90 out-of-school children. In this phase religious institutions and NGOs would be provided with teaching and learning materials for their out-of-school program.

In the third and final year another six parishes would be selected, three of them in a new district. The target population would be 120 out-of-school children. At this phase more implementers from the district education office, NGOs and community leaders would be involved in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the initiative and its impact on the community, the family and children.

Village teachers would be trained or retrained for the initiative. Teaching, under this initiative, would offer them extra income and would improve their teaching skills. Female teachers would be especially encouraged so as to have a beneficial effect on the enrolment rates for girls. There would be several short-term training courses and workshops for the district education office and school inspectors to orient them to new ideas and new ways of delivering education services. Various members of village, parish and sub-county education committees would also receive training on information collection, data analysis, report writing using the data generated, and mobilization of communities. These committees would form the backbone for generating village-based information and also in mobilizing the families or households and communities for their children’s education. Paralegals and focal officers at police stations trained in child-care and protection

One of the major obstacles to the protection of children’s and women’s rights is poor awareness and knowledge of these rights among people in general, and of the legal provisions and mechanisms for preventing or pursuing violations. The Ministry of Gender & Community Development (MGCD) piloted a project to train “women paralegals” in Kamuli district with promising results. The program was constructed on such experiences and extension of the approach to include children’s rights. The paralegals (financially supported by MGCD and FIDA) would offer their services and advice to people in general as well as to the various “special” actors described in this program, e.g. LC vice-chairpersons and other executives, extension staff, teachers, etc. The program would also train a focal officer at police stations in the observance and promotion of women’s and children’s rights.


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The paralegals would operate at sub-county level. The most suitable persons to be considered for this role would be LC secretaries for women or youth, community development officers, teachers, police officers, volunteers, indigenous NGO and CBO leaders.

Activities included: • A review of past experience to develop and test the program in selected districts; • Development of training and reference materials; and • Training of trainers, paralegals and focal officers at police stations. Non-institutional child-care strengthened Initiatives for non-institutional and substitute care would be promoted through advocacy, education and training. Community child-care centers and women’s groups would be used as entry points for educating caretakers, especially mothers, on nutrition and better feeding habits, including addressing iodine and vitamin A deficiency through linkages with the health sectors. Improved food production and storage would be promoted through income generating projects. Fostering and adoption practices would be promoted. The workload of mothers would be reduced through community child-care centers where education materials and training on better care practices would also be provided. CHAPTER FIVE Non Government Organizations that developed social welfare programs from the Children’s Statute policy of Uganda: Christian Children’s Fund Objectives of Christian Children’s Fund


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• Health and sanitation; The project has carried out malaria control which was intensified

through the distribution of about 323 treated mosquito nets to both enrolled and non enrolled families at subsidized prices.

• Education; the project has actively involved children in art works. This is done at the

project premises during holidays and both primary and secondary children are encouraged to participate in this activity. Those interested are given Manila paper and other drawing materials. This has helped holiday makers not stay during their time off school, which has also improved on the children’s talents.

• Capacity Building; The project has done a lot to boost family income through creating

income generating activities like poultry keeping and over 61 families were given 100 poultry chicks and each with partial feeds support. Training families in poultry layer production system of management, handling chicks and poultry diseases. The other activities introduced were cattle keeping, piggery and goat rearing, and this has benefited the community economically.

• Children and youths; Children and youths have various clubs like the Straight Talk,

music, dance and drama clubs. The straight talk activities straight talk office in Kampala where they receive monthly publications.

• Early childhood care and development; the project has constructed two rooms where the

ECCD meet to play, growth monitoring and supplementary feeding is also done. Parents with children below five years are trained in early childhood care; development/nutrition and children are encouraged to use the play materials at the ECCD centre. Over sixteen care givers and parents were trained in nutritious food growing to enhance the diet of children, and around eight demonstration kitchen gardens were established.

Masindi Social Services Centre. Masindi Social Services Centre derives its existence from statute law policy. Implementing social services has been central to social policy planning since its inception. The application of scientific and technical knowledge of social policy planning lent legitimacy to, and fueled hopes about the achievement of social justice, many agencies developed programs that can lead to protection of children. Generally speaking, the concept of social policy planning embodies the belief that people’s welfare can only be engineered and directed through social services, which can be consumed at the grass root level. Functions of Masindi Social Services Centre Supporting parents, children and community at large financially and thus improving the income of many parents of those enrolled children and their families. Giving loans to interested parents for subsistence, and they are encouraged to pay the loans on installments, which have been of great help to the parents and their children.


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Identifying sponsors who can provide funding for children’s education and create sustainable relationship with the sponsors. Maintenance of health community wide has been emphasized; the project purchases mosquito nets and sells them to the parents at reduced prices. Immunization of children below 5 years is also done at the project every Saturday. Programs and activities of Masindi project. Community aware of HIV/AIDS awareness program Many teenagers who are orphans are trained and empowered economically to educate the community on dangers of HIV/AIDS and to know how to stay faithful to their partners. This is done through shows that are done dramatically in various areas and on different days. Ggaba Meals Program social welfare provider Ggaba Meals Program social welfare provider is a day care centre with some nursery facilities like kitchen, a dinning hall, rest rooms and two offices. This program rehabilitates badly malnourished children under five (5) years .This program ensures the health and the total well being of the child in a broader context. This program was fully initiated as a community based project to address problems of wide spread malnutrition, which was leading to a high mortality rate among children under five years of age .Three years down the road, tremendous work has been with a total of 260 enrolled children since the program started are now normal with no visible symptoms of nutrient deficiencies. Alongside treating the children, the mothers of these children have benefited from the program by being taught the causes and remedies of malnutrition. Poor feeding has been the cause of stunting and emaciation in children. Similarly, the proportion of stunted children is a reflection of similar level of malnutrition amongst adult. Since several researches revealed that breast milk has been proved to be the best for infants, In this program breast-feeding has been strongly emphasized during classes with mothers. Babies who are breast-fed have fewer food-related health problems such as recurrent diarrhea from contaminated bottles and spoiled milk, allergies, deficiencies and over feeding. The Impact Assessment of the Media Training Program


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This program was implemented in 2004 with the goal to increase the capacity of the media in child’s rights advocacy. The envisaged outcome was a greater awareness of the child rights issues among the media fraternity. The research reveals that there has been a significant qualitative and quantitative increase in media and enthusiasm about child’s right issues. Children are trained in video filming. The productions can be accessible to students, researchers, journalists and organizations. The center has a wide range of literature on child rights issues and is open from Monday to Saturdays. Membership and Organizational Development This program area is based on the recognition that child rights promotion and protection is an enormous undertaking which can be achieved through continuously strengthening the organization. The ARM continues to work towards expanding organizational membership, building its capacity together with that of district. Relief and Resettlement Program This program is based in Soroti, Internally Displaced people Camps (IDPC). The agency works in partnership national and international churches, promoting individuals who are willing to go back to their village by farm implements and high yielding seeds. Vocational /Technical school This program is built for training the unemployed youths and also school dropouts in knitting, carpentry, tailoring, electrical installation masonry and brick laying. Some organized youths have access to loans to finance income generating activities such piggery and cattle rearing among others. Project activities Many spiritual activities take place at the project, starting with devotion time every center day (Monday–Friday) which involves praise, worship, prayer, Bible study and testimonies. The children learn more about God through Bible reading sessions and pictorial materials for the young ones between three and ten years. Books end videos based on Biblical discourses give more insight and enhance spiritual growth. In order to keep the children busy in church, there are some opportunities for participating in church activities like camps, seminars, training and retreats with other children who are not in the program. Through these activities, children get a chance of interacting with one another and build a forum of sharing experiences and situations. Gaba community church has a number of singing groups which minister in church, seminars, conferences and weddings. It is interesting that in all these groups, the project has children participating as members.


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Physical and social activities Children get involved in physical activities such as net-ball for girls and foot-ball for boys. They also have in-door games such as the board game, chess, and watching film to relax their minds. Several indoor games are provided such as badminton, ludo, draft, snake and ladders. Other activities children get involved include cleaning the centre classes, washing dishes used by the project staff members and giving a hand in the preparation of meals during the center days and camping days or seasons. Health activity To ensure children hygiene and cleanness, they are taught and encouraged to appear smart on every center day and at school. Every school term, children are facilitated with a bar of soap to wash their clothes and twice every year screening is carried out to assess the child’s health status and to find a way forward for treatment. Every child has the opportunity of getting medical treatment, which the project promptly pays for. Though they are strained by the budget they try as much as possible to provide a balanced diet to the children. Some of the food cooked includes porridge for breakfast, matooke, rice, maize flour, meat and a variety of vegetables. Educational activities Studying and teaching the bible are the most important aspects in their educational programs. Education being the centre of all activities and it’s the aspect where all children are required to present a report from where they were getting formal classes before being given school fees for the next term. But above all, discipline is quite necessary; this calls for registering children’s attendance at school and at every centre day. They have text books for every subject lent out to the children for revision. Debate and quiz have helped some children to become assertive when expressing themselves. With training skills, the children are taught how to tie and dye various pieces of clothes, drawing art and craft, baking and food preparation, sewing and needle work, dance and drama. These skills have availed those who are not good at academics a chance of using their potential and talents. Parent and family activity Children are taught and urged to help there parents and guardians with domestic work as an obligation and requirement by God. Some activities include:- -Fetching water -House cleaning -Cooking -Slashing compounds.


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Sensitization during parent’s meetings emphasized the need to monitor the activities of their children like school attendance, and to guard them against being involved in destructive peer group influence. Research activity Appropriate research is carried out and disseminating findings and relevant information pertaining to child neglect as well as the rights of children for the purposes of guiding advocacy and intervention work. This is done through evaluating the study of the child’s right clubs in areas like Mayuge, Rakai, Mukono, Mubende, Kapchorwa, Teso region for the purpose of establishing the effectiveness of the model. Material development for advocacy In order to enhance advocacy work, the agency produces several information materials. These include brochures; assemble messages, booklets and T-shirts for children on the child’s rights. Posters on children’s sexual abuse, domestic work and child labor are produced and disseminated at national and district levels. In additional, some of these materials are translated into various local languages in order to reach the wider audience in targeted areas. It also promotes links with the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect through information exchange. Sensitizing adult and empowerment of children This activity is done alongside community mobilization. It is done through training and evaluation of children’s rights interventions, for example through seminars, which emphasize the role and obligations of each of the various actors in prevention of child abuse. Task conducted Social workers are usually given the task of home visitation which includes visiting various children in their respective homes to find out how they are treated at home, weather they are given time to do homework and their health condition. This helps the project to find out ways of helping the child mistreated so as to achieve the goal of providing the child with good education, monitor health monitoring social care and spiritual guidance. Executive order as a type of social policy Fink (1998) viewed executive order as powerful form of policy making. The executive order revolves around the executive arm of government with the following actors; cabinet ministers and the president. The executive order is always the force behind dual control of public funds and the action of workers in the administrative branch of government units. In Uganda, it is often claimed that our law is based on liberal and democratic principles of universalism and equality. However, universal laws are rarely used to bring justice to executives who have been involved in


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embezzling public funds. Executives with connections with people at the highest of the political hierarchy have always managed to jump the legal barriers, but this does not leave us demoralized and skeptical about a remedy for the problem of corruption. The answer can only lie in a successful revolution because it a scientific certainty that a successful revolution always demystifies corrupt institutions. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) is one of the institutions which was curved out of executive order as policy and one of its duties is to recommend corrupt executives to be tried in courts of law. It is therefore credible to account for the policy choices made by the IGG as we witnessed the trial of executives who participated in the embezzling of the Global fund, money which was meant for treatment of malaria. Administrative policy Administrative policy is usually implemented in arenas that participate favorably in the employment market such as organizations, companies and of course government civil service. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory would provide a basic paradigm for the designing of administrative and employment policies. The hierarchy prescribed that employee’s motivation is based on the satisfaction of the following parameters of needs; physiological needs, security or safety, belonging or love, status and self actualization. Indeed Maslow belonged to the realm of classical organizational theorists who based their works on western organizational environments. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory would seem, then, to be logically flawed where it appears at first sight to be only feasible is western cultures where the policy allows provision of basic needs to the employee and his or her biological children per se. The policy does not put into context extended family as an African cultural pattern that has helped people to survive the test of time. An administrator from a welfare state where basic needs are harmonized may be surprised to see that an executive in Africa is given what seems to be enough remuneration and reasonable health security but continues to make health requisitions for sickness, which is typical of advanced age, for his energetic wife! a proof that the requisitions were for his/her mother. It may seem an ethical but it is the policy which requires revisiting so that it can fit in the cultural patterns which have great impact on employee’s performance. Several ethnic groups (tribes) such as the Banyankole- Bakiga, Acholi and the Ateso from Uganda and Kikuyu, and Kisi from Kenya and the Ibo and Yoruba from Nigeria etc exist in collective space contrary to the Baganda and Basoga and Meru and the Luhya from Kenya who are bit individualistic. Drawing on a wide range of empirical sources, it was revealed that even though the former is well remunerated, he/she will always try to make extra income to cater for dependants and tribes mates, well as the later may not bother. In fact the Bakiga refer to looking after dependants a moral imperative and duty of every member of the family well as the Baganda call it ebizibu problems. Security and belonging as fundamental needs in the realm of administration influenced the designing employment policies such as appointment letters and social welfare policies concerning assistance during time of need i.e. bereavement, weddings and recognition of employee’s achievements.


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Types of organizations which can illustrate the administrative policy Lyantonde sub county community service department Lyantonde sub county community service department is a government organization established by the Local Government Act 1997. Background of the organization. Rakai district is in southern Uganda. It borders Lake Victoria to the east, Tanzania to the south, Mbarara and Masaka districts to the west and north respectively with 4,973 square kilometers. It has the largest number of people living in rural areas and dependant on agriculture, livestock and fishing (about 96%) of the population live in rural areas. The number of females is higher than that of males with a high number of widows and orphans mainly resulting from HIV/AIDS epidemic. The district was established in 1974 and is today composed of four counties, three town councils, twenty-one sub counties, one hundred and eleven parishes and seven hundred and eighty villages. Local administration and revenue collection is the responsibility of the district administration, which was decentralized in 1992. Local executives are elected through universal adult suffrage. The levels at which the council system operates are village local council one (LC1), parish LC11, Sub County LC111, county LC IV, district LCV. The main urban centers in the district are Kyotera, Lyantonde and Kalisizo. The district headquarters is in Rakai town; in reality is a village with few inhabitants. Rakai district has a multiplicity of ethic groups made up of the Baganda agriculturalist and Banyankole pastoralists, the later being concentrated in the northern part of the district in Kabula and Kooki counties. The recent census reported over 38,000 people 0f Rwandan and Burundian origin in the district but many of these have returned to Rwanda. 90% of the Rakai population is Christian (60% Catholics and 30% Protestants) only 9% are Moslem, leaving 1% as non-believers or pagans. However, the data is confusing, since it does not defines believers in African religion and yet it is a known school that people swing both ways, during the day the go to church and mosque, at night they go to the shrine. May because the census is conducted during the day, which is why western subscription ends with higher empirical significance. Historically, Rakai has been a neglected district with a poor communication network. It is only in the last few years that the district infrastructure and basic social services such as heath, water, and education have begun to be improved. A tarmac road links Kampala to Kyotera and Rakai, whilst the main road to the northwest of the country cuts through Lyantonde in the northwest of the district. The local economy is primarily agricultural; subsistence cultivation of green bananas, sweet potatoes, cassava, maize and beans is the principal means of livelihood for 70% of Rakai’s


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population, though a proportion of these crops are also marketed with in and out side the district. Coffee is the major cash crop of the district. Specific Project Location Lyantonde sub county, is one of the six sub counties that make up Kabula county. It is located 54 km from Rakai district headquarters and near Lyantonde town council on the Mbarara Masaka Kampala high-way. Its proximity to the town council enables to access social services like water, hospital and easy means of communication provided with in the town council.

Of recent, Kabula County has gained district status as Lyantonde, with its headquarters located at the sub county. Population distribution The population is projected at 14,876, of which 7,386 are males and 7,511 are females. The Baganda, Banyankole, Barundi mostly inhabit the sub county and the Bakiga are distributed throughout the sub-county. Although it is a rural sub county, its headquarters are in the town council and most people transact their businesses from the town. The town is strategically located a long the Masaka –Mbarara high-way. This enables the residents to benefit from travelers through selling farm products. Table 3 showing Population by Gender.

Ad

ministrativel

y, the sub county

compris

es five parishes and

Parish

Number of Villages

Males

Females

Total

Biwolobo

10

1817

1899

3716

Kalagala

10

1637

1600

3137

Katovu

5

1587

1620

3207

Kiwoza

4

546

491

1037

Kyewanula

10

1799

1901

3700

Total

39

7386

7511

14894


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thirty nine villages (LCs). The community service department serves beyond the sub-county level to embrace all the sub- counties in the newly-formed district of Lyantonde. This makes it very challenging to offer facilitation and planning process to the grass root level, due to limited resources in the sub county, which affects the activities of the community service department in particular. Project Vision Statement A community living happily without poverty to ensure improved quality of life. Mission Statement. To serve the community through the coordinated delivery of services which focus on national and local priorities and contribution towards the improvement in the people’s quality of life. Source of Funding. Lyantonde sub-county receives its funds mainly from the central government in form of LGD11, PMA and from other development partners in the district like Salam SHIELD foundation, Lutheran World Federation, VI Agro-forestry, ECCA in form of initiating and implementing developmental projects such as building of schools, houses for CHH, construction of water tanks for safe water, tree planting and above all HIV/AIDS education. Collecting money from licenses is one of the sub-county sources of funds. Funds obtained from the central government are primarily meant to pay salaries of employees and implementation of the development programs at the sub-county and lower local councils. Organizational objectives.

� To improve the status of sub-county revenue mobilization and management and

development plan through training of STPC in development planning, promote accountability and transparency in handling public finances.

� To improve quality of education in the sub county through improved quality of school

infrastructure to better the learning environment so as to increase school enrolment by 5% before the end of 2008.

� To increase access to health services through improved home sanitation and hygiene in at

least 90% of the household in the area, reducing prevalence of immunisable diseases from 40% to 15% by 2009, reduce the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate from 12% to 4% by 2009. This is to be achieved through conducting community health education campaign mobilize the community to go for VCT in order to reduce the spread of AIDS, construct and make use of latrines.


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� Increase accessibility of community roads and sustainable safe water sources through installation of culverts, opening up and grading of 45km of feeder roads and construction of home-based tanks.

� Improve on the socio-economic conditions of the people through mobilization of

communities to participate in development programs like IGAS, FAL and training of communities in gender relations and human rights to cheer the education for a girl child to lessen the dangers of early marriages.

� Enhance household incomes and food security through PMA and NAADS government

policies. This will permit farmers to access additional incomes via selling agricultural products.

Achievements of the agency. With the total abolition of graduated tax, it has been very difficult to carry out development activities successfully. However, the sub-county working with development partners in the district and the central government, has managed to register the following successes in the previous years: At sub county level Nakinombe-Buyanja road, which is 9km, has been graded under LDG II. Providing training ground (conference hall) to the development partners, such as NGOs, its important to note that HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has reduced and so is domestic violence. The community development departments working with partners like LWF, ECCA, and PAR among others have made it possible to mobilize and train the community on sexual behavior, gender issues and human rights with the view of reducing HIV/AIDS and domestic violence common in the area.

At Parish Level.

� Established cassava gardens and fruit tree nursery beds for multiplication in Kilowoza and Kalagala parishes respectively under PMA.

� Procured 07 he cross goats for Kilowoza and Kyewanula parishes under LDG II.

� Established Mpologoma banana multiplication gardens for Katovu, Biwolobo and

Kyewanula parishes under PMA.

� The sub county procured 22, three-seater desks for Biwolobo and Kabetemere primary schools both found in Biwolobo parish under LDG II.

Programs/activities of the organization.


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The agency has very broad programs depending on the sub-county three-year development plan and the financial budget planned for that year. Therefore, it important to note that every fiscal year the sub county has its programs to be implemented in that year. Below is the break down of programs/activities to be implemented in 2006/07 financial years.

� Increase on the numbers of permanent classrooms in all schools and establish more new schools in the sub-county under SFG to accommodate the ever-increasing number of children.

� Boost safe water sources in all zones through construction of valley tanks. This in turn is

important in humanizing the sub county hygiene that will determine a disease free society in the area.

� Capacity building and sensitization to train technical staff, councilors and the community

in general.

� Improving household incomes through NAADS and PMA government programs.

� Ensuring food security in the sub-county through supply of cassava “Omogole” seeds to every household in the sub county.

� Environmental protection and conservation. Through sensitization of the community on

the importance of land and forestry conservation.

� Functional Adult Literacy. Table 4 showing categories and qualifications of the agency personnel.

Positions Number Qualification

Sub county chief 01 Diploma Accountant assistant 01 UDBS Veterinary officer 01 Degree Agricultural officer 01 Degree Community Dep’t assistant 01 Health assistant 01 Diploma Administrative police 02 O-level Parish chief 03 O-level Office attendant 01 A-level


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Problems /challenges facing the organization. Drought has caused a disaster to the community living in the area. This had a negative bearing on crop production and animal production that are both major employment activities. In days of foot and mouth disease, the cattle keepers suffer more because they are not allowed to move out-side the district to neighboring areas for water. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been since 1982 a major problem in the district of Rakai. The same affected the sub-county and it is because of this epidemic that the sub county possesses a high number of orphans, widows and widowers. The community service department receives many cases related to orphans’ rights abuse. It is vital to note that the period I have spent with the agency I have managed to handle many cases related to abuse of orphans’ rights. Since the suspension of graduated tax, the sub county has experienced high revenue decline. However, the central government releases funds to cater for all the sub county obligations and councilors allowances. Future plans for the agency. Construct three health centers in the sub county to deal with the high levels of fever and other related diseases in the area. Construct twelve staff quarters for Kalagala, Kabetemele, and Kitazigolokwa primary school to enhance and promote school academic performance in the sub county. Excavate three valley tanks to harvest safe water for the community with a view to improving sanitation and hygiene in the sub-county. Increase household incomes and food security through PMA and NAADs government programs Improve socio-economic conditions of the people by strengthening the community and social welfare department. Mobilize farmers to form marketing groups and have one voice to bargain for better prices in market centers. Mobilize women and youth to participate in income generating activities, which is vital in promoting household incomes. Welfare policies Welfare policies were the main domain of social policy planning and they used to put a high premium on the promotion of public/common good as illustrated below. Promotion of the Public/common Good The post-modernism branch of philosophy concurs with the writings of several fore-fathers of philosophy who include Thomas Hobbes, Emmanuel Kant and Jeremy Betham, among others,


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who articulated in eloquent terms that the first order and responsibility of government should be the promotion of public good. Promotion of public good finds its location within the realms of the utilitarian calculation of the common good. Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Betham advocate that if any base motive such as basic needs is ideal for the development of humanity, then it should not be left to chance or market forces, it should be harmonized. Examples of public good which can result into common good are: • Public schools • Public hospitals • High ways and infrastructure • Immunization programs • Public health inspection • Safe and clean water The philosophy asserts that it is the government’s responsibility to promote the designing of policies that result into programs that benefit the whole society, not just a small segment of the society but design policies that create a conducive climate for other actors to perform, for example, liberalization and privatization policies. Policies in Uganda which illustrate the philosophy of common good Immunization is a policy Immunization is a policy is a central component which can provide sociological underpinning for promotion of common good. Since its inception, in the early postwar years, the central argument for common good has been that without it, some products which are fundamental to the development of humanity will be left to market forces. Immunization is a policy under the ministry of health. The health policy which includes the immunization policy or program that was put in more efforts by the Ministry of Health through the Uganda National Expanded Program on immunization (UNEP) decided to provide quality immunization services for survival, growth and development of children. It was since 2000 when Uganda put more efforts and even joined the rest of the world in fighting against the polio, measles and elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus. Supplemental immunization activities (SIAS) for polio, measles and tetanus have been implemented in Uganda with commendable results. The concentrated efforts have realized significant achievements, including a steady increase in immunization coverage for all citizens, the absence of wild poliovirus since 1997 and the dramatic reduction of measles causes by over 95% since 2003. Neonatal tetanus causes have reduced especially in the districts Busoga where SIAS for tetanus toxoid were conducted in 2002 and 2003. Types of immunization There are four types of immunization as can be seen below.


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Routine immunization is the provision of basic vaccines for all infants and women of child-bearing age, according to the national immunization schedule and approved antigens. It is provided at state lower level health units, out reaches, hospital wards and in schools. Accelerated routine immunization, which refers to deliberate identification by immunization planners, mobilizers and health workers of ways and means to expand and extend immunization services to the hard – to – reach and those not often reached. This is through children registration, house to house mobilization ensuring functioning of all scheduled out reaches, among others. Catch immunization is a one-time special activity to identify individual children (or women) through screening vaccination history (by card and/or verbal) and provide vaccine doses that one or that had been missed. Supplemental immunization is the provision of additional doses of antigens/vaccine to all members of the target age group regardless of previous vaccination status. This is usually a special activity and does not require screening. History of NIDs/SNIDS in Uganda. NIDs or SNIDs have been conducted in Uganda since 1996. The dates when the polio, measles and tetanus campaigns were implemented are: 1st year NIDs: polio. 14th – 15th December 1996 and 18th – 19th January 1997. 2nd year NIDs: 2nd -3rd August 1997 and 13th – 14th September 1997. 3rd year NIDs: polio. 1st – 2nd August 1998 and 12th – 13th September 1998. 4th year NIDs: polio. 7th – 8th August 1999 and 25th – 26th September 1999. 5th year SNIDs: polio 26th – 27th August 1999 2000 and 30th September – 1st October 2000. 6th year SNIDs: polio 11th – 12th August 2001 and 15th – 16th September 2001. 7th year SNIDs: polio 31st August – 1st September 2002. Polio and measles. 5th – 6th October 2002. Tetanus. September and October 2003. 8th year NIDs: measles and tetanus. October 15th – 19th 2003 9th year SNIDs: tetanus. September and October 2004. 10th year SNIDs polio, measles, tetanus and catch –up for routine. 26th – 27th February 2005 and 7th – 8th may 2005 (integrated with child days). 11th year NIDs integrated measles, polio, TT (3rd round in 11 districts) and accelerated routine immunization activities (ARIAs) to be phased July – November 2006. The Ministry of Health through the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization (UNEPI) is committed to provision of quality immunization services for survival, growth and development of children. Since 2000, concerted efforts have been made to revitalize (UNEPI). Uganda has also joined the rest of the world to implement globally recommended strategies to accelerate disease control (polio eradication, measles control and elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus). Supplemental immunization activities (SIAS) for polio, measles and tetanus have been implemented in Uganda with commendable results. Over the years, surveillance for


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vaccine-preventable diseases has been strengthened within the overall framework of integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR). Despite the above-mentioned achievements, the national coverage with OPV3, DPT HepB+Hib3, measles and TT has not yet reached the required level to protect all children and women. Detailed analysis shows that immunization coverage and surveillance indicators can still be significantly improved in most sub-countries in the country. The district league table shows that some districts have persistently performed poorly, and others have declined after a period of good performance. This leads to a rapid build-up of a “pool” of unimmunised children are not protected, are susceptible to disease, and can transmit infection to other vulnerable members of society, including very young infants. The Ministry of Health is committed to the eradication of poliomyelitis in accordance with the WHO global goal. Among the strategies is the presence of a strong routine immunization program, implementation of supplemental immunization campaigns, and effective surveillance for polio Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). In view of the threat of importation of wild poliovirus in Uganda, the Ministry of Health advises all districts to accelerate routine immunization and surveillance. A field manual and training guide has been developed for use at central, district and sub-country levels in planning, training and implementation of this year’s SIAS. The purpose of this manual is to give districts and all operational workers a one stop reference centre where operational issues involved in implementation, a campaign that is integrated with acceleration of routine immunization can be found. It is anticipated that this guide will be useful to all the users. Community leaders, health planers and health workers must read it during preparations to ensure that all children in their area of responsibility are fully protected measles, polio and other vaccine preventable diseases. Purpose of this field guide The purpose of this field manual and training guide is to equip health managers, supervisors and service providers at all levels with information on integrated Supplemental Immunization Activities (SIAS) and Accelerated Routine Immunization activities (ARIAS). The major areas covered include;

• Justification of SIAS and ARIAS 2006 • Target population to be reached • The package to be offered during the implementation of SIAS and ARIAS 2006. • Overview of planning for SIAS and ARIAS. • Training for SIAS and ARIAS • Social mobilization strategies and key messages for SIAS and ARIAS • Estimation and recording to vaccines and other logistics during the planning and

implementation of SIAS.


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• Organization of the immunization post. • Management and administration of vaccines • SIAS and ARIAS data collection and management. • Injection safety and waste management. • Surveillance for UNEPI targeted diseases/conditions including management of AEFIS.

Therefore, the guide would be used as

• Reference materials for health worker at all levels. • Training and planning guide at the central, district and health sub district and sub sub-

country. • A source of information for mobilizers and leaders of all categories and UNEPI

mobilizers.

Since introduction of the accelerated measles control strategy for Africa, Uganda has been heavily engaged in efforts to achieve measles control. From 1999-2010, Uganda implemented an accelerated measles control strategy that focused on increasing route coverage, providing a second opportunity (campaign dose) for measles vaccination and biannual vitamin A supplements administered to all children less than five years. The strategy also improved measles surveillance. The campaign was implemented in two phases and the overall coverage was 98% in 1999-2000 and 115% in 2001, with 61% (17/28) and was reported to have averted an estimated 97,284 cases of measles, reduced the annual measles incidence by 39% and reduced measles related deaths by 63%, short of the targeted 90% reduction in morbidity and 95% reduction in mortality. The Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) still ranked measles fourth among the top ten causes of morbidity and mortality in 2001 (UBOS.UDHS 2000-2001). In October 2002, the status of measles control in Uganda was reviewed and the 2002-2006 accelerated measles control strategy developed. In line with UNICEF and World Health Organization recommendations, the revised measles control strategy for Uganda maintained strengthening routine immunization, measles supplemental dose (catch-up and follow-up campaigns) and improving measles surveillance. Mass measles (campaign) vaccination targets were revised to include all children 6 months to 14 years in a single nationwide campaign that was implemented from 15th to 19th October 2003, which also offered Vitamin A supplementation to all children 6 to 59 months, and Albendazole to all children 5 to 14 years. The campaign was successful in attaining national measles vaccination coverage of 104%. However, disaggregating of coverage by district indicated that coverage ranged between 52% in Kalangala to 130% in Mayuge districts respectively. Coverage surveys showed that high coverage was also achieved in districts with poor administrative coverage. Since October 2003, reported measles cases in Uganda declined by 96% and deaths by 100%. Only 11 out of 3,564 suspected measles cases were laboratory confirmed between January 2004 and December 2005. However, measles outbreaks begun to recur in January 2006. By June 2006, measles outbreaks had been confirmed in seven districts of Butaleja, Kayunga, Masindi, Kampala, Kitgum, Bushenyi and Pader. A rapid risk assessment done at that time indicated that


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over 60% of districts (carrying 76% of the total Population) would have reached their measles outbreak thresholds by October 2006. Secondly, poliomyelitis due to wild poliovirus has not occurred in Uganda since 1996 and polio eradication is on course. However, the country is still at risk of virus importation from countries where outbreaks continue to occur. Having seen a wild poliovirus in Namibia, a country that had been polio free for over 13 years and the recently confirmed outbreaks in Angola and DRC, it became clear that Uganda needed a pre-emptive mass vaccination against polio in order to prevent possible outbreaks. Given that a measles campaign was inevitable, UNEPI and partners thought it wise to combine the two campaigns so that children under five are reached at a single opportunity. Thirdly, Uganda is approaching the end of its plan to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus, with just a few districts to complete their plans. In nine districts considered to be of high risk, a round of their Tetanus vaccination campaigns was due this year and will therefore be integrated in the November NIDS. In order to minimize opportunities for routine immunization, all children and women of child bearing age attending this years immunization campaigns will also be screened for BCG, TT and DPT-HepB+Hip routine immunization doses. This added effort to provide routine immunization services for BCG, TT and DPT-HepB+Hib is what has been referred to as Accelerated Routine Immunization Activities (ARIAS). This approach in implementation of the 2006 NIDS is in line with UNEPI’S vision outlined in 2006-2010 comprehensive multi year plan for immunization services delivery. Ensuring high vaccination coverage (both routine and NIDS) in Uganda will reduce childhood illness and death, help achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, and contribute to fulfillment of the right of children to health. In order to maintain low incidence of measles, the routine immunization coverage needs to be sustained at over 95% in each and very district/sub country. This desired measles coverage has eluded many districts due to low demand resulting from inadequate grass-root mobilization of parents and caretakers and irregular immunization outreaches. Current national routine measles immunization coverage is at 86%. However, there are inter-district variations with some district as low as 55%. This has contributed to the re-surgence of measles outbreak in various districts. Therefore, routine immunization service delivery should be stepped up even after the campaign. Definition of routine immunization Routine immunization is the provision of basic vaccines for all infants and women of child bearing age, according to the national immunization schedule and approved antigens. Routine immunization is provided in static lower level health units, outreaches, hospital wards, and in some circumstances, also schools. This includes reducing drop-out and missed opportunities through screening of the target population at each contact. The current UNEPI policy provides for immunizing all infants, but also providing vaccines to older children for any doses they may


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have missed (up to two years for BCG and up to 59 months for OPV, DPT-HepB-Hib and measles). Accelerated routine immunization is the deliberate identification by immunization planners, mobilizers and health workers of ways and means to expand and extend immunization services to the hard-to reach and those not often reached. This includes a variety of locally appropriate methods and strategies which can include registration of children, house-to-house mobilization, ensuring functioning of all scheduled outreaches, planning of additional sustainable and integrated outreach services especially for remote areas (which can involve an expanded health team staying in the community over night). It can also involve special activities such as “pulse” immunization, a periodic provision of services to a community e.g. once a month for three months. Catch-up immunization is a one-time special activity to identify individual children (or women) through screening of their vaccination history (by card and/or verbal) and provide vaccine doses that are due or that had been issued. Supplemental immunization is the provision of additional doses of a given antigen/vaccine to all members of the target age group regardless of previous vaccination status. This is usually a special activity and does not require screening. The target age group may in some cases be wider than the usual age group for the routine program. The purpose of supplemental immunization activities is three fold:

1. To reach the previously un reached through bringing services closer to the people (additional posts) and extending hours of service availability (e.g services offered Saturday, Sunday, and other extended hours).

2. To provide additional doses to all the target group in addition to their routine dose. 3. To interrupt transmission of the pathogen (e.g. wild poliovirus, measles virus) by

provision of vaccine to the entire population at the same time. This third purpose is also the reason for synchronizing Supplemental Immunization Activities (SIAS) across several geographic areas, countries and borders. The doses of vaccine given during SIAS activities do not replace the doses of routine immunization. If properly conducted, supplemental immunization can contribute to the eradication of polio and the elimination of measles and tetanus. The classic strategy adopted by the government of Uganda since 1996 has been the implementation of National Immunization Days (NIDS), or Sub-national Immunization Days (NIDS and SNIDS) according to the need, level of perceived risk in different parts of the country and availability of resources. Therefore, planning and training for immunization should in all instances cater for routine, accelerated routine and supplemental immunization activities where applicable, as well as surveillance. Justification of accelerated routine immunization and integrated supplemental immunization activities 2006.


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In October 2003, government conducted a measles vaccination campaign for children six months-14 years. This resulted in near-zero incidence of measles in the country. There was over 90% reduction in morbidity and mortality due to measles as a result of this successful campaign. To sustain this achievement, the routine coverage needed to be sustained at over 95% in each district, a target that has eluded many districts. The plan of action to control measles developed in November 2005 focused on strengthening routine immunization and proving a follow up second dose. As a result of poor routine coverage and building up of high numbers of unimmunized children, measles outbreaks are back. By the end of June (30th/6.2006), six district including Kampala, Wakiso, Paider, Kitgum, Bushenyi and Butaleja had confirmed outbreaks while 17 others had reported sporadic cases. By end of June 2006, 792 cases (120 serologically confirmed measles & 132 rubella cases) had been reported countrywide as compared to 449 cases (6 confirmed) by the same time in 2005, giving a 20-fold increase in confirmed cases of measles. By end of June 2006, 24 districts had confirmed measles out break compared to five districts in the same period in 2005. Of the confirmed cases, 84% of the children were five years with 79% falling in the immunization bracket (9-59 months). Over 70% of the serologically confirmed cases were not vaccinated by the time of measles infection. Regarding polio, globally four countries remain endemic. Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, a number of countries have experienced importation of polio including Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar that reported cases in 2006. In the African region, DR Congo had been polio free for over six years and reported cases from imported poliovirus in may 2006. In June 2006, Namibia, which had been polio free since 1995, had an importation of poliovirus strain from India affecting adults-20 years and above who probably missed their (routine and campaign) immunization doses. Another African country had that has registered importation is Somalia. In view of the fact that OPV3 coverage has reached the required level to interrupt transmission of WPV in Uganda (90%) and that not all districts have attained certification level surveillance indicators, Uganda remains at high risk for importation of polio. About 23 out of the 56 districts did not achieve OPV3 coverage above 80% in 2005. In addition, there has been a build up of a high number of un immunized children (3.5 million) over the past five years (2001-2005) due to low OPV coverage in some districts, creating an immunity gap. A risk analysis for polio importation for districts based on routine immunization and surveillance indicators shows that a significant number of districts in Uganda are at risk of polio out-breaks. There is, therefore, need to accelerate efforts to ensure that importation of polio is prevented. In view of the above, government has planned to implement integrated campaigns for measles, OPV and routine immunization activities (ARIAS) for antigens other than measles and OPV. In addition, the districts of Pallisa, Budaka, Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Masaka, Kasese, Kiboga,


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Kamwenge, Hoima, Bundibugyo and Sembabule will in addition add on the third round of the TT vaccination. Due to resource constraints, implementation was phased starting with highly susceptible populations because of their living conditions e.g. internally displaced persons and refugees in camps, border districts and districts with measles outbreaks. Resources have been mobilized to roll out implementation in the remaining country in November 2006. Reasons which formed the basis for integrating routine immunization with supplemental immunization activities in 2006.

1. This is an emergency response to the measles outbreaks that have been reported in many districts and is rapidly spreading to other districts. Hospitals that had earlier closed wards have now re-opened them.

2. Districts are reporting routine measles coverage of less than 95% needed for stopping transmission. Routine immunization coverage in most districts is not adequate to stop transmission of contagious disease like polio and measles.

3. Supplemental dose of polio will further build the herd immunity to stop measles out-breaks and importation of polio into Uganda.

4. in some districts, children are in congested internally displaced camps with poor sanitation and inadequate nutrition. This increases their vulnerability and transmissibility of infectious diseases like measles and poliomyelitis.

5. Routine TT coverage has persistently remained below the 80% needed to achieve MNT elimination. The supplemental dose will supplement routine TT coverage.

6. There is need to attain WHO standard surveillance indicators for polio and measles in all districts of Uganda.

Theme The theme for all immunization activities in 2006 was “Stopping measles and polio from coming back.” Objectives For accelerating routine immunization activities:

i. To attain at least 80% DPT-Hepatitis B+Hib-3 coverage for children under 1 year in all sub-counties in Uganda

For supplemental immunization

i. To conduct one round of supplemental immunization activities for measles targeting 90% of children aged 6-59 months.

ii. To conduct one round of supplemental immunization activities for OPV targeting 90% of children aged 0-59 months.

iii. To vaccinate 80% women of child bearing age (15-49 years) with 3rd round of IT vaccination in 11 districts.


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For strengthening EPI surveillance i. To detect at least 2 AFP cases per 100,000 populations under 15 years of age every

calendar year. ii. To identify and investigate all suspected cases of measles (collect serum samples for

laboratory confirmation). iii. Investigate all suspected measles outbreak timely. iv. Investigate all suspected cases of NNT timely and document the impact of MNT

campaigns.


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CHAPTER SIX PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIAL POLICY Because of the failure to have a universally acceptable definition of social policy, some scholars have developed different conceptions of social policy. In view of the foregoing Alcock et al (2000) contended that social policy is closely concerned with the activities of the state that is, the range of government policies and social services used to enhance the welfare of the citizens within the country. However, it was known and discussed by (Howard 1990 and Pyne 1996) among others, while in agreement with Bailey that social policy is a complex term. Therefore Alcock (2001) and McBeth (1997) have much in common with Howard when they argued that there will always be debate about what constitutes social policy as a discipline. Despite all this controversy social policy can be conceptualized under seven major perspectives. 1. Social policy as a philosophy 2. Social policy as an ideology 3. Social policy as a program / product 4. Social policy as a field of study. 5. Social policy as a framework for action 6. Social policy as a process 7. Social policy as planning Social Policy as a Philosophy The concept “social policy”, basing on the operational definition of a philosophy, is a set of guiding principles of behavior. In this sense, social policy, when perceived as a philosophical concept is the principle whereby civil societies collectively initiate sustainable solutions to problems that create for them undesirable conditions. In the same regard, in recent times, different professionals have adopted the philosophical concept by carrying out research in systematic enquiry using inter-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Interdisciplinary approach is the emergence of insights or understandings on a set of questions through the interrogation of different methods, theoretical frameworks, and concepts, models assembled from a wide section of disciplines to generate novel concepts and synthesize new theories. Different professions confer and rely on each other to draw conclusions and plan interventions. In multi-disciplinary approach, different professionals stay in their own boundaries of disciplines and professional space and use theories and methods derived from their realm of professional existence and just make referrals if a complete intervention is to be achieved.


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However, before we embark on the conceptualization of the seven perspectives, it is imperative to give a preface of the philosophical account. Social policy as a philosophical concept flows from the two philosophical paradigms i.e. • Ontology and • Epistemology. Ontological question in relation to social policy The basic ontological question in social policy investigation concerns the nature of reality, the existence of knowledge and the nature of the phenomenon we seek to investigate in social policy. The ontological dimension of social policy makes a systematic enquiry into the objects of knowledge by interrogating whether reality is given or it is a product or figment of our imagination. The monitoring and evaluation of implemented social policies is derived from the ontological space. In the health policy, it is imperative for the ontological inquiry to interrogate that if the health centers were constructed, do the people use them and has the policy reduced ill health in that particular community? The ontological questioning is of paramount importance because it evaluates the application and the performance of the policy and can help to find out whether the policy is providing answers to existing problems or it is rhetoric and just lip-service. All designed policies should be subjected to ontological questioning in order to identify such policies that are obsolete and require revisiting. There exists within social policy thinking a basic division which separates those who view the reality they seek to investigate as being real and external to the individual, with reality imposing itself on the consciousness of the individual. On the other extreme, ontological position, which view reality as an image, will base its existence on the product of individual consciousness. The ontological question in social policy planning, therefore, divides those who view reality as having an existence separate from and prior to actors versus those who would argue that reality has no existence separate from or prior to actors. Thinking in terms of social policy, we would say that the extreme ontological position would set those who view social policies boundaries as presenting analytical construct. Epistemology paradigm and social policy Etymologically, epistemology is a Greek word that means “proven facts” In my philosophy class, I studied with a Greek girl who used to translate all Greek words, which are common in the philosophical discourses. The etymological translations gave us deeper insight into the realm of philosophical space. Anyhow, epistemology can find its location and empirical bases in social policy, resulting into the dynamics of collectivism as opposed to individualism. It is a proven fact that several societies have survived the test of time in their existence through collective survival strategies. Other examples that can provide sharp illustrations of the epistemological paradigm is the Greemine Bank in Bangladesh which was the genesis for Micro-Finance Institutions (MFI), Education policies and program such as PROPEL of India, BRAC of Bangladesh and TOSTAN of Senegal. These policies and programs were discussed in detail in the previous chapters.


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The following examples illustrates that policy makers adopt the epistemological objects of knowledge by exploring policies from other societies that have proved to solve similar social problems. • The Kenyan education delegation was sent to Uganda to study how the Universal Primary

Education (UPE) was implemented in Uganda. • The Ghanaian delegation came to Uganda to study how the decentralization policy was

implemented in Uganda. The above delegations were working with the presumption that it is a proven fact that the broad-based education policy and the decentralization policy have had a positive impact in the mitigation of illiteracy levels which is a fundamental factor in nation state development.

This chapter provides a rich body of case studies that can provide deeper insight in the epistemological paradigm. At a fundamental level, the epistemological question mirrors our discussion of the ontological paradigm. Extreme epistemological position would represent division between those who would believe that knowledge should be acquired, from those who argue that knowledge has to be experienced personally. This epistemological line of thought has had a tremendous impact on the principle of self-determination and user participation in the designing of the social services which are interpreted from existing social policies. Social Policy as a Product When social policy is conceived as a program or product, it consists of the conclusions reached by governments concerned with the betterment of societal conditions. As a program or products social policy refers to a series of social economic activities or programs that are symbolic and which can be seen to be taking place, dealing with existing problems by creating new services. Social policy as a product can be perceived as concrete outcomes of state programs. These could be improved medical services improved education, income maintenance, housing protection of vulnerable groups as illustrated in the subsequent chapters of this text. Intervention in the Free Market Public welfare policies from which social policies are interpreted are based on the philosophy that it is necessary for the government to intervene in the free market economy. Examples of this philosophy can be reflected in a scenario where government provides subsidies in the agricultural industry, drugs and farm implements to keep farm prices at affordable levels as illustrated in Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PIMA) and National agricultural advisory services (NAADS) policies. National agricultural advisory services


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The National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) is an extension policy under the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries. It is now six years old and in the first phase of seven years. NAADS is one of the seven pillars for the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) is charged with the duties of offering advisory services to farmers on best husbandry practices, enabling farmers to access improved seeds and breeds and organizing farmers into groups and associations for purposes of collective marketing. One of the ways NAADS trains farmers is through Technology Development Sites and Demonstrations. The measurement of NAADS impact is not by the signposts. The signposts only serve to guide and inform the public about the presence of NAADS Technology Development Sites (TDS) or demonstration sites within vicinity. Technology Development Sites are multifunctional in delivery of services under NAADS. They are training centers for farmers to practically learn best husbandry practices like use of fertilizers, pesticides and so on. They are also entry points for new varieties of improved seeds or breeds. For example, a bag of improved groundnuts variety seeds is planted at the TDS from research, and out of it when multiplied 20 bags of improved groundnuts leave the site for farmers' gardens. This means that more farmers can access improved varieties of seeds. TDS are also important in multiplication of improved breeds of livestock or birds. For example, a TDS for boer goat or exotic bull can enable many farmers bring their she goats or cows for mating to improve on the local breed. TDS therefore provides a springboard for new technology, and increase farmers' awareness of the technology in a particular area. How to find the location of a TDS Signposts are usually placed at the roadsides showing the direction to the TDS. These signposts also provide minimal information on TDS activities. Another signpost is placed at the actual TDS to give details about the activities in the TDS. These signposts at the venue are hosted and managed by an individual farmer on behalf of his or her group members or by a whole farmers group who have secured the land for the TDS. A TDS is not permanent like a school, a bridge or health centre. These sites last as long as the intended activities continue. Some TDS like Groundnuts or Rice multiplication may last 3-4 months. Others like bananas multiplication may last several seasons while others like the bull scheme for livestock improvement may last several years. Thereafter, such sites cease to be TDS. At the end of the TDS period, the signpost should be removed by the farmer groups. This however, often times does not happen and the signpost remains in place. The signpost, therefore, is not a measure of NAADS impact, but an indicator of NAADS presence in an area. NAADS impact is actually measured by;


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- Availability of improved seeds/ breeds to : farmers - Utilization of technologies by farmers - Increase in farmers' awareness of new technologies and practices. - Framers incomes are increasing - More farmers are organized into groups and associations for purposes of marketing. From independent evaluations by UBOS, IFPRI, ScanAgri, NAADS is having a strong impact at household levels. There is evidence of increased productivity and household incomes in areas where NAADS is functional when compared to areas where the program is yet to be implemented. For example, in Manibe sub-county in Arua district, farmers have realized a 5-fold increase in yield because of planting improved groundnuts varieties Serenut 2 and 3, which started from only a few bags at Technology Development Sites. NAADS is the National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) which is new program of the Government of Uganda put in place to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural extension service. It is a semi-autonomous body formed under NAADS Act of June 2001 with a mandate to develop a demand driven, farmer-led agricultural service delivery system targeting the poor subsistence farmers, with emphasis to women, youths and people with disabilities. Its development goal is to enhance rural livelihoods by increasing agricultural productivity and profitability in a sustainable manner. National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) which as a new program created under the plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA), as one of the government efforts to reduce poverty. The program is also responsible for provision of agriculture extension services and technical advice to farmers. It gives farmers, particularly the poor women and the youths, powers to ask for advisory services for their priority enterprises. In the past, farmers have been waiting for extension workers to bring services to them but now the farmers have to identify the advice they need and contact the person to provide it. This person will be a private service provider. NAADS is working in pursuit of the national development framework of Poverty Eradication Agenda, which is guided by the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). The supervision provided by NAADS is vested in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).The program was officially launched in March 2002. The Implementation of NAADS program started in July 2001 in the six trailblazing districts of Arua, Kabale, Kibale, Mukono, Soroti and Tororo, operating in only four sub-counties in all districts. The trailblazing districts and sub-counties were chosen according to the criteria designed to reflect variety with respect to nature of local agricultural economy and agro-ecological zones as well as compliance with Local Government Development Program (LGDP) Since the completion of the trail-blazing phase in 2002, NAADS has continued to expand to new districts, and within the existing districts to new sub-counties. NAADS to-date is being implemented in 49 districts and 345 sub-counties. The expansion to new districts and sub-counties is through direct entry or harmonizing with on-going programs that have extension- related components.


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In the Financial Year 2002/2003, the additional 10 new districts of Bushenyi, Busia, Iganga, Kabarole, Kapchorwa, Kitgum, Lira, Luwero, Mbarara and Wakiso were added to the program. In the Financial Year 2003/2004, the program expanded to five new districts of Hoima, Kamuli, Mbale, Nakapiripiti and Rakai, while in the Financial Year 2004/2005, the program expanded to eight new districts of Apac, Bugiri, Kanungu, Kumi, Masaka, Moyo, Rukungiri and Yumbe. In the previous Financial Year of 2005/2006 the program had expanded to the districts of Kotido, Gulu, Nebbi, Kaberamaido, Mubende, Ssembabule, Kasese and Ntungamo.The program is planning to continue expanding gradually and systematically until all the districts are covered within the first seven years of implementation. Project/Program objectives. The National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) project or program, part of the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture, is based on strong government commitment to decentralization and private sector development. Its objectives are:

(i) To improve the productivity and livelihoods of farmers, by establishing a relevant and responsive contract-based agricultural advisory service.

(ii) To encourage farmers to participate in the decision making processes. (iii) To provide advisory, training and information services to farmers. NAADS, provides

training for initiatives from farmers groups, working in conjunction with local government, to contract for private agricultural advisory services, for example, advisory services, to farmers on best husbandry practices, among others.

(iv) To ensure quality of services. For example NAADS funds the development of a regulatory framework and service standards for service providers.

(v) To carry out program management, monitoring and evaluation. NAADS, for example, establishes and supports national and district level entities to coordinate, monitor, evaluate and administer the project.

(vi) To increase and improve on the income of the poor farmers, most especially the ones in the rural areas, for example, in districts like Ssembabule, Moroto, among others.

(vii) To enable farmer’s access improved seeds and breeds and organizing them into groups and associations for purposes of collective marketing.

Plan for modernization of Agriculture Policy; An il lustration of social policy as a product Plan for modernization of Agriculture Policy is intended to revamp rural development issues which were not always to the fore in the modernizing development studies that emerged in 1950s because they were largely urban strategies to essentially rural problems. The second factor in the Ugandan history that was of central importance to the development and success of planning has been the intervention of the eradication of rural poverty through Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) which was a fundamental theme in President Yoweri


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Museveni’s 2001 election manifesto. Early in December 2000 the government had taken a bold step in the direction by launching a plan for modernization of agriculture. The objective of the policy emphasizes modernizing agriculture by helping farmers change from substance farming to specialize and produce mainly for market. Since PMA was launched, the main activities so far undertaken have involved institutional and organizational reforms of the public sector aimed at creating a conducive environ meant. The key components for the PMA (Plan for Modernization Agriculture) include the following: � Agricultural research and technological development which could be through the

improved supplies of the varieties of seeds making research on animals like that of pigs in Kayunga district.

� Agricultural advisory services by the NARO, National Agricultural research systems (NARS).

� Access to rural financial services could be accessed through Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) such as FINCA, Pride Africa and Bona Bagaggawale. The philosophy behind this arrangement is that, that farmers are always in need of to buy more agricultural facilities like hoes, fertilizers, improved varieties of seeds etc.

� Access to processing and marketing of their products. This could be for of marketing boards where the farmers can easily transport their goods and sell them to earn higher profits.

� There has also been agricultural education offered to farmers, for example sensitization about modern methods of farming.

� Access to physical infrastructure to combat the problem of transportation of agricultural products. However, the plan for modernization agriculture implementation has realized progress as seen below:

� There is a notable increase of farm production through agricultural research and technological development.

� There are improving extension services through NAADS. � Farmers access to marketing and value addition opportunities have been promoted

through removing market and trade barriers. Governments have also developed a marketing and agro-based processing strategy.

By modernization agriculture, as discussed earlier, farmers are expected to go trough complete metamorphosis, from producing for substance to a relatively, commercial production. This transformation is along-term process requiring maximum economic incentives, mobilization and guidance of the farmers. It also requires joint, well-coordinated efforts of all the stakeholders: farmers themselves, central and local government, civil society organizations, and private sector and development partners. Each of these stakeholders has clear roles and responsibilities in implementing the PMA. .Government has already put in place a PMA steering committee and a PMA secretariat that provide overall guidance and coordination of the program.


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Since PMA was launched, the main activities so far undertaken have involved institutional organization reforms, public sector policy adjustments that are aimed at creating a conducive environment for decentralized service delivery and investments in seven key components of the PMA. These components are: agricultural research and technology development; agricultural advisory service, access to rural financial service, access to processing and marketing, agricultural education, sustainable natural resource use and management and access to physical infrastructure. In addition, PMA implementation has involved empowering communities financially with None Secretarial Conditional Grant (NSCG) for implementation for community identified and prioritized projects. There are many research products and technologies developed by NARO but their adoption and performance at farm level have been un satisfactory, mainly because farmers were not fully involved in their generation. The reforms that have been initiated are aimed at generating and disseminating research products and technologies relevant to farmer’s needs. Thus the government has now assigned a new policy for National Agricultural Research System (NARS) that embraces NARO and other public and private institutions in the country. Research as life blood of plan for modernization of agriculture policy The new policy aims at establishing an institutional framework for all agricultural research institutions, a funding mechanism that promotes innovative, action oriented research and participation of the private sector in agricultural research. Cabinet approved the policy in March 2003. A national agricultural research bill is being drafted to provide a legal and regulatory framework to implement a new policy. An interim institutional mechanism has been put in place and has already started working. Improving extension service through the National Agriculture Advisory Service (NAADS) The program aims at guiding farmers to undertake farming enterprises with a reliable market and look at agriculture as a business. Implementation of the program began in July 2001.Using public funding, farmers contract private sector service providers to deliver agricultural advisory services demanded by them. NAADS is already delivering services in 16 districts and 100 sub-counties and set to expand into more sub-counties in these districts and into three more districts next financial year. Its achievements in these districts include: development of farmers organization, demonstration of appropriate technologies, enterprise development, enhancement of the capacity of private sector service providers to meet farmers advice and information needs, establishment of production and market information systems, sensitization, establishment of appropriate institutional structures and capacities at national and local government levels and harmonization of on-going agricultural extension activities into the NAADS process. The key challenges to the NAADS program are un overwhelming demand for it to roll out quickly to all districts even though it is still pilot face and in spite of resource constraints and proper targeting of poor farmers for service delivery.


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Increasing access to financial services in rural areas Access to credit and savings is a vital catalyst for rural farmers and entrepreneurs to move beyond substance level activities to those generating profits enabling them to purchase inputs hire labor or acquire basic necessities. But not much of it is available in the countryside because most financial services are located far away in urban areas. Developing rural financial markets is one of the challenges that the government is tackling. In 2001, a 3-year rural finance outreach program was developed. This provides incentives to private sector led Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) to spread financial services beyond urban areas to all districts. The program targets to increase the current number of clients for MFI services from about 500,000 to 1.3 million clients by the year 2005 through MFIs. The government also developed a complimentary seven-year rural finance service program funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and its implementation will start in 2003/04. Government has already provided a conducive policy and regulatory environment through enactment of the micro-finance deposit taking institutions (MDI) act in November 2002 for MFIS to expand their services into rural areas. Promoting Farmers Access to Marketing and Value addition opportunities Agricultural transformation can not take place in the absence of market access under PMA, the private sector leads to a production, processing and marketing activities and government supports them with necessary policy and regulatory environment, removing marketing and trade barriers and improving infrastructure. Government has developed a Marketing and Agro Processing Strategy (MAPS), which defines priority areas of public action to promote Agro Processing. Government programs such as NAADS, the rural finance service, energy for rural transformation program, post harvest technologies research and development of ware-house receipt system as well as promotion of the agricultural commodity exchange are all aimed at creating this environment. Detailed work is being undertaken to operationize the WRS next financial year. The USAID funded projects (IDEA COMPETE AND SPEED) have promoted exports where the Food Net Project, Uganda National Farmers Federation, and Uganda Cooperative Alliance are promoting primary market information provision to farmers and traders.

Value principle and social policy planning In social science we use comparison as a tool of analysis. In this regard, different case studies are derived from different scenarios and situation analyses in developing countries to illustrate the perspective of social policy as a philosophical concept, social policy as a process and social policy as a framework for action. This kind of comparison will help the students of social policy to internalize and conceptualize the usage and application of social policy and be able to relate and apply them to their own situations in their contemporary societies. Development agencies for example, World Bank, over the years have identified the importance of the collective approach to solving social problems. For this reason, therefore, they have developed policies to harness the philosophical concept by emphasizing the concept of


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“inclusion”, that is, a people-centered philosophical approach which entails the whole targeted society for development projects to participate in needs assessment and collectively identify and agree on problems which require intervention. This approach has helped the users of funded social services to develop a collective sense of belonging to the projects, hence sustainable benefits in totality. Even when political systems change, development projects would, nevertheless, belong to the people. The reverse has been a common phenomenon over the years in many developing countries, for example, Uganda. That is because whenever there was a change of the political regime;, people try to loot and destroy what the previous political or social system had built because they never understood why the developmental programs were implemented primarily. Even though social policies are made by the State or voluntary actors, they have to be guided by norms, values and cultural beliefs of a given society. An experience which can underpin the above school of analytical thought is the various development projects, which were implemented using the collective approach in both the northern and central regions of Uganda. In the quest to help societies increase their household incomes, development agencies used collective approaches such as donating Friesian cows to a groups of women. Other activities involved, for example, collecting water for cows to drink, cutting and collecting improved pasture, would be carried out by members of other households. The pastures would be planted on the field of a woman whose family has more land. The women used to come to a compromise at their meetings but when they would go back home and share with their husbands, there would be a clash in the perception of the project. “If you are indeed given a cow, the husbands would charge, ‘’How come you look after it in another man’s household”? This is because in the central region, people are not conditioned to work collectively in reproductive activities such as cooking and fuel wood collection and productive activities. They would only work together in times of predicaments. In any case in the central region, culturally women do not own land, and according to the value judgment of this society, it would be strange for women to make decisions on how to use the land to plant improved pastures and build the cowshed without the consent of the husband. In the central region, because of the cultural patterns which do not work within the collectivism, space, the approach failed. In northern Uganda where it is accepted, the approach succeeded. However, development agencies realized the importance of value judgment and changed the approach to collective intervention in the central region. They developed an overlap of both concepts, the collectivism laced with individualism. This new approach to development work is manifested in Micro Finance Institutions’ (MFI) strategies to informal credit. In this approach women come together in a group of 30 people with the objective of accessing informal credit facilities. They would form subgroups of five people, basing on integrety. The agencies give credit to the whole group. They would for example gives Shs 3,000,000 thereafter each member would get Shs 100,000 individually for his/her business.


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The notion of collectivism in this sense is that 30 people together shoulder the responsibility of the sh 300,000 loan repayment, not Sh 1000,000 received individually. If there is any defaulter the whole group has to devise the means of paying back. The whole group participates in loan recovery. This integrated approach to development work has proved to be successful to some degree. The norms, values and cultural beliefs of a given society can lead to sustainable social policies. Burkey’s (1993) works on group work concurred with the above assumption when he argued that the crucial factor in-group membership is that each member perceives individual benefit. He goes on to say that the context of collective development by members is cultivated through the pursuit of individual benefit. The group is just a means of achieving such benefits. Some groups also perceive the advantages in collectivism, for example, accessing credit facilities, better marketing and training. The whole group can benefit by purchase of an ox-plough or an insecticide sprayer. The two concepts of individualism and collectivism are manifested in some societies and latent in others and this is what the norms and values are referred to as cultural beliefs under this perspective. The case cited in this book gives examples of what Harton (1997) described as a sociological frame of reference and it is of paramount importance for development workers and social workers who always facilitate the collectivism concept among users of social services. Harton went on to discuss one component of sociological frame of reference that it is learned behavior, which stems largely from the society and cultural norms and values in which individuals live. The Na t i ona l Gender Po l i cy. Gender po l i cy makes uncomfor tab le read ing fo r t hose in p r i v i l eged pos i t i ons bu t shou ld be a sou rce o f encou ragement fo r any one who be l i eves that gendered po l i c i es can be a neu t ra l i z ing fac tor i n env i ronments o f ex t reme soc ia l inequal i t y. Gender re fe rs to t he soc ia l re la t ionsh ip be tween women and men as opposed to b io logi ca l sex d i f fe rences . In 1989 , a po l i cy o f a f f i rmat ive ac t ion fo r women was i n t roduced, wh i ch guaran teed the e lect ion o f a m in imum o f 39 women d is t r i c t rep resenta t i ves t o the na t iona l leg i s l a ture . Women ’s pa r t i c i pa t i on in fo rma l po l i t i cs i nc reased and women ’s enhanced s t rugg le fo r empowerment in a l l spheres and soc ie t y was boosted. The na t ional gender po l i cy, however, was adop ted in 1997 in t ha t red ress ing an equa l gender re la t i on in o rder to counter gender imba lances i n access to and cont ro l over resources .


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The nat i onal gender po l i cy a l so seeks to ma ins t ream ge nder concerns in t he nat iona l deve lopment p rocess . One o f the act i v it i es the M in i s t r y o f Gender Labo r and Soc ia l Deve lopment i s mandated to car r y ou t i s “ to l i a i se w i th o ther ac to rs in ident i f y i ng and th rowing a t t en t i on to ke y gender conce rns and re la ted needs , fo r examp le, p roper ty ownersh ip , land tenure, c red i t , l ega l r i gh t s as wel l as re levant opt ions fo r address ing them such as cons t i tu t iona l gua ran tees , l aw re fo rms and l i te rac y campa igns . ” The m in is t r y “ t oge ther w i th o ther ac to rs l i a i se an advocac y ro le in t he p romot ion o f gender equ i t y” wh i l e the na t iona l gender po l ic y i s a use fu l and impo r tan t t oo l to ensu re t ha t gender equal i t y and equa l r i gh t s fo r women are implemented . Impor tan t s teps have been taken towards reso lu t ion o f func t ions , powers and serv i ces to loca l gove rnments and decent ra l i zat ion towards reso lu t i on o f the many d i ff i cu l t p rob lems su r round ing l and . The gove rnment , however, appeared commit t ed to improv ing the s i tua t ion o f women and i t s t i l l ac t i ve l y pushed to do so b y t he va r i ous women ’s o rgan i za t i ons , ne tworks , a number o f members o f pa r l iament . The new gender sens i t i ve const i tu t ion adop ted in 1995 , p rov id ing the bas i s fo r o ther l eg i s l a t i on t ha t was adopt i ng in recent years l i ke i n 1997 l oca l gove rnments Ac t and in 1998 l and Ac t . These laws inc lude an i nc rease o f women in dec is i on mak ing pos i t i ons and the p roh ib i t i on o f t hose cus toms, t rad i t i ons and p ract i ces t ha t deny women access to ownersh ip , occupat i on o r use o f any l and. The gove rnment has ins t i t u ted va r i ous mechan isms fo r promot i ng gender equal i t y and women empowerment p lus fac i l i t a t ing gender ma in s t ream. These i nc lude Min is t r y o f Gender Labor and Soc ia l Development , the Na t iona l Women ’s Counci l and D i rec to ra te o f Gender and Mass Mobi l i zat ion in t he Movement Sec reta r i a t , t he Uganda Human R igh ts Commiss ion , the Uganda Law Re fo rm Commiss ion , Uganda Par l i amenta ry Women ’s Assoc ia t ion , the Nat i onal Assoc ia t ion o f Women ’s Organ i za t ions i n Uganda, a l l t hese a re na t iona l imp lement i ng s t ructu res. Under the gender po l i cy, the pe rspect i ves used are as fo l lows : Pe rspect i ves a re awa y o f l ook ing a t someth ing o r may re fe r t o the va r ious p r inc ipa l d imens ions i n wh i ch we look a t o r de f ine o r unders tand soc ia l po l i cy. The fo l l ow ing, however, a re t he perspec t i ves used in t he na t iona l gender po l i cy;


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Gender policy and political mobilization in Uganda Uganda ranks high among the gender sensitive and responsive countries in Africa. However, it is also a country that is emerging from one of the most traumatic experiences in modern history of Africa. The country has had a turbulent history since it became independent in 1962.For about two decades, the country suffered under bad leadership. Political mismanagement resulted into state inspired violence and terror, abuse of human-rights, absence of rule of law and political intrigue plunging the country into chaos. Consequently, since independence Uganda has had eight presidents, some having stayed a few months before being overthrown. Many contemporary writers and later historians adhere to a critical position that 1971-1986 could be regarded as” lost years” in Uganda’s development history. Uganda’s past and present leaders. Presidents’ profile and their period of rule. President Fredrick Muteesa [II] 1962-1966 President Milton Obote [I] 1966-1971 President Idi Amin Dada [dead] 1971-1979 President Yusufu Lule [dead] 1979-1980 President Godfrey Binaisa 1980-1980 President Paulo Muwanga 1980-1980 President Milton Obote [II] 1980-1985 President Tito Okello Lutwa 1985-1986 President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 1986-Present. The contemporary National Resistance Movement (NRM) took over power after a guerrilla war 1981-1986, the current President Museveni promised fundamental changes.Since then, Uganda has made significant strides in restoring economic and political order.There has been a consistent transition from chaos to order except in the nothern region where the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) under Kony has destabilized the area for over eighteen years. In the last eighteen eight years else where in Uganda, all political and economic gloom has been reversed. In 1995, a new constitution was promulgated with the full participation of all the Ugandans including women. The gender dimension. Gender concepts reflect a socio-cultural Codification of differences between the sexes and of social relationships between men and women. Society’s perception of gender is highly influenced by historical, ideological, cultural, religious and economic factors which can be altered by political, economic and cultural influences. Uganda is a patriarchal society where men are the dominant players in decision making and political participation although women shoulder most


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reproductive, productive and community management responsibilities, many of which are not remunerated or reflected in national statistics. The lower status of women in comparison to men is basically due to gender imbalances that arise from unequal opportunities and access to control over productive resources and benefits. Statistics show that although women in Uganda constitute 70% to80% of the agricultural labour-force, the main stay of Uganda’s economy, only 7%own land and only 3% have access and control over proceeds .Therefore the empowerment and autonomy of women and improvement of their status is highly important in itself. Improvement in status of women also enhances their decision-making capacity, political participation in other spheres of life. Empowerment is the process through which men and women are mobilized to identify, understand and overcome the structural and underlying causes of underdevelopment to achieve equality of welfare, equal access to and control over resources and benefits. Political mobilization is one channel through which women can be empowered to take care of their own destiny. Political governance is a combination of institution systems, structures, processes, procedures, practices, relationships and leadership behavior that empower the governed to influence the decisions and policies that concern them and to determine who governs them as well as through what ways. This they do through their vote during elections as well as their voice by influencing policies, decisions, and plans proposed by leaders on routine basis. The under-representation of women in socio-political institutions and professions is a natural consequence of the past perception of women. The discriminatory policies and laws have meant that women were consciously and systematically excluded from the profession in public spheres. If the institution is to be changed then political mobilization and law reforms are the very institutions that should be used. Political mobilization mechanism.` Women and men in Uganda play a complementary role in the development process. Although this is so, such development is affected by unequal gender relations resulting in gender imbalances in access to and control over resources, political power and empowerment. Government and civil society organizations have therefore instituted policy frameworks for reducing gender imbalances as a guide to all development practitioners including politians. The constitutional framework The government of Uganda institutionalized the concept of affirmative action. Article33 [1] of the 1995 constitution of Uganda states that”, Women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the person with men” .Then 33 [2] states that “The state shall provide the facilities and opportunities necessary to enhance the welfare of women to enable them realize their full potential and advancement”. Then 33[3] states that” the state shall protect women and their rights, taking into account their unique and natural maternal functions in society”. Then 33[4] states that” women shall have the


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right to equal treatment with men and the right shall include equal opportunities in Political, Social and Economic issues”.Article33[5] says “Without prejudice to article 32 of the Constitution says women shall have a right to affirmative action for the purpose of re-dressing the imbalances created by history, tradition or customs. And 33[6] states that Laws, cultures, traditions and customs which are against and undermine the status, welfare and interests of women which undermine their status are prohibited” .Therefore the legal framework is therefore the mobilization of women in all spheres. The National gender policy gives a clear mandate to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development by prescribing the basic principles for mainstreaming gender in all sectors. It sets target areas of action at National, sectoral, District and community levels. The ultimate objective is to evolve a society that is both informed and conscious of both gender, development issues and concerns. Consequently, gender-responsive policies have been instituted through affirmative action; female entrance to Makerere University has been boosted by giving an extra 1.5 points to the total score of female entrants. This has enabled more females to enter the university, currently recorded at 33% of the total enrolment. As entrance to political leadership demands some minimum qualification, the intention was to open up gates for women to compete favorably with men. Through affirmative action policy, article 78 of the Constitution gives a position of a woman Member of Parliament for every District. These are specific seats for women who compete among themselves but are elected by both men and women. At local council level, women by constitution are entitled to a minimum of 30% of all the elective positions in the country. This was made possible because there were 51 [17.8%] women representatives in the Constituent Assembly, the body that formulated the Constitution out of the 286 candidates. Although the number was small, women together with gender sensitive men were able to lobby in order to institute the affirmative action policy in favor of women and disadvantaged groups like the youths and the persons with disabilities. Women are increasingly getting involved in politics, especially at grassroots level. Women constitute a significant percentage as voters. They are important actors as political organizers; conduct house- to- house campaigns; initiate fund-raisings and are engaged in other important political activities that strengthen government in power as well as those in opposition. However, there is a shocking absence of women in decision making bodies’ especially elective political organs and very few stands for elections at local and national level. Women are under-represented at all levels despite the fact that they are the main actors on the ground. For example at the Local Council 5 i.e. at district level there is only one district chairperson [L.C.5] out of a total of 56-chairpersons who is a woman. In parliament there are only 10 women who competed with men on direct constituency seats and won out of the total 214 constituency representatives. If it were not for the 56 affirmative action there would only be 10 female MPs in the Uganda Parliament. However, due to affirmative action policy there has been a tendency of allocating Deputy/vice positions to women.


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Consequently the Deputy Speaker of Parliament is a female and there was a deputy vice-President during the sixth [6th] parliament of Uganda. Despite the seemingly lower political participation of women compared to men, Uganda has made progress towards gender equality in the area of democratization, an area in which women’s participation has lagged behind that of men in most African countries and other parts of the world. Affirmative action has opened up women’s participation in politics at all levels and women have increasingly contested for positions, not only those reserved for them, but also open ones where they have competed and defeated men. There have been numerous projects as well to support women participation with leadership training and other necessary skills and some gender sensitization of local council [LCs] ,including work on gender budgeting .There are some examples of Ugandan practice in supporting initial efforts of gender mainstreaming and women’s efforts to empower themselves in community and political life. Government has shown an obligation, together with Civil Society Organizations to support affirmative action with training programs in leadership skills. Assertiveness, public speaking and development planning and finance. Challenging the “masculine culture” of local authorities have been carried through training of communities and at high local authority levels for both men and women. Many women believe that since the patriarchal system is deeply entrenched in politics and other spheres of life where women are side-lined, the best way forward is to make the affirmative action stronger. The advantages of affirmative action include effecting equitable gender relations. By including members of groups which have hitherto been excluded from certain institutions, jobs and professions, it provides social benefits for increased diversity. There have been a lot of positive effects of affirmative action, especially at parliamentary level. One key effect being that the culture of formal politics is beginning to register some modest changes. The presence of more women in an institution that was initially dominated by men has introduced a gender perspective to the law making process. The women’s caucus (The Uganda Women’s Parliamentary Association)-UWOPA often makes it its business to analyze bills and policies for their gender sensitivity. More and more women have been exposed to the public sphere and have been empowered in the face of male domination. At the local level, some of the achievements of affirmative action include the presence of women in councils in substantial numbers. Women’s political appointments as a political mobilization mechanism The dilemma facing many women activists in Africa today is whether women as a group are a political force to reckon with. Can women be taken seriously as a political constituency or are they simply being used to enable male politicians achieve their own political ends? Do women have the power to sustain themselves in the powerful positions they find themselves in or these are mere political favors from the men? Is women’s presence in position of power of any critical importance?


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Uganda stands out prominently in Africa as having had the first woman Vice-President, Dr.specioza Wandera Kazibwe who occupied this office for a record time of eight years. She distinguished herself as being out-spoken, vibrant, intelligent and patriotic and yet she was forced back as a back-bencher in the Ugandan Parliament hence breaking the continuity. Now there is a male Vice-President Despite all this in politics, women have only made a small dent on the overarching domination of men. It is now evident that where women are not elected to appointable seats, there will only be a small number of women in the political scene. The low level of education among women limits their articulation of relevant issues, especially at district lower levels where they are elected as councilors. Often times, women councilors are given huge documents to read only a short time before council debates begin, which doesn’t give them sufficient time to read through them so as to enable them make quality presentations. The style of debate is too formal for some women who have not had exposure to debates. The use of English language as the Lingua-Franca in the debates inhibits women councilors who do not have a good education, let alone a good command of English. Those who contribute in their local language are ridiculed. . There is also a traditional attitude that men are leaders and women are followers. Many men do not permit or encourage their wives to attend community meetings on such grounds that they will neglect their domestic or productive work or they will engage in frivolous gossip and that they should not be exposed to new ideas that may threaten men’s positions and authority. This usually results into domestic violence. Women candidates are usually judged on their moral character, marital status, approachability and concern about social services, and men judged on their degree of wealth and their positions on specific issues. The time and place of political activity are at times gender inappropriate by demanding participant’s absence from their homes for long periods which is problematic for women with young families and obstinate jealousy spouses. The question of election finance pauses greater challenge for most women who may be interested in politics. Without visibility in society and connection to fundraising organizations as most women politicians are the alternative for women would be to borrow funds but without collateral. Many women do not know or are not aware of their political rights .Our experience in Uganda has shown that there is need to strengthen capacity of gender activists and women politicians with knowledge, analysis, skills and techniques in political mobilization, gender budgeting, public speaking, assertiveness, legal issues and the like. Since some courageous women in Uganda have managed to overcome the indicated constraints and barriers, and have been active in politics for a considerable period, their examples as role models should be a source of encouragement for the aspiring women. Women like former Vice-President Dr.specioza Wandera Kazibwe, Miria Matembe, Winnie Byanyima and many others, have made it. There are many powerful women elsewhere including the newly elected President of the African Union Parliament Hon. Mongela.


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It is acknowledged that the media plays an important role in connecting politicians to sources of information and finance. In Uganda the Uganda Media Women’s Association opened a media radio, Mama Africa and a women’s newspaper where gender issues are articulated, and debated. Lobbying and advocacy for women’s rights are given centre stage on Mama-Africa Radio channel. There are many women NGOs which have done a good job in the mobilization and sensitization of women in various areas, including politics, poverty eradication, and legal matters. Gender mainstreaming and mobilization. Gender mainstreaming entails consideration of the fact that gender is a crosscutting issue which needs to be mainstreamed or integrated in all aspects of National development. We need to balance political governance, economic governance, social or civil governance, domestic governance or even managerial/administration governance. Political governance entails a combination of institutions, systems, structures, processes, practices, relationships and leadership behavior that would empower women and men to influence the decisions and policies that concern them and to determine who governs them as well as through what ways. This they do through their vote during elections as well as through their voice by influencing policies, decisions and plans proposed by leaders. It is through mobilization and civic education that civil society can be enlightened on their political rights and obligations. Economic governance entails empowerment of women and men to freely engage in the initiation and undertaking of economic activities and expand their choice and enjoy better economic livelihood. This is a spring-board to political empowerment and good governance. Social or Civil governance empowers both men and women to freely organize themselves and work to improve their livelihood and to pressurize both public and private authorities to take into account their problems. Domestic governance is linked to the way members of the family participate in production, consumption and livelihood. In Uganda, the Domestic Relations Bill (DRD) has been tabled before parliament for debate and enacting of policies. The objective of the Bill is to reform and consolidate the law relating to marriage, separation and divorce; Provide for the type of recognized marriage in Uganda, marital rights and duties. It is hoped that what is being proposed will make a law that is fair and achieves social justice addressing issues of poverty; protection of human rights of all members of the family and the institution of marriage. It should be enforceable and acceptable to the population. We expect it to be in line with the Uganda Constitution, in particular article 31 and 33 on rights of women, as well as International legal obligations like CEDAW which Uganda ratified. Gender and political mobilization in Uganda has entailed the following; ��Ensuring gender legislation including the Constitution, affirmative action the domestic relations bill and the like.


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��Influencing political processes/structures to ensure gender balanced participation through advocacy and lobbying. ��Incorporating affirmative action where necessary to address inequalities resulting from gender imbalances. ��Emphasizing gender sensitization of politicians, civil society, including both men and women. ��Encouraging women to venture into the political arena which has been a domain for men. Women activists seek to identify unreasonable discrimination. With such grounding in the established order, one would risk first politics of equality to correct inequality making the unequal equal. Therefore, one’s work for justice and freedom could lead to the positive goal entailed in the concept of liberation and further discussion of what is called women centered policy considerations. All these can only be realized with political mobilization and empowerment of women themselves with lobbying, persuasion of the men and advocacy for gender balance.

National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources

Guidelines for wetland resource developers

Wetlands, commonly known as swamps in Uganda, are a resource of considerable importance, just like forests, rangelands, arable land, and open water resources.

Wetland resources in Uganda have traditionally been utilized by the people as a source of materials for construction, crafts, furniture, and as hunting and fishing areas. Traditionally, seasonal wetlands and margins of permanent wetlands have been used for grazing cattle, growing crops and as a source for domestic water. In addition, they are a major habitat for wildlife resources. Despite these values, wetlands have hitherto been regarded as "wastelands" and many have been reclaimed and degraded.

When the National Resistance Movement Government came to power in 1986, it inherited a chaotic situation in the social, economic, political as well as in environmental spheres, including wetlands. However, within eight months after taking power, the Government took decisive steps to halt the destruction of wetlands. In September 1986, Government issued administrative guidelines to curtail the devastation of wetland resources. In particular, a ban on large-scale drainage schemes was imposed until such time that a more elaborate, scientifically proven and socially harmonious policy was put in place. The purpose of this was to provide the basis for environmentally sound management and rational utilization of the wetlands resources.


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The policy aims at curtailing the rampant loss of wetland resources and ensuring that benefits from wetlands are sustainable and equitably distributed to all people of Uganda. In this respect, therefore, the wetlands policy calls for:

• no drainage of wetlands unless more important environmental management requirements supersede

• sustainable use to ensure that benefits of wetlands are maintained for the foreseeable future;

• environmentally sound management of wetlands to ensure that other aspects of the environment are not adversely affected;

• equitable distribution of wetland benefits; • the application of environmental impact assessment procedures on all activities to be

carried out in a wetland to ensure that wetland development is well planned and managed.

In order to put the policy goals and objectives into practice and to provide a legal framework for implementing the policy, wetland related issues have been adequately incorporated into the National Environmental Statute 1995. The Wetlands policy will be strengthened by a supplementary law specifically addressing wetland concerns.

Wetlands cover about 10% of Uganda’s total land surface area and provide a wide variety of bio-physical and socio-economic functions. However, these benefits are in jeopardy due to poor management practices. The importance of wetlands to national development and the threats to their continued existence were recognized in 1986, when the government banned further large scale drainage and instituted the National Wetlands Conservation and Management Program within the Department of Environment Protection to analyze existing activities and assess the full range of functions and values provided by wetlands. In addition, the program concurrently carried out a sensitization and awareness campaign and consultations to enlighten the public on the values and functions of wetlands and the need for their conservation and sustainable use.

Government has adopted the National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources to promote their conservation in order to sustain their values for the present and future well being of the people

In support of this aim, the National Wetlands Policy sets five goals:

• to establish the principles by which wetland resources can be optimally used now and in the future;

• to end practices which reduce wetland productivity; • to maintain the biological diversity of natural or semi-natural wetlands; • to maintain wetland functions and values; • to integrate wetland concerns into the planning and decision making of other sectors.

Three principles apply in pursuit of these goals


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(a) Wetland resources form an integral part of the environment and their management must be pursued in the context of an interaction between conservation and the national development strategies and activities.

(b) Wetland conservation can only be achieved through a coordinated and cooperative approach involving all the concerned people and organizations in the country including the local communities.

(c) It is of vital importance for wetland conservation and management that the present attitudes and perceptions of Ugandans regarding wetlands be changed.

Thirty six specific policy statements are made on how the goals will be achieved, and a preliminary set of guidelines for wetland resource users is annexed.

In particular, the policy aims at:

• Ensuring no drainage occurs unless more important environment management requirements supersede;

• Ensuring that only non-destructive uses are carried out in and around wetlands; • Ensuring that wetland developments are subject to environmental impact assessment and

audit; • Maintaining an optimum diversity of uses and users and consideration for other

stakeholders when using a wetland.

The need for enacting a national law to regulate the management of wetlands resources is highlighted.

Finally, the role of the district authorities in controlling activities within wetlands is defined and procedures to be followed in dealing with applications from prospective wetland resource developers are outlined. Wetlands, commonly known as swamps in Uganda, are a natural resource of considerable importance like forests, rangelands, arable land and fisheries.

The term "Wetlands" refers to an area where plants and animals have become adapted to temporary or permanent flooding by saline, brackish or fresh water.

For our purposes these include permanently flooded areas with sedge or grass swamp, swamp forest or high altitude mountain bog, as well as seasonal flood plains and depressions without flow (‘Mbuga’ or Dambos).

All wetlands are characterized by impeded drainage, but vary in detail depending on the period of flooding, depth of water, altitude, fertility of the surrounding soil and other environmental factors. They are nevertheless all characterized by having distinctive plants and animals which are adapted to flooding.


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Uganda’s rich endowment in wetlands, which accounts for about 10% of the land area, is mainly due to her geological past. Many wetlands originated with the upwarping of land associated with the formation of the Rift Valley. The warping was spread over a wide area impending and even reversing river flow.

The wide distribution of wetlands means a large proportion of the population has access to the utilization of wetlands, resulting in extensive degradation of the wetlands. This calls for particular urgency in their efficient management and sustainable utilization.

Wetland resources in Uganda have traditionally been used by the people as a source of building materials, for crafts, furniture and as hunting and fishing areas. Seasonal wetland margins have been used for grazing cattle, growing arable crops, and for domestic water. Wetlands provide important habitat for wildlife.

The high productivity and economic potential of wetlands in Uganda has barely been tapped and experience so far shows it will not be easy. Many attempts at conversion to farmland have failed because fertility was dependent upon an inflow of organic matter and sediment or on retaining a high water table.

Functions and uses of wetlands

The functional aspects of wetlands can be divided into those which are ‘natural’ i.e., those which would exist even with no human manipulation (referred to herein as ecological), and those which are created by human exploitation (referred to herein as socio-economic). These functions are itemized below and are not in order of importance because this varies depending on location and many of the functions are inter-related.

Ecological functions

(i) Maintenance of the water table

The impeded drainage allows the water to stay in one place long enough to maximize infiltration This helps to recharge the water table. A high water table means that in the immediate surroundings of the wetland there is access to water supplies for plants.

(ii) Prevention of erosion

If it were not for the retarded flow of water, the region downstream of the wetland would receive the full erosive force of storm events, resulting in soil and stream bank degradation.

(iii) Reduction in extremes of flow


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Wetlands act like leaky dams, ponding back water when they receive it and subsequently letting it flow through slowly. This results in maximizing the area of land which can be kept moist for productive purposes, as well as the lengths of time during the year for such activities.

(iv) Sediment traps

Material eroded from the surrounding catchments by rivers is sediment out when the flow is slowed upon entering a wetland. Sediment retention prevents downstream resources of dams, farmland, rivers and lakes from being silted up.

(v) Wildlife habitats and centers of biological diversity

Wetlands provide habitat for a variety of plants and animals, some of which depend entirely on wetlands for their survival. They are natural habitats for the Sitatunga and the Shoe Bill, among other species. The Crowned Crane, Uganda’s national bird, breeds in wetlands with a preference for seasonal grass swamps.

Socio-economic functions

(i) Plant products

Papyrus and similar plants have been traditionally harvested for everyday necessities such as thatching, mats, baskets while the palms and smaller-sized trees are used as structural building materials

(ii) Fishing

Wetlands harbor a substantial population of fish, which have traditionally been caught as an important food item in many parts of Uganda which are far away from the main lake fisheries.

(iii) Cattle grazing

The marginal parts of wetlands, where the soil is permanently or seasonally moist, have for long been used as grazing areas for livestock especially during the dry season.

(iv) Water supply

Wetland plants have the capacity to take out impurities from the water thus filtering it. Because of this function, it has been possible for rural communities to obtain a pure water supply at no cost.

(v) Nutrient and Toxin retention


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Because wetland vegetation will strip out nutrients from the in-flowing water, this protects the quality of water down stream. They also have the ability to strip toxic substances from in-flowing water.

(vi) Tourism

The diversity of wetland biological communities has a potential for earning tourism income.

Wetland resource problems

These problems derive from two sources. Firstly, there has been a traditional lack of recognition of wetlands as anything but unusable wastelands. In previous times when there was enough and easily cultivatable land, the extra work required to exploit waterlogged areas was too great to bother with. This has led to the second general problem, that the exploitation has often been unbalanced, excessive, and inappropriate for the resources. The results have frequently been an irretrievable loss of an important source for sustainable production.

It is important to appreciate that the problems do not arise because of development as such, but because of development which does not take all the requirements of a community into consideration.

The following are among others, the specific problems

(i) Water loss

Wetlands have commonly been drained to enlarge the area of farmland. But drainage of wetlands causes loss of valuable water which would otherwise be available for plant growth.

(ii) Reduced runoff control

If drained, the ability of wetlands to control water flow is lost, as is also the downstream erosion prevention, as well as the seasonal spread of the moist areas for fast-maturing crops and for grazing

(iii) Soil deterioration

Exposure of wetland soils to drying can frequently lead to their acidification, caused by the conversion of sulphide in the original wetland to sulphuric acid. The soil can shrink upon drying and become too thin and friable for good agriculture.

(iv) Traditional use loss


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Traditional harvesting of natural vegetation or fishing and hunting as well as a good water supply will be lost if wetlands are completely converted to large-scale exploitation, such as cash crop farming which is a mono-culture activity.

(v) Restricted ownership of the resource

Although conversion to cash agriculture may yield a great amount in the short term, such production tends to be restricted to one or few investors, while reducing or eliminating the various type of production which previously went to many individuals in the community.

(vi) Reduced economic flexibility

Reducing the diversity of productive activity limits the options for adjusting to new economic conditions when they occur later on.

(vii) Crop pest risks

Large areas of monoculture, such as rice growing, are always susceptible to pest invasions. While this in principle might be dealt with by agricultural control methods, these can be expensive and difficult to manage, and beyond the capacity of the wetland developer.

(viii) Health problems

When people come into increased contact with static and unpurified water, as in rice-growing or many other farming practices, an increase in the incidence of bilharzias infections can be expected. This would have a grossly debilitating effect on the community using the wetland calling for unnecessarily heavy investment in health facilities that would have otherwise been avoided.

Government response

Although wetlands conservation and management is a shared responsibility for all Ugandans, Government has a leading role to play. The various functions and related problems of wetlands enumerated above are critical for their sustainable use and the general socio-economic development of the nation.

It is also an international responsibility of government to conserve wetlands and sustainable utilize them under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, of which Uganda is a signatory and Contracting Party.

To carry out these shared responsibilities with respect to the country’s wetlands, Government has outlined broad aims which are also supported by a number of specific goals. Further, guiding


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principles will be presented to govern the manner in which the National Policy for the conservation and management of wetland resources will be implemented.

The National Policy on the Conservation and Management of the Wetland Resources complements the goals and objectives of the National Environment Action Plan (NEAP) process and sectorial policies including those of fisheries, forestry, wildlife, water, land tenure and soils, among others, as well as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat.

Aim

The overall aim is to promote the conservation of Uganda’s wetlands in order to sustain their ecological and socio-economic functions for the present and future well being of the people.

Goals

In support of the above aim, government will strive to achieve the following goals.

(1) Establish the principles by which wetland resources can be optimally used, and their productivity can be maintained into the future.

(2) End existing unsustainable exploitative practices in wetlands to avert the decline in their productivity.

(3) Maintain a biological diversity in wetlands either in the natural community of plants and animals or in the multiplicity of agricultural activity.

(4) Maintain the functions and values derived from wetland resources throughout Uganda.

(5) Promote the recognition and integration of wetland functions in resource management and economic development decision making with regard to sector policies and programs such as forestry, agriculture, fisheries, wildlife and sound environmental management.

Key principles

The National Wetland Conservation and Management Policy, in pursuance of the above goals, will be based on the following principles:

(a) Wetland resources form an integral part of the environment and their conservation must be pursued in the context of an interaction between conservation and the overall development strategies and activities.


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(b) Wetland conservation can only be achieved through a co-ordinated and co-operative approach involving all the concerned people and organizations in the country, including the local communities.

(c) It is of vital importance for wetland conservation and management that the present attitudes and perceptions of Ugandans regarding wetland be changed.

These basic policy principles will be brought to bear through the strategies described herein below.

Specific policy strategies

All the strategies herein are deemed to be of critical importance for the success of this policy and are, therefore, not taken in order of priority.

Drainage of wetlands

Uganda has experienced massive drainage of wetlands for human development activities. The effects of this drainage are visible in many parts of the country.

Strategy

There will be no drainage of wetlands unless more important environmental management requirements supersede.

Explanation: Artificial large-scale removal or exclusion of water from a wetland by whatever means constitutes drainage. This may be by pumping, by excavation of water channels and perhaps combined with excessive growing of trees. Other drainage means may include building of dams upstream of a wetland. Such modifications should be avoided.

Environmentally sound management

Wetlands, other natural resources and the environment are inter-related. Most users of wetland resources do not take into account other aspects of the environment, leading to adverse effects on the environment.

Strategy

Only those uses that have been proved to be non-destructive to wetlands and their surroundings will be allowed and/or encouraged. These include water supply, fisheries, wetland edge gardens and grazing.

Explanation: A key issue in the management of a natural resource is whether its use causes adverse effects on the environment. For example, the production of bricks from clay soil leads to


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deforestation around the brick-making kilns, which is environmentally degrading. However, the smoking of fish caught in a wetland, using papyrus (which could be sustainably harvested) for fuel may be environmentally sound and can reduce the exploitation of fuel wood supplies in the area.

Sustainable use of Wetlands

National economic and social prosperity depends on the maintenance of a high quality environment. There is, therefore, need to balance development with conservation of the environment.

Strategies

Wetlands may be utilized in such a way that they do not lose traditional benefits presently obtained from them.

(ii) Any decision to use wetlands must consider the requirements of all other users in the community.

Explanation: Sustainable use of a wetland is defined to mean utilization which ensures that the products or services derived from that use are available at the same level for the foreseeable future. For example, yields from fishing or harvesting of papyrus should be set at a level that can be maintained for the foreseeable future.

Conservation of Wetlands

Wetlands are important habitats for a variety of biological resources, some of which depend entirely on wetlands for their survival

Strategies

(i) Government will establish fully "Protected Wetlands Areas" of important biological diversity.

(ii) Government may also establish certain wetlands which will be used for partial exploitation such as research.

(iii) No modification, drainage or other impacts will be entertained for the so-protected wetlands.

(iv) Parts of utilized wetlands will be set aside for conservation activities and/or protected from modification, drainage or exploitation.

Explanation: Conservation of some wetlands to protect indigenous species of plants and animals is essential for the future biodiversity of Uganda. Many attributes of wetlands remain to be discovered, and therefore, complete protection of certain ecologically important wetlands is


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necessary. Uganda already has an internationally important wetland at Lake George, and also other important wetlands outside the reserves, e.g. the edges of Lake Victoria need to be protected.

Water supply and effluent treatment

Rapid population growth and the increasing rate of development require sufficient and steady amount of water supply and discharge of effluent at an affordable cost. Many urban settlements including Kampala City are dependent on wetlands for water supply, treatment and discharge of effluent.

Strategy

(i) Any wetland serving as a source of water supply or receiving effluent as part of a designated service to any human settlement shall be declared a fully protected wetland from any encroachment, drainage or modification.

Explanation: Wetlands can preserve the purity of water by their filtration capacity. One of the important reasons for this policy arises from extensive draining of wetlands for horticulture where these areas also serve as water purification centers. Such drainage has led to a dangerous situation where farmers and members of the community may come into bodily contact with raw sewage during farming and domestic activities.

Tenure and use

Wetlands have in many instances been referred to as "wastelands". In order to elevate wetlands from this status and to recognize them as a useful resource, there is need for the Government to continue having control over their management, until such a time that developers have understood the role and importance of wetlands in the environment.

Strategies

(i) All wetlands are a public resource to be controlled by the Government on behalf of the public. There shall be no leasing of any wetland to any person or organization in Uganda at any given moment and for whatever reason.

(ii) However, communal use will be permitted, but only if environmental conservation and sustainable use principles and strategies of this policy are adhered to. This communal use may be terminated by the Government if it is found that the community or any person has not adhered to the environmental obligations,

Principles and strategies of the policy.


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(iii) All future land tenure documents including maps and layouts will indicate whether the area contains a wetland and will accordingly exclude these wetlands from tenure.

(iv) The layout will further be advertised in the parish where land is to be given out for a period of 30 days.

(v) Government will include wetland conservation considerations in its national land use plan so as to maintain the ecological character of wetlands.

(vi) Government will issue permits for wetland developers and users. It also reserves the right, for the national and public good, to issue a permit to a single authority for the management of an entire wetland on behalf of the community.

Explanation: Wetlands belong to the public but contrary to what might be expected from this ownership status, the Uganda Land Commission has often leased wetlands. Government consequently lost control of any protective or conservatory requirements. The maps used for the leasing inadequately distinguished wetlands from the surrounding dry land and the layouts were not widely advertised. While there is a necessity to prevent the sequestering of wetland resources into the hands of a few private lessees, this has to be balanced against the legitimate needs of users who will not be encouraged to use long term environmentally sound practices unless guarantees of long term occupation exist and consequently there is freedom from interference by conflicting users.

Recovery of previously drained wetlands

Many wetlands have been drained or modified especially in South west and eastern Uganda. This has led to loss of many would-be valuable resources before a full assessment has been carried out.

Strategy

(i) Government may require that some wetlands which have already been drained should be allowed to regenerate. For this purpose, Government aims at restoring the soil hydration so as to re-establish the wetlands vegetation as far as are ecologically possible. Such an operation may range from rehabilitation of wetlands along distance channels in the case of lease holder, to full rehabilitation after the lease has been cancelled or eviction in case of users with no leases.

Explanation: Previous Government policies, especially in the colonial and immediate post-colonial eras, allowed utilization of wetlands in a "planned" way. However, no guidelines were given and in the process that policy has been found to be unsustainable and led to massive drainage especially in Kabale, Bushenyi and Iganga. New schemes (rice) have tended to make people copy such massive drainage and this has led to adverse effects.


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Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Monitoring

Development activities in general tend to impact upon natural resources and the environment in various ways. Assessment and evaluation of such impacts helps to minimize the economic and social costs of preventing damage before occurrence as compared to restoring a degraded wetland.

Strategies

(i) There will be a requirement that all proposed modifications and restorations on wetlands be subject to an EIA, the result of which will determine whether such restoration or modification should proceed and if so to what extent.

(ii) All planned new wetland developments will be subjected to an EIA process to determine the required environmental controls.

(iii) Those which have been subjected to EIAs will continuously be monitored to assess their impact on the environment and where the impact is detrimental; Government will require that such a development be halted.

Explanation: An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a detailed technical document which determines the legally binding environmental management measures to be incorporated into an economic development program. EIAs are an essential management tool of any environmentally sound development planning in any society.

Developing public awareness

Very often wetlands are degraded because the public is either not fully aware or do not appreciate the diversity of values and functions of wetlands. Public awareness is therefore essential in creating a commitment and positive attitude towards conservation and sustainable utilization of wetland resources.

Government will promote public awareness and understanding of wetland resources and actively encourage participation of the public, local government authorities and institutions. This recognizes that implementation of this policy depends on whether it is realistic in terms of social acceptability and technical feasibility. In this regard the following measures and strategies will be taken:

Strategies

(i) Design and deliver a National Public Awareness campaign on wetlands resources in cooperation with other natural resource sectors of the country and target such awareness at the wetland resource users.


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(ii) Ensure that the public awareness campaign is integrated with other resources users’ campaigns both at district and national levels.

(iii) Disseminate awareness on the importance of wetlands through leaflets, posters, radio, television and other media.

(iv) Ensure wide circulation of guidelines for wetlands developers.

(v) Develop specific rural wetland development demonstration projects with the aim of giving local communities better management capabilities of wetland resources.

(vi) Periodically monitor the public response on the need to conserve wetlands in Uganda.

Research and Inventory

Demand-driven research is critical for understanding natural resources such as wetlands. The fact that wetlands account for about 10% of the total land area justifies the need for research and inventories to be conducted. In addition, not enough research has been carried out on the viability of wetland resources.

Strategies

(i) Carry out research into wetland values and functions so as to determine their capacity to perform their various functions.

(ii) Carry out a full inventory of wetlands to determine their location, status and human values.

Capacity Building

One of the reasons for the unabated degradation of wetlands has been the inadequate human capacity to manage, understand and give appropriate advice on wetland management. There are indeed very few cadres knowledgeable in the efficient management of wetland resources.

Strategies

(i) Government will re-train extension staff of relevant line ministries at district level to equip them with knowledge and skills to facilitate their supervisory role.

(ii) Government will also establish a mechanism and develop capacity for carrying out Environment Impact Assessments on proposed wetland development projects.

Promoting International actions


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Wetland resources have trans-boundary significance. They serve as habitats for migratory waterfowl and other fauna, and therefore inevitably require regional and global approaches.

Strategies

(i) Government will promote and actively participate in regional and international efforts to conserve and sustainably utilize wetlands and encourage the involvement of other Countries in the conservation of wetland resources.

(ii) Government will continue to promote her participation in the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar, 1971) and other conventions and treaties which are related to wetlands conservation including designating more areas as wetlands of International Importance.

(iii) In addition, Government will endeavor to promote the conservation and maintenance of the ecological character of Lake George as a wetland of International Importance.

Wetlands legislation and Institutional arrangements

Wetlands have been marginalized and regarded as ‘wastelands’. They therefore, need a strong government institutional arrangement and a sectoral national legislation in order to reverse the high rate of degradation and ensure sustainable management. Since wetlands are a multi-sectoral resource, there is need to create and establish an appropriate institutional arrangement for their management.

Although there are sectoral laws that refer to some aspects of wetlands such as water, or land or prevention of pollution, there is no comprehensive law for management of wetlands as an ecological entity.

Strategies

(i) Enact a national law for regulating the management of wetland resources

(ii) Encourage district authorities to make bye-laws for the proper management of wetlands

(iii) Disseminate the broad guidelines provided herein, to district and urban authorities, as well as wetland users, researchers, academic institutions etc.

(iv) Establish an inter-ministerial policy implementation institution.

Guidelines for wetland resource developers


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These guidelines are intended for persons proposing to use wetlands, for purposes of increasing the production of food and other goods and services. All users of wetlands are reminded that wetlands are a national resource and that the principles of environmentally sound management and sustainable use, as declared in the National Policy for Wetland Resource Management, must be applied to such use, and as defined herein.

No Drainage of wetlands

Drainage may be defined as the artificial large scale removal or exclusion of water from a wetland, which lowers the water table so that it does not rise to the soil surface. This practice radically alters the potential of the wetland and destroys its function as a natural regulator of water flow and storage. It is recognized that in the interest of the other principles listed, some modifications of water may be necessary.

Definition of Sustainable Use of Wetlands

Sustainable use is defined as the practice of wetland utilization which will ensure that the production of goods or services derived from that use, are available at the same level in perpetuity. For example, yields from a fishing activity should be set at a level that can be maintained for the foreseeable future, i.e. sustainably.

A key issue in the management of any resource is whether that management causes adverse effects on the environment. For example, the production of bricks from clay soil in a wetland leads to destruction and deforestation around the brick-making kilns, which is environmentally damaging and therefore unsound. However, the smoking of fish caught near a wetland, using papyrus briquettes or in semi-dried form, for fuel may be environmentally sound and will avoid the depletion of wood fuel supplies in the area.

Optimum diversity of use and users

Maintaining a diversity of traditional uses, and adding new uses where appropriate means that the diversity of fauna and flora are retained in the wetland. This in turn can optimize the harvestable yield and ensure flexibility for later adaptations to changing circumstances.

Development through Environment Impact Assessment.

An Environment Impact Assessment (FIA) is a detailed technical document which determines the legally binding environmental management measures to be incorporated into an economic development program. EIAs will be carried out by people knowledgeable in practical aspects of wetland management and the relevant economic and sociological aspects of the the area. The administration of EIAs will be an important activity of environmental management.

Specific guidelines


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It should be understood that these guidelines are an on-going process and they will be supplemented as more information becomes available.

1. Traditional uses and access rights

People living adjacent to a wetland may have been deriving benefits from that wetland for many years. These benefits may include cutting of trees, reeds, water supply, fishing, grazing etc. Any change of use of a wetland must allow those traditional uses to continue, without loss or hindrance to them.

2. Water balance activities

(a) Users of a wetland must ensure that the overall water balance is maintained so that the surface does not dry out.

Ridging and trenching may be performed within the wetland, allowing the growth of crops requiring drier soils, as long as the water level does not fail below about 0.5 meters from the top of the ridges.

A wetland shall under no circumstances be drained.

b) Bunding of fields to control the water level within the wetland must similarly ensure that the water table does not fall below about 0.5 meters of the soil surface.

Papyrus harvesting

Harvesting papyrus is a traditional usage which should always be catered for in the planning of multi-purpose use of wetlands. The frequency of harvesting one area should not be greater than once in every 15 months, otherwise the rate of growth and the amount which can be harvested will decline

Separate areas should be set aside to be harvested in sequence, so that a continuous supply of papyrus can be maintained.

On no account should papyrus be burnt, as doing so reduces the amount which can be harvested.

4. Natural fish stocks

The catching of those species of fish which normally inhabit wetlands should be encouraged. However, to prevent fish stocks from being depleted, the mesh size of gill nets should not be less than 2 inches (stretch dimension). Traditional catching methods using traps and spears need not be restricted. It is allowed that the populations of these fish can be increased by constructing channels at the edges of wetlands and by excavating ponds.


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5 Fish culture and fish ponds

(a) Fish ponds constructed within a wetland should be constructed on the sloping sides of the wetland. The recommended practice is to make use of gravity flow of water from the spring line which often arises from the soils at the edges of wetlands. Waste water from the ponds may be allowed to flow into the wetland. It is unwise to site a fish pond low in a wetland, as seasonal flooding can cause loss of stock and damage to bunding.

(b) No fish species may be cultured that is not indigenous to the wetland without specific permission in writing from the Commissioner of Fisheries in consultation with the Department of Environment Protection (DEP).

(c) Wetland vegetation may only be cleared under approval from the District authorities. Excavation of fish ponds into a wetland must preserve a favorable ratio of surface area to perimeter of vegetation. Individual ponds should not exceed a size of 1000 square metres (0.1 hectares), and there should be sufficient uncleared vegetation separating the ponds for use by other activities.

6 Grazing of cattle

(a) Grazing of cattle in wetlands, particularly seasonal wetlands, is permitted but this should be considered as a public amenity to all those who require it, and fencing should not be erected to exclude any user or group of users.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph 6 a, above, there will be a maximum total number of cattle which will be able to use the productivity of the wetland sustainably. This number will vary from place to place, and so planners should seek specialist advice from the ministry responsible for advice on the best numbers to be kept in any particular wetland. They should also undertake to obtain the cooperation of the cattle owners in this regard.

(c) The practice of annual burning of wetlands is banned unless beneficial management from such activity is demonstrated to the District authorities and is approved.

Protection of the catchment area

It must be ensured that all areas upstream of a wetland are properly managed to prevent wetland degradation. Wetland plants should also be encouraged to grow at the edges of river banks.

Control of activities in wetlands


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The District authorities will control all activities in wetlands by regulating brick-making, requiring that the brick-makers form a voluntary society and be licensed in accordance with the National Policy on the Management of Wetland Resources.

Procedures recommended to be followed by prospective wetland resource developers

Unless the total area to be developed is less than 0.25 hectares, or as may be determined by the authorities, any developer shall provide an appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment based on the following:

(a) Identify the wetland on a map at a scale of 1:50,000 and describe the current use of the wetland.

(b) Describe the intended use of the wetland development by:

(i) Stating whether the use is for the benefit of an individual, a private company, cooperative society or a community organization.

(ii) Providing a detailed description of the proposed activity e.g. farming, fishing.

(iii) Demonstrating that the proposed activity benefits the community, the economy and that it is both environmentally sound and sustainable.

(c) The completed application and the E.I.A. should be sent to the District authorities, and copied to the Department of Environment Protection, after approval by the LC1, LC2, and LC3 committees in the area concerned.

(d) Any costs involved will be borne by the Developer.

Procedures to be followed by district authorities after receipt of an application

The District Resistance Council (DRC) should satisfy itself that the application has been properly considered by the lower LCs and should consult with the District Development Committee (DDC) on the appropriateness of the application The DRC will as far as possible follow the guidelines provided.

(a) Inspect the proposed site and assess the likely impact of the development upon the environment, other users and the surrounding communities.

(b) Evaluate the environment impact assessment.

(c) Consult relevant Government departments for their advice.


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(d) Upon receipt of advice, the DDC may come to a decision and recommend to the DRC that the proposal be accepted, modified or rejected.

(e) The DRC may direct as to who will bear the cost of the approval or rejection of the proposal.

(f) The DRC may impose any other conditions as may be appropriate.

Criteria for considering applications

(1) At no time should the entire area of a wetland be fully developed.

(2) There should not be "too many" developments within a wetland.

(3) Some representative wetlands or parts thereof should be left intact in a given area.

The local authorities will exercise reasonable discretion on the exact area of wetlands to be developed in accordance with the National Wetlands Policy and other prevailing policies on

natural resources and the environment.

Social policy as a process Social policy focuses on the welfare of an individual or group of people on residual or temporal arrangement when designing. Policy formulation Identification of social problems Policy proposal Implementation Evaluation. These main bodies that influence the formulation and implementation of policies are the executive, president and cabinet. The president initiates decrees the legislature ie parliament approves. The judiciary entails the law and order maintains which help in policy making. Social policy is the fundamental process by which enduring organizations maintain an element of stability to improve conditions for their members (Freeman and Sherwood 1966). Some social policies can never be fully developed but go through a gradual process, modified where the situation warrants in the face of changing values and conditions.


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Perceiving social policy as a philosophy is also based on value judgment of that particular society. Value judgments are based on the norms. These refer to the rules and regulations that are initiated within society for the purpose of regulating and guiding behavior at state, societal and organizational level. In the words of Horton (1978) society’s values are its estimate of worth, its preference and its rejections. Leslie (1980) while in agreement with Horton also seems to suggest that society derives its character from it’s values, either at higher levels like democracy and practicality, or opposite values like theocracy and impracticality in homogenous societies. Such homogeneous societies can develop intrinsic deliberate courses of action (social policies) instituted to rectify what is going wrong. Those collective and preventive measures aimed at promoting the integrity and common good of the society come to be considered as social policies. Modern societies however, exist in the realm of cultural diversity and heterogeneity. In this case the State has to intervene and implement social policies as a program or product. This perspective of social policy will be discussed later. Therefore, social policy as a philosophy is regarded as a tool for enhancing and perpetuating the notion of community/collectivism as opposed to individualism. Social policies are processes of policy development that can be identified in all human societies. They are generally understood as rules which are formal (public) and informal (cultural practices and conditionings) aimed at governing ways of life for different groups of people.

National strategic framework on HIV/AIDS activities in Uganda 2003/04-2005/06

As the population of Uganda continued to be devastated by AIDS pandemic attributable in large measures to historical and ongoing behavioral patterns which creates a continuum in the AIDS prevalence. Yet the discovery of AIDS crisis by policy makers is not merely recent but also icidental on one hand to a general assessment by these policy makers with its unignorable diverse health hazards. The discovery, in turn, has brought in its wake, the offering of a spate of solutions in form of policies such as The National strategic framework on HIV/AIDS.

For over two decades Uganda’s population has experienced an HIV/AIDS epidemic. In response, the Government of Uganda set up the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) to coordinate the entire program that was being implemented in the fight against the epidemic in the country. Consequently, HIV prevalence has declined consistently in the last decade.

However, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of interventions has been weak. Data on different aspects of the epidemic have been collected by various organizations. But lack of coordination of data collection activities rendered such data less useful and not harmonized for the greater benefit of many stakeholders. The National Strategic Framework (NSF) launched in 2000 and revised in 2003 expressed great concern over the lack of M&E activities to track the successes


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and constraints of HIV/AIDS program and recommended that a designated unit at UAC should coordinate M&E activities in the country.

In 2000, UAC set up a Directorate of Planning and Monitoring, to address this challenge. The Directorate of Planning and Monitoring have produced this M&E framework to guide the tracking of program, implementation progress and facilitate evidence based decision making for interventions under the revised NSF. Notably important is that M&E of HIV/AIDS activities in Uganda is everybody’s responsibility and not just that of UAC.

National Strategic Framework (NSF)

The Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the NSF

The MTR of the NSF was largely conducted under thematic areas to ensure complete review of the activities implemented since 2000/01. The thematic areas included;

• Prevention, behavior change and advocacy • Care and treatment • Psychosocial support, protection and human rights of PHAs • Institutional capacity • Monitoring and evaluation • Planning and resource management

The MTR was forward looking and aimed at assessing progress made, identifying gaps, emerging issues and challenges, and making recommendations for the revision to match the changing landscape/platform in the HIV/AIDS response. The MTR and revision of NSF were highly participatory processes involving all stakeholders. The gaps and emerging issues identified in the MTR were the primary focus of the process to update the NSF. The revised NSF provides broad strategies and activities from which stakeholders will draw their action plans for the remaining period until 2006.

Purpose of the revised NSF

The purpose of the Revised National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS Activities in Uganda for the period 2003/04-2005/06 is to:

• Provide a platform around which all donors and stakeholders fund and implement HIV/AIDS activities in a co-ordinate and harmonized manner.

• Relate the fight against HIV/AIDS to the development goals and action plans, particularly ‘Vision 2005’ and the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) 2004;

• Bring to the fore the coordinated involvement of all stakeholders in the planning, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV/AIDS interventions over the remaining period of the NSF (2003/04-2005/6);


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• Establish a base against which the progress and impact of HIV/AIDS interventions would be measured, with a view to taking appropriate action for the subsequent plans;

• Serve as a resource mobilization tool that provides a basis for costing and seeking support for HIV/AIDS interventions in Uganda.

• Strengthen, expand and sustain systems to generate and manage strategic information for effective and efficient implementation of the current NSF and planning for the next.

Goals for 2003/04-2005/6

The principal goals of the revised NSF for the period 2003/4 to 2005/6 are aimed at contributing to the realization of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP).

Goal 2 from the original NSF has been subdivided into three sub-goals, based upon the findings and recommendations of the MTR. The other two goals remain unchanged.

The selection criteria included:

• Relevance- the indicators must be relevant to HIV/AIDS program in the country; • Sensitivity- the indicators have the ability to detect change in the outcome of

interventions at national level and out-put at district level; • Availability and inexpensiveness- the data used to construct the indicators is currently

available or relatively inexpensive to collect and put in consideration that data is currently collected by other agencies;

• Usefulness; • Ethical concerns- the indicators do not require data that involve unethical methods of

collection; for example the methods should not lead to stigmatization of PLWHAs, orphans, widows or other family members, intrude into people’s privacy or collect information without the consent of respondents. To avoid discrimination, the OVC indicators do not distinguish between children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and those who are orphaned due to other causes.

• Measurable and easiness of collection and analysis- Quantitative indicators are preferred because they are easier to collect and analyze;

• Repeatability- comparability across levels of monitoring and over time; and • Validity- the indicators must be valid and should measure current not past issues of

HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

National level indicators measure outcomes and impact while district level indicators measure outputs. At the program level, each activity that is implemented by the different partners and stakeholders will have input, process and outcome indicators that can be used to monitor progress. Consequently, at this level there are very many indicators that individually contribute towards overall monitoring of different interventions. In order to facilitate the coordination of monitoring at the national level by the UAC, an attempt has been made to identify a few indicators that can act as proxy or direct measures for the achievement of the NSF objectives.


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More detailed monitoring of program performance will remain within the domain of the lead actors from the program itself. Social Policy as a Planning as a fundamental perspective This perspective of social policy is perceived as the result of a rational exercise involving realization of goals and examination of alternative courses of action and the options to be used in achieving them. This perspective was a cornerstone during the designing of the environment policy and The National strategic framework on HIV/AIDS. The planning process includes the identification of goals of the organization, state or society, the assessment of the extent to which actual conditions deviate from those goals and the development of general frame-work or strategies for achieving convergence between goals and existing conditions or behavior. Planning is usually predicated on a desire for mitigation of the gap between the goal and the reality. Setting goals In social policy, goals should be standards that have not been attained but require a statement of the desired out-come and establishes criterion of success as revealed in the environment policy and The National strategic framework on HIV/AIDS. Assessing existing conditions Knowledge of existing conditions should be carried out before goals setting. Information may initiate the designing of favorable social policies. Social policy as planning is concerned with equitable distribution of social resources and is concerned with a cross–sectional organized representation of the society to meet identifiable needs or social problems presented by different groups in society. Setting social policy goals Social policy can be developed only in relation to a communal goal or objective. Goals from the standpoint of social policy are standards, which have not been fully attained. Goal-setting in the development of social policy requires a statement of the desired outcome, which also specifies the condition to be dealt with and establishes a criterion of success. The achievement of an absolute goal requires that either an undesirable condition be eliminated or that a desirable one be attained for everyone. Relative goals establish standards of achievements in terms of some proportionate improvement of the conditions that exist at some point in time. The water policies in Uganda can provide good illustration for social policy goals Water and sanitation sector policies, strategies and approaches Presentation at advocacy meeting for district councilors (FY2006/2007)


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Water and sanitation sector goals and targets � To provide sustainable water supply and sanitation facilities based on management

responsibility and ownership by users, within easy reach of 77% of the rural population and 100% of the urban population by the year 2015 with an 80-90% effective use and functionality of facilities. Then eventually to 100% of the urban population by 2010 and 100% of the rural population.

� To promote coordinated integrated and sustainable water resources management to ensure conservation of water resources and provision of water for all social and economic activities.

� To promote the development of water supply for agricultural production in order to modernize agriculture and mitigate effects of climatic variations on rain-fed agriculture.

� The target is to halve by year 2015 the percentage of people without access to clean safe water.

Water is a key strategic resource vital for sustaining life, promoting development and maintaining the environment. Access to improved clean safe water, water and improved sanitation facilities and practice which can lead to improved health are essential investments in human capital and therefore have a direct and immediate impact on the quality of life and contributing to long term social and economic development, which eventually eliminate poverty in rural areas. Poverty eradication is a fundamental objective of Uganda’s development strategy. The poverty eradication action Plan (1997) is the guiding frame-work for the achievement the goals eradication. It aims to promote increase in the quality of life of the poor among others. In the PEAP, the water and sanitation sector falls under two pillars. Enhancing production, competitiveness and income (includes water for production and water resources management. Human Development (Includes water supply and sanitation) states that healthy and educated populations are both necessary for national development. Poverty action fund (PAF) was created in 1998 in order to channel additional resources resulting from the debt relief from highly indebted poor countries initiative, and further mobilize donor funds towards key sectors among them the water and sanitation sector. With the support of development partners including SIDA, DANIDA, DFID and the government of Uganda, safe water coverage has been increased from 165 in 1990 to 47% in 1999 then to 61% in 2005. Guiding policies and frame work The rural water supply and sanitation programmer (RWSSP) is a component of PEAP and was introduced in 2000/2001 financial year after government realized that only 45% of the rural population had access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Government through this program targets improving the quality of life of the poor by providing safe water and sanitation services.


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The Regulatory Framework The regulatory framework for decentralized delivery of rural water and sanitation sub-sector is provided for in the Local Government Act (1997) that provides for the continuous process of decentralization. The powers, responsibilities, functions, funds and services from the central government are developed and transferred to the local government in order to increase local democratic governance to meet the local needs. District local governments are responsible for provision and maintenance of water supplies, planning, and budgeting and resource allocation, community mobilization and to ensure effective participation and involvement of all concerned. They are also supported to follow up implementation by the private sector and to support the operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities, monitoring, prompt accountability and reporting. Legal Framework

� The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995) objective xiv stipulates that the State shall endeavor to fulfill the fundamental right of all Ugandans to social justice and economic development and shall in particular ensure that all Ugandans enjoy rights and opportunities, access to education, health services, clean and safe water, work, decent shelter, adequate clothing, food security and pension and retirement benefits.

� The National Water Policy (1999) promotes sustainable provision of clean safe water

within easy reach and good hygienic sanitation practices and facilities based on management responsibility and ownership for the users within decentralized governance. It also promotes awareness of the water management and development issues and creation of necessary capacity for the water and sanitation sector players at all different levels. In addition, it promotes management options for the water resources management and provision at all levels. The National Water Policy stipulates that water is a key resource in socio economic fabric of our society and an important factor in the development potential of the nation.

� The National Environment Management Policy (1994) and National Environment Statute

(1995) include key objective on water resources conservation and management to manage and develop the water sources sustainably in a coordinated and integrated manner so as to provide water of acceptable quality for all social and economic need.

� Other policies include: The Water Act and accompanying regulations, the Local

Government Finance and Accounting Regulation 1998, The National Water Policy, The Water Action Plan (1995), Water Resource Regulations, Land Act (1998) and many others.


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Institutional Framework According to the institutional framework for planning, implementation and monitoring of the water and sanitation sector programs, the central government is responsible for developing strategies, planning, coordination, quality assurance, technical assistance and monitoring to ensure national policies and performance standards are adhered. The district local governments are empowered by the local Government Act 1997 to provide and mange rural water services, planning and budgeting, and resource allocation. Institutions with varying responsibilities and programs in the water and sanitation sector

� Ministry of Finance, planning and Economic Development (MFPED): which mobilizes funds, allocates them to sectors and coordinates donor inputs.

� The Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment (MWEL) has overall responsibility for

initiating national policies and for setting national standards and priorities for water development and management.

� The Ministry of Health through the environmental Health Division (EHD) is responsible

for the initiation and development of good strategies and approaches and for the provision of support to the decentralized structures.

� The Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development (MGLSD) is responsible for

gender responsiveness and community development mobilization. It assists the sector in gender responsive policy development, and supports districts to build staff capacity to implement sector programs.

� The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAFIF) spearhead

agricultural development, including the use and management water for production (irrigation, animal production and aquaculture).

� Non-government Organization (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs)

complement government in sector service delivery in terms of finance and implementation. Private sector firms undertake, design and construction in the sector under contract to local and central government.

Sector coordination National level:


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� Water and sanitation working groups (WSSWG) provides policy and technical guidance for sector development for the community.

� Comprises of representatives from ministry of Water and Environment/ Directorate of Water Development, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Sports, development partners, NGOs.

� Meets quarterly. District Level:

• District Water and sanitation committees to be established. • Role to coordinate and oversee the implementation of water and sanitation programs by

local governments. • Comprised heads of Department, CAO chairperson, DWO is secretary, NGOs • Meet quarterly • Minutes are supposed to be sent to the center. • Need to coordinate with different organizations/NGOs in implementation of activities.

Use of uniform approaches for sustainability. Strategy and Investment Plan A demand-responsive approach: The users after receiving appropriate information have to decide on what type of facility they want. Pay for capital contribution

• Borehole-180,000/= • Spring/ tap stand/ borehole rehabilitation-45,000/= • Shallow well-90,000/=

Decentralized approach

• Funds are channeled to the district as conditional grant for implementation. • Central ministries are responsible for sector coordination, setting standards, preparing

guidelines, monitoring, sector reporting, research and development.

Sector Wide Approach to planning (SWAP) • Intended to achieve improvement in sector performance. • Increased resource flows • More effective use of resources which will lead to positive outcomes for the poor.

Integrated approach and integrated management of water resources, liquid and solid wastes, safeguarding of health and protection of the environment.

• Soft-ware aspects of mobilization, • Community-based planning and monitoring, • Hygiene education, including safe water chain and promotion of household sanitation. • Gender awareness,


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• Capacity building at user level required for continued use and sustainable operation. Sustainability

• Community-based maintenance system (CBMS) is the main foundation of sustainability. • Users are responsible for operation and maintenance of facilities. • Private sector provided all technical services for operation and maintenance, including

spare parts • Government to support major rehabilitation in the interim but in the long term, it is

expected that communities will increasingly co- finance and ultimately take over these expenses.

Financial Viability

• Public • Sound financial practices • User contributions for capital costs. • Full responsibility for operation and maintenance

Coordination and collaboration of Major actors

• Common approach • Best practices • Adoption of innovations

Institutional Reform • Strengthening of local institutions. • Good management of facilities. • Full involvement of users • Community management of services • Sense of ownership • Participation of women at all levels.

Private sector participation • Use of consultants and contractors in the design, construction and management of

facilities and community mobilization. This aspect of the strategy and investment plan requires the application of social capital theory which represents an important conceptual innovation for inter and trans-disciplinary theoretical integration of all disciplines in the professional space.

Monitoring and reporting Sector planners at national level and local governments need reliable information to ensure that there is an adequate response to the demand at community level and to ensure that supply mechanisms are working well. Information and awareness rising.

• At all levels so that people make informed choices. Approaches for enhancing sustainability


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Critical requirement 1: Memorandum of understanding (MOU): • MOU that stipulates the nature of cooperation, obligations and responsibilities of

signatory between GOU and Districts • Clients and contractors. • Districts and sub-counties. • Communities and sub counties/districts

Critical requirement 2: meaningful involvement of women Before construction goes ahead, the community mobilization and empowerment should have reached the following minimum requirements of women.

• The composition of water user committees (WUCS to include at least 50% women. • The election of women to positions of WUC/WSC chair and WUC/WSC treasurer is

strongly encouraged to ensure empowerment of women in RWSS decision making and management processes within community structures.

• At least half of water point attendants and hand pump mechanics selected by communities shall be women.

• Skills training is targeted at those women in particular, and their appointed/elected male colleagues, so all can perform their jobs as required.

• The entire community shall be involved in discussions involving setting of water sources and choice of technology with men and women initially being consulted separately to ensure that woman’s views are paramount.

• All communications /information to communities shall target both women and men. Critical requirement 3: hygiene promotion and sanitation. Improvement in health requires an integrated approach to the provision of water, sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion. The following shall be adopted:

• All households of community leaders shall have latrines that are safe and clean. • During the mobilization phase, household latrine coverage shall be increased by at least

30 percent. • The community to increase coverage and usage to a 95% level within four years after

installation of its water point/facilities and this shall be included in the eight year operation and maintenance plan which is also a minimum requirement.

• Districts and sub counties shall show evidence that they are putting in place health and sanitation ordinances where applicable and enforcing them in the community concerned.

Critical requirement 4: community contribution Contribution would signal whether community has demonstrated commitment of being prepared to assume ownership and responsibility on going O&M project operations and maintenance costs are borne by the communities with back-up support from the district.

• Borehole -180,00/= • Spring protection - 45,00/= • Gravity flow scheme - 45,000/= • Borehole rehabilitation - 45,000/=


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Contribution can be either in cash or in kind. Critical requirement 5: settlement of land and ownership conflicts. Land access and ownership conflicts have caused some water projects to fail in the past. All land access and ownership issues have to be resolved before hand. Critical requirement 6: operation and maintenance plan O&P Plan shall be prepared by the community and facilities by the district and sub county officials and in particular the DWO. The following areas of concern should deal with the following:

• Lack of commitment by some WSC members to attend meetings. • Disagreements on allowances for WUC members/pump mechanics. • User’s refusal to pay for O&M and problems in collecting funds. • Access and management of hand pumps mechanics/ plumbers • User’s refusal to participate in cleaning of sources. • Unavailability of extension staff. • Tools, spare parts and materials for repairs. • The plan shall also include a plan for how the community will increase household latrines

coverage and usage to 95% within 4 years after the facility is installed • Training.

Best practice in Serere county-Soroti districts. Communities have been sensitized and trained by AMREF, a non government organization, to manage, operate and maintain their water facilities. All water user committees have been trained and caretakers equipped with simple tools like spanners to facilitate in maintenance of the boreholes. The treasures on the water user committees have formed an association and each is required to collect funds from the communities. The rates collected differ from community to community ranging from Ug. Shs. 200/= to Ug. Shs 1,000/= per household per month. The funds collected are deposited to the sub county general account. If there is a break-down in the water source, the communities invite a hand pump mechanic to establish the problem point. The chairperson of the relevant water User Committee carries out purchases using the funds on the sub county general account. In addition, all hand pump mechanics were equipped with tools to facilitate repairs of the water sources. At one of the community visited (American Borehole) in Serere township, they formed byelaws which have been signed by the police and LC1 chairperson. All stakeholders (water users, committee members, caretakers) are aware of the byelaws. These byelaws include:

• Caretakers are remunerated Ug shs. 5,000/= per month • All users have to participate in the cleaning of water source and if they cannot then they

pay Ug shs. 200/=. • All water users are registered and collect water from only the water source where they are

registered. A registration fee of Ug shs 1,000/= is charged per household


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• All water users participate in monthly meetings on operation and maintenance, sanitation and hygiene. At the time of the meeting usually at 9.00am, the water source is closed until the meeting is over.

• Preventive maintenance is carried out every month

As can be seen from these examples, the setting of social policy requires either assumptions or knowledge about two fundamental aspects of the social situation values and existing conditions. The immunization goal at least assumes certain basic societal values concerning health and the minimization of death rates, and perhaps the higher priority of the young over the old. The elimination of illiteracy assumes certain basic societal values concerning education and the importance of literacy to productive participation in our economic system and our democracy. And both these goals, like any relative goal, are based on the assumption or knowledge that there is room for improvement, that is, that there is a discrepancy between the actual conditions and those specified by the goals. Assessing existing conditions. The need for the policy maker to take existing conditions into account has already been referred to in the discussion of goal setting. In many cases, knowledge of these conditions exists before the goals are set. Information may, in fact, initiate the setting of goals and policy. In any event, an assessment of the empirical situation is required somewhere in the planning process. At one extreme, this assessment may be entirely impressionistic, reflecting only the policy maker’s view. At the other extreme, it may result from a systematic research enquiry by technically qualified investigators resulting into a battle of competing truth. If, on the other hand, they have reasonably definitive information at hand, they may not take impressions into account at all. Generally, however, their assessment of existing conditions is more likely to be a conglomeration of facts and impressions that require the policy maker to obtain more precise estimates or an assessment in greater dept. For example, the objective of eliminating illiteracy may be regarded as so important that the policy maker may insist upon a nationwide testing program, rather than rely on anthropological data which might take a long to process. Planning must, therefore, include a notion about how to gain acceptance of the goal and secure a mandate for proceeding toward its achievement. The planning process should also include some ideas about potentially successful means of moving in the desired direction. It is unlikely that a planner will devote much time to a policy if there are no techniques available for handling the problem to which that policy is directed. Similarly, no great effort is likely to be made if the policy maker is going to be completely thwarted in developing and carrying out a program (Sherwood 1966). Although there is considerable disagreement about the styles which should be employed, planners usually spend a great deal of their time seeking support and legitimization. According to this point of view, based upon an enduring tradition referred to in the social-work field as “self-determination” one should only develop goals pertaining to matters about which the parties involved have manifested concern. Moreover, the goals should constitute an expression of the views of the group or community members involved. Other planners, adopting a similar strategy


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for different reasons, insist that “indigenously centered” planning in which the parties affected have a strong role, is the most promising approach, on the grounds that it is essential to success that all such parties be fully involved. Yet others argue for what they refer to as “centrally directed” planning, on the grounds of its greater efficiency and effectiveness.. In terms of what happens in actual planning in the real world, there are two types (Centrally directed an indigenous planning) may be thought of as polar extremes. About all that should probably be added here that the strategy of legitimization is likely to be a crucial part of any planning process. Program development refers to the design of specific interventions and ameliorative activities based on the information, analyses, decisions, and recommendations produced in the planning phase. Practicality and feasibility are important considerations in the transition from the broader, more general, value-oriented planning stage to the more detailed, reality and action oriented process of program development. A complete and comprehensive translation of policy goals into program specifications leaves a minimum of decisions for the individuals given the responsibility for the practical operations. Policy and Practice Theoretically, the operator or practitioner is an administrator, a supervisor, and a technician. He is responsible for the conduct of the desired intervention in accordance with the specification of the program design. The policy maker, in developing the program, formulates the principles which define the role of the practitioner, and is responsible for seeing that the program is conducted in accordance with the program specifications. In practice, however, the responsibility for program development is often vaguely defined, and the program itself is unsystematically shaped. Much of the work of the practitioner in the fields of health, education, and welfare is undertaken on a highly individualized, ad hoc basis. General directives are issued and individuals are charged with the responsibility for carrying out programs. Individuals who are formally or primarily operators take on policy-making functions as well. The development of an impact model An impact model is an attempt to translate theatrical notions regarding the regulation, modification, and control of social behavior or community conditions into hypotheses on which an action can be based. It may be helpful to distinguish between what might be called implicit and explicit impact. The absence of an explicitly stated impact model prevents replication of the program and severely limits the opportunities for controlling its quality and evaluating its effectiveness, development and implementation.


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Impact models, implicit or explicit, are predicted on some notion of cause and effect. But, because of the present state of knowledge in the social and behavioural sciences, the impact model is rarely based upon a set of principles and generalization, which are grounded in definite evidence. More often, it is a vaguely operationalised hypothesis about cause and effect. A fully developed social policy should try, during the evaluation stage, to examine empirically the cogency of the hypothesized causal explanation. The impact model must include a statement concerning the stimulus or input, an hypothesis about what changes the input will produce, and a theory or proposition about how that change will affect the behavior or condition the policy maker is seeking to modify. For example, the policy maker may have decided that there is insufficient utilization of mental health services by undereducated individuals. The goal of his program is a substantial increase in such use. The policy maker may develop a program of education about mental health as the means of accomplishing the goal. Even if the program does not explicitly say so, he is presuming that an educational program (the stimulus or in put) cause changes in people’s views or attitudes. Further, he is assuming that his program will produce changes in attitudes, and that the changes in attitudes will lead to greater utilization of mental health services. Selection of the Target Population The selection of the target population is the second important aspect of program development and effectuation. “Target population” is shorthand for the group for which the program is developed. In most instances, decisions about program development require an understanding of the needs of various aggregates within the community. Ordinarily, the first step toward the identification of the target population takes place during the planning phase. At that time, a case is made for the existence of groups whose behavior or standard of living diverges from a desired state. During the program’s development, the client or recipient population must be carefully specified. (Freeman, Sherwood, Konapka 2000). Additional aspects of program development and implementation There are many other factors, which must be taken into consideration in the development and carrying out of a program. However, they tend to be related specifically to the program being developed. Usually, it is necessary to specify matters of the organization of the agency that are going to carry out the program to lay out a budget for the conduct of the program; to indicate how finances, human power, and other resources are going to be obtained; to coordinate the program with existing services; and to lay the ground work for its acceptance by key community leaders, relevant professionals, and clients or recipients of the program. Without considering these elements further, we should point out that the initial spadework in these areas is usually undertaken as part of the planning process although specific proposals are rarely fully outlines at that time.


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In the beginning stage, the policy maker takes a plan and renders it workable by anticipating or prognostically the considerations that will be involved at the time it is put into effect. Part of the mystique, which surrounds the successful policy maker, is related to his ability to develop and activate his program at an opportune time and in an opportune context. Viewed broadly, and to some extent ideally, evaluation provides the basis for the policy maker’s decisions concerning the continuation, modification, expansion, or elimination of programs directed toward the amelioration of social ills. Using evaluation procedures, the policy maker seeks to determine, first, whether or not the program was carried out in accordance with the prescriptions set forth in the planning and development stages and, second, whether the expenditure of resources has been efficient in comparison with alternative means of achieving the same objective. In practice, the process of evaluation may range from a general, impressionistic appraisal of a program to a carefully designed experiment. The assessment of program implementation There are at least two important reasons why the execution of a program must be assessed.

1. Funds are authorized for the conduct of programs with specified characteristics, and there is an administrative, often a legal obligation to see that the requirements are complied with.

2. A basic component of measuring the impact of a program should lie in its power to change existing social problems.

The carrying out of a program can be assessed through anthropological, or field, investigations. These investigations determine whether the various procedures are being carried out as specified, or at least whether they are derived from the principles explicated in the program’s design (Suhman 1967). It is also important to know whether the program is reaching the target population. Measuring a program’s impact. The impact of a program is traditionally confused with estimating whether or not it is being conducted in an appropriate way. Often, if a program is conducted in conformity with certain specified standards, and particularly if qualified professionals are involved, it is claimed that it can be automatically regarded as successful. Success, in this instance, is defined in terms of the quality of the services delivered (Suchman, 1967). It is often believed, by those who rely on the quality of the service rendered, that if a program is run properly it can also be assumed that the desired changes are taking place and that these changes are due to the program. The judgment of the quality of a program has a place in the evaluation process, of course. It is obviously expedient and rational to test out only programs that have a philosophical basis and that are carefully designed and conducted. The philosophical discourse maybe mentioned here only in passing although it will come up in our subsequent discussion of philosophical bases of social policy. But professional judgment cannot be substitute for the experimental measurement of impact. Impact can only be assessed through systematic, empirical research, through


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systematic observation of natural occurrences. The critical role of experimental design in the assessment of impact may be obvious, and many policy makers and practitioners may intellectually accept their importance, but there has been a general reluctance to abide by experimental principles in the assessment of the worth of social-rehabilitation programs. In our view, impact is that difference between pre-program behavior or conditions and post-program behavior or conditions, which can legitimately be attributed to the intervention. Well-run programs, or desired change, are not enough; the changes must be observable and clearly a result of the program impact. We state that emphatically, the policy maker concerned with experimental evaluation cannot be satisfied with merely introducing a program and observing the changes that take place. There must be a basis for confidence that the introduced change accounts for the observed difference. Thus, he /she employ control groups, and contrasts what happens to them in comparison with the persons or objects which constitute the experimental group. In some experiments, the control group receives no treatment, or no exposure to the program. In many evaluation studies, control groups receive typical or ordinary programs rather than no treatment. There is a well-defined set of procedures for the assignment of subjects to control and experimental groups. With few exceptions, ideal experimental design requires the investigator to use a randomization procedure, i.e., the assignment of cases to various groups on a chance basis, as in lottery. The primary purpose of randomization is to eliminate all other possible determinants of impact or outcome except the experimental stimulus or change. Strategy for Poverty Alleviation After achieving economic stabilization and sustainable growth, the government of Uganda focused on the policy of poverty alleviation. A lengthy consultative process culminated in the drawing up of the poverty eradication Action plan (PEAP), which lays out a two- pronged strategy of poverty alleviation consisting of the following

1. Measure to increase incomes of the poor, emphasizing roads; agriculture, rural markets, rural credit reforms about productivity, (which would help to provide full employment in the agricultural industry)

Poverty eradication measures have resulted into reduction of people living below the poverty line from 56 percent in 1994 to 44 percent in 1999. The poverty line refers to people earning less than US $ 1 per day.


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Education as a planning factor

Under the perspective of planning, the government of Uganda utilized funds from increasing revenue and invested it in the education sector by the introduction of a harmonized and broad-based education i.e. Universal Primary Education (UPE). This implementation was based on the realization that education and development are parallel development factors. Illiterate populace cannot participate in national development. The resultant factor was a substantial primary school enrolment from 2.5 million pupils in 1997 to 6.5 million pupils in 1999. Source: Ministry of Education.

Social Policy as a Ideology As an ideology, social policy is perceived as a product of a political process in an event of policy making where there are various interest groups with conflicting interests. Conflicting interests arise when there is what Horton et al (1978) describe as fallacies of social problems. He went on to say that one fallacy among others is that “people agree on what are the social problems”. In this respect, therefore, conflicting interests arise as a result of different interpretations of social conditions in society at one point in time and how the available resources should be utilized. During the policy making process the belief held by the stronger stakeholder of the group usually wins and the more influential of the stakeholder usually determines the policy direction. It is a common scenario for the more politically influential, in the policy making process to determine the policy making direction. Several researches particularly that of (Snyder 2000), among others, observed that lack of land ownership contributes to women’s poverty and that of the community. On the contrary their male counterparts do not share the same philosophy. Such studies would lead to the adoption of the land Act of 1998 which is concerned with tenure, ownership and land management; and could make most Ugandan women co-owners with their husbands of land where the matrimonial home is located and on which they depend for sustenance. The Domestic Relations Bill was debated in the Ugandan parliament, which is composed of directly elected MPs representing constituencies, women members representing each district, representatives of workers, and people with disabilities. However since men are the majority in the parliament, it resulted into a contentious hot debate and there was resistance, hence no social policy directed towards the above issues were enacted and implemented. Discussion on social policy as an ideology constituted a systematic beginning of an important discourse on government privatization policies in Uganda. Some of the enterprises that depended on government subsidies were privatized. It is an issue of the left wing. There were some forces, which for example, were against the privatized entities to fall in the hands of foreigners. Because


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the majority of policy makers were pro-political, mass democracy prevailed and this scenario determined the policy direction. This same argument was advanced by Oakley and Marden (1993) and was further discussed by Burkey (1993) when they pointed another example that women face a layer of cultural and structural constraints which have instinct and bias their access to factors of production, land in particular. Collective organization of both women and men dominated by the latter do not perceive problems women face or the different networks in which they interact, which seldom produce ad hoc policies within the organization that can benefit both stakeholders. For this reason, more often, the policy direction is always in favor of the stronger. The above analysis brings us to another level where it is of necessity for social policy perspectives to over-lap. In this case the social policy as a philosophy and as a product can overlap when ad hoc national policies are designed to eliminate the exploitation elements (Mugyenyi 1998, Goode 1988), which were identified as impoverishing policies. The above overlap can be achieved through what (Snyder 2000) recommended that governments as well as private sectors must develop policies, which can enhance the hundred thousand micro and small-scale enterprises. Snyder’s study went on to reveal that MSE usually develop through social policy as both an ideological and philosophical concept and can provide employment to nearly 10% of the Ugandan population. Recognition of this fact created a need for an overlap of the two perspectives. This was revealed when the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in the 1998 budget advocated for parliament to put a proper policy framework in place regarding access to land and credit in support of MSE. In the same view Synder identified that the draft policy paper on micro and small enterprise development of 1999 meets that request and the government included strategic policy recommendations on the agenda. In conclusion, the two perspectives are not isolated, they just require reciprocal enhancement. In developing countries, however, social policies and management of social services are more often guided by political ideology and not pragmatic assessment of social needs. Social policy as a field of study Social policy is perceived as a field of study under the domain of social sciences (Alcock 1996). However, Alcock highlighted the debate about the overlap between disciplines like sociology, economics, politics and social policy, and what should be the core concern of each. Some scholars, for example Marsh (1997), among others, urged that social policy exists in a eclectic academic space. It is the study of history, sociology, politics, economics, and anthropology and social services. These are broadly defined and include education, health-care, housing, social security, income maintenance and empowerment of marginalized groups.


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History as the study of past events looks at a scenario when a particular policy was designed, the problems it was meant to address and weather it still provides answers to contemporary problems and in contemporary scenarios. Social policy as a social science is concerned with the consequences and implication of the countries’ deliberate courses of action (social policies). Social policies are the yardsticks for a country’s programs and services which determine the development of humanity on such critical issues that can’t be left to market forces. As a field of study, the discipline liberates peoples’ minds and the development of the discipline through research builds its body of knowledge, which may lead to social change. The World Bank study on Uganda cited below reveals the harsh reality in convincing terms on how social policy integrates all the mentioned fields of study and how they can play a lot of significance in the designing of new favorable social policies. Some of the Social services interpreted from existing social policies in Uganda Health Indicators in Uganda (World Bank Study) Health indicators in Uganda compared favorably to other sub-Saharan African countries in the 1960’s, but have since dropped in standing. While other countries progressed, Uganda-stagnated. Although economic decline certainly played a major part in this decline, some aspects of health can be improved at low cost and do not need to wait for further economic recovery. For example, other countries have raised life expectancy even when incomes were low and not growing particularly fast. Although there is data on morbidity, clinical data suffers from sample selection problems, and survey data are inaccurate (respondents reporting of their health has a strongly subjective element) Recent mortality data also suffers from underreporting. This analysis therefore concentrates on two measures that are relatively robust;

1. Anthropometrics indices of children 2. The mortality ratio of children of surviving mothers.

The 1991 Census estimates of life expectancy are based on the reported mortality of children of surviving mothers, with appropriate adjustments. They suggest that health indicators have improved little if at all, since the 1960s. Nationally, infant mortality is 122 per 1,000 births, while child mortality (under five years) is 203 per 1,000 births. The expenditure based on regional poverty profile is confirmed by child mortality data- Kampala, one of the wealthier regions, has the lowest child mortality rate, while Kitgum in the north has the highest. But Mbarara, which is relatively wealthy in the terms of household expenditure, has a higher child mortality rate than the national average. As shown below, education attainment may at least partly explain this finding.


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Table 5 showing Child Mortality Ratio of children who have died Mother’s age < 20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 >40 Location Rural 0.12 0.15 0.18 0.20 0.20 0.13 Urban 0.09 0.11 0.13 0.15 0.17 0.27 Expenditure quartiles Bottom 0.13 0.17 0.17 0.19 0.19 0.33 Lower middle 0.15 0.13 0.16 0.19 0.20 0.32 Upper middle 0.07 0.17 0.19 0.20 0.19 0.30 Top 0.11 0.13 0.16 0.19 0.20 0.30 Material education None 0.10 0.17 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.34 Some primary 0.11 0.15 0.16 0.20 0.18 0.25 Some secondary 0.04 0.08 0.11 0.09 0.14 0.11 Some further 0.00 0.03 0.07 0.05 0.08 0.09 Source: World Bank Study 2000. The diseases that cause death are not clearly understood by surviving relatives who are often too sensitive when asked. However, data is available in clinics on the causes of death. This data suggest that malaria, diarrhea, and measles are the major killers of children. To analyze the pattern of child mortality, the proportion of children who have died but were born to surviving mothers is used. This indicator has some limitations. For example, it is likely to omit many cases


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of pediatrics AIDS because mothers who have AIDS or their children are likely to die themselves. Also the age of the child at death is not known, but it has the advantages of allowing the analysis of mortality across the whole child population. An important finding from the analysis of the 1992/93 Integrated Household survey data is that mortality is drastically lower for children of educated mothers; it is somewhat lower, but not dramatically so, for the economically better off but, even the top expenditure quartile suffers from significant child mortality. There is also a big difference between urban and rural areas. Children of urban mothers have a much better chance of survival. A multi-variate analysis confirms the overwhelming importance of women’s education in reducing child mortality and shows that measures of mother’s knowledge can increase women’s bargaining power within the household. The evidence strongly suggests that its effects on mother’s understanding about health are most important. Other studies have revealed a number of beliefs that influence child health, including beliefs about children’s feaces, the practices of excising “false teeth” and the role of oral dehydration therapy. This body of work implies that in order to improve child health in Uganda, the level of public understanding about health must be raised. While education is an effective way of accomplishing this, less-costly methods can be used at the same time. China, for example, achieved a great deal by delivering a few very simple health messages to its population through the media and political institutions. Although adult mortality is an extremely serious issue in Uganda, data is harder to obtain. There is no doubt that adult mortality is very high and likely to increase because of the high rates of HIV infection. A serious effort has been made to inform people about the AIDS epidemic, and data from the 1992/93 shows that almost everyone in Uganda has heard of the disease, although not everyone understands it completely. Other major adult killers include malaria and tuberculosis-both of these are on the increase and are more likely to be transmitted in crowded living conditions. Both can be treated quite effectively, but the poor are less able to have access to adequate treatment. Caring for the ill imposes a large cost. Because much care is given within the household and because the productive value of women’s time is often overlooked, it is easy to discount the large amount of resources already being absorbed by caring for the sick. Most cost estimates assume that the sick require hospital treatment and arrive at frightening and unfeasible numbers. While the cost incurred in providing domestic care is not known, they are probably high in relation to total household income. Studies of health expenditure have revealed that transport is a major problem. One of the attractions of the traditional sector is the proximity of healers. The Rationale for Public Involvement In addition to primary education, there are very good reasons for public involvement in the health sector.


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First, many preventive measures have the character of public good. Some areas such as immunization and AIDS control are receiving attention in Uganda but others, such as malaria control need more attention. Second treatment of communicable diseases (which are currently causing most of the deaths in the country) has positive externalities, because a person who is cured cannot transmit the illness to another. Moreover, partial treatment such as short courses of drugs has strong negative externalities. Resistance to anti- malaria drugs and antibiotics is emerging as a major health problem in Uganda, which is of course unusual in adult mortality. Finally, the failure of insurance market means that people cannot insure themselves against their possible needs for major medical expenditure (Uganda Strategic Plan 2000). The care of an AIDS patient can be very expensive. This argument is illuminated by the recent health expenditures and that strategies involve the sale of subsistence crops, short –term borrowing, and the sale of cash crops. Sales depend on seasonality and a ready buyer; access to borrowing depends on friendship and reciprocity networks. Land sales were also found particularly where education was low. The arguments discussed above give a rationale for public subsidy and regulation but not necessarily for public provision. However, the ability of the public sector to regulate the quality of the private sector is very limited in Uganda. It would also be very difficult to ensure that subsidies to private health actually reached the patient. The authorities already face a considerable challenge in controlling quality and eliminating illegal charges within the public sector. Hence the most realistic way of improving the health services available to most Ugandans is the improvement of facilities within the public sector. This needs to be combined with improving the information available to patients in both sectors. In education, many of the same arguments apply. In particular, education is a very effective way of conferring an asset (human capital) on children, which, unlike land, cannot be expropriated. Another important public sector role is the enforcement of standards. In the health sector, there has been much public controversy about the presence of large amounts of expired drugs. Where advice is provided so much by people in shops (mostly not qualified pharmacists) it is in practice very difficult to regulate prescription practices. In addition it has been found that even in the public sector, pharmacists practices leave much to be desired. In education, national examination bodies provide quality control. Nutrition and sanitation should also be subject to government regulation. In colonial times, households were required to build latrines and there is evidence that this is still enforced in some areas. The incidence of public expenditure The decline in health services during the period of political instability caused a movement into the private sector. People are more likely to use the private than the public sector. Use of public facilities is more frequent among the poorer households than among others. This suggests that public facilities, rightly or wrongly, are perceived as inferior (another reason for the pattern may be that charges are lower but queues longer at public facilities and the better-off pay to save


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time). Survey data on the “informal” health sector are likely to be under reported. Most communities do report having a traditional healer accessible, which suggests that the demand for their services is considerable; in addition, self- treatment is extensive, including the collection of herbs, the use of purchased drugs and even the domestic administration of injections. A significant part of education is privately financed and managed. However, much publicly managed education has a considerable private component of both management and financing as schools often charge fees greatly in excess of the statutory fees. Fees are used to supplement teacher’s salaries and development activities. In 1991, for secondary schools, parents provided 74 percent of development expenditure and 56 percent of recurrent expenditure (Uganda Strategic Plan). The fiscal data indicate a significant increase in the shares of spending going to health and education during structural adjustment. It should also be noted that some important recurrent costs are included in the development budget because they are mainly donor- financed, including the Expanded Program of Immunization and the Essential Drugs Program. Nonetheless, government expenditure on education, for example, remains at about 2 percent of GDP, whereas 5 percent of GDP is more typical for Sub-Saharan African countries. Furthermore, public expenditure per student is skewed towards beneficiaries at the higher levels of the system. However, much of this increase in recurrent expenditure has been devoted to paying increased salaries to teachers and health workers. These increases should help improve the quality of education and health services. The central government has limited capacity to monitor the spending actually occurring in health facilities. In the future, with much primary spending decentralized the central government’s capacity to achieve further increases in the shares of spending on the primary health and education will be dependent on the cooperation of the districts, or on the ability to control districts’ decisions. The expenditure- based definition of poverty is used to examine incidence of expenditure in two ways using the 1992/93 HIS data (table 6). Table 6 showing recurrent expenditures 1988/89 1989/90 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 In million of U.C.E. Ministry of education 8,576 11,237 16,439 36,361 38,204 Ministry of health 1,846 3,435 4,832 9,943 12,064 Mulago Hospital 583 1,057 1,548 3,028 4,341 Makerere 1,266 2,212 2,763 6,361 7,270 Percentage shares: Ministry of education 16.8 12.7 16.1 17.7 18.0


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Ministry of health 3.6 3.9 4.7 4.8 5.7 Mulago Hospital 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.5 2.1 Makerere 2.5 2.5 2.7 3.1 3.4 Source: World Bank Study (2000) First, the proportion of people in each expenditure quartile who are receiving the service is calculated. Second the proportion of people receiving the services who are in each quartile is obtained. The first gives an intuitive sense of how likely poor people are to receive public services, while the second shows the distributional impact of subsidies to these services. In primary education, for example, children in the bottom expenditure quartile go disproportionately to the government-financed and/or managed schools, while both non- profit and commercially run primary schools have their pupils from better-off families. In health services, the poor make about as much as use of public outpatient facilities as the non-poor. Hence the non-poor receives subsidy to these services as much as the poor. For subsidies in education, the story is similar. However, poor children have lower enrollment than others, while poor families have a higher proportion of children than others. These two effects balance out so that roughly the same proportion of people is in publicly-financed schools in all expenditure groups. Existing policy initiative. The education White Paper (1992) rightly made the following recommendations:

• Changing the structure of primary-junior secondary-senior secondary from 7-4-2 years to 8-3-2 years to allow for increased teaching of vocational subjects.

• The possibility of parents or guardians paying in kind (materials, labor or food), rather than cash.

• Adequate facilities for girls in post- primary institutions to allow for balanced enrollment-head or deputy head of all educational facilities to be a woman, and there should be accelerated registration and training of female teachers, tutors and lecturers,

• The Education Policy Review Commission recommended that government should allocate at least 20 percent of recurrent budget to education. Local government should raise resources for education through taxation.

The policy also discusses the following need for further review.

• Abolishing government charges for primary tuition at a rate of one level per year. This was discussed by the Constituent Assembly and rejected as an item in the Constitution. To grant free education in terms of need, and whether district administration and government should provide bursaries to some of the neediest and deserving children require means testing basing on the parents incomes to avoid the state being overwhelmed with expenses for both UPE and USE programs.

• Schooling should be strong-oriented towards vocational preparation; it should be pre-vocation in upper primary and vocation at secondary level.


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In health, the three year Health Plan Frame and the White Paper on Health Policy update and review outline a strategy involving concentrating on the most cost-effective (“essential”) interventions, increased government funding, and cost-sharing. The Ministry of Health has to identify and “design essential Health package for Uganda,” including malaria control, maternal and child health family planning immunization services, and control of sexually transmitted infections .While these principles remain in place, decisions on cost-sharing have been decentralized. The executive control of district health plans committees are being increased and the entire districts have been required to produce health plans. The central authorities urged the prioritization of primary and preventive care. This has been a long- standing recommendation for both health and education but little has been achieved in the actual shifting of spending toward primary services. It’s felt that the decentralization policy is increasing the transparency of the sector and will make abuses more difficult.


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CHAPTER EIGHT PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL POLICY In developing or designing of social policies, societies and all organizations are guided by certain procedures. In order to guard our position and avoid blame for unfavorable social policies, social policy principles proved to be a perfect instrument. In the same regard, several works, especially that of (Idaho, Konopka, Hamilton, 2001) contributed to the significance of social policy principles when the trio contended that social policy principles are general rules, or laws, concepts of fundamental truth that are generally accepted tenets. They are the means through which disciplines move from one place to another to create impetus for new knowledge. In the discipline of social policy, they can be referred to as principles. There are five principles, which are used as a baseline in the construction, designing and implementation of social policies. Social Justice There are two mainstream principles of social justice; in the liberal theory there is the principle of justice, which is also found in the Libertarian school of thought. This principle recommends that social conditions, social structures and the social environment should avail each person the most extensive basic liberty compatible with similar liberty to others in totality. Several writers in the philosophical space, for example, Kymlicka (1990), discussed that the general conception of social justice recommends that all social primary goods, liberty and opportunities, for example education, income and all base motives that can lead to self respect should be harmonized and approximately distributed equally. The principle also agitates against unequal distribution unless such distribution is to the advantage of the least favored. Consequently, the 1.5 point policy supplement to female students at Makerere University underpins Kymlicka’s argument. The points are given to the female students on the premise that there has been inequality in social conditions in many societies in regard to the girl child. It has not been uncommon for families to give the boy child preference to remain in school in times of deficiencies, hence consequential imbalances of education opportunities between both genders. In fact, Kyamlicka (1991) concurred with Gilbert and Specht (1994) when the duo independently discussed the theory of justice, equal distribution of opportunities and resources. On the other hand, distributive justice is concerned with the allocation of resources, which is the basic preoccupation of social policy. Crime and retribution as a dimension of equal justice The product of social justice is concerned with two categories: collective justice and redistributive justice. This category of collective justice attempts to create a balance between deviance, crime and retribution.


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Collective justice The classical debates on crime was a pre-occupation of the law profession but in recent times it has taken an eclectic position. The law profession has gained its location in the trans-disciplinary professional space by borrowing theoretical models from other professions such as social work, psychology, sociology and anthropology. Collective justice is concerned with crime, and the policies in this regard are always safety nets to arrest the negative multiplier effects of crime, which result from social problems. Some laws define harmless acts as crimes, while many acts that create injuries to societies are technically legal. Etzioni (1967) highlighted the various ways which are injurious and which required ad hoc policies to ensure equal redistribution of justice. The children’s statute provides a good illustration of social justice. Although the policy maker is to ensure justice and protect the society from injury, there are such policies which make the latter viable. The second principle of justice is the principle of efficiency and that of maximizing the sum of advantages.

Uganda prisons service: an illustration of social justice (crime and redistribution) Uganda prisons service, attached to Luzira Women Prisons Welfare & Rehab. Section Background: When we ask how collective justice is introduced in a society, we immediately encounter some problems. One is the question on which act will be taken as crime with different degrees of ease and which will be rejected. Uganda Prisons is an institution which derives its existence from the calculation of crime and retribution. How ever many people find themselves in this establishment when they do not deserve the punishment. Uganda prisons service is part of an integrated justice system in the justice/law and order sector. It is under the ministry of internal affairs; established to contribute to the protection of all members of society by providing reasonable, safe, secure and humane custody and rehabilitation of offenders in accordance with universally accepted standards. Prison service is composed of the Commissioner General and Deputy Commissioner General, Regional Prisons Commanders, District Prison Commanders, Officers in Charge of Prisons, Directors, Heads of Departments at Prison Headquarters and other persons appointed as members of the Prison Service under article 215 of the constitution. Mission: The mission of the agency is to contribute to the protection of all members of society by providing a reasonable, safe, secure and humane custody of offenders in accordance with universally accepted standards, while encouraging and assisting them in their rehabilitation, reformation and re-integration as law abiding citizens.

• Counseling and guidance of convicted women prisoners and those with HIV\AIDS • Vocational training skills to the prisoners • Functional literacy program to women prisoners who do not know how to read and

write. • Tracing and follow up of prisoners especially for resettled purposes.


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• Provision of recreational activities for example music, dance and drama, and sporting activities.

• Paralegal advisory services to increase access to justice • Placement of female prisoners babies back to the community. • Linking people on remand with their relatives to enable them get bail, thereby

decongesting prisons.

Redistributive Justice Redistribution of resources The fundamental philosophy common in social welfare policies is the support for redistribution of resources. In order to guide the position of redistribution, the Marxist discourse proves to be a perfect instrument. This philosophical base entails taking from those who have high indices or opportunities ( the haves) for example the rich, the employed and the business community, to the poor, the unemployed (the have nots). The philosophy is reflected in the taxation policy where those with high indices are taxed and the resources are distributed through the provision of social services and other universalities such as education, quality education and health services to the poor.

Redistributive justice is concerned with the allocation of resources; this tends to be the preoccupation of social policy. In the effort to carry out analysis of social justice, several philosophers posed a question: Are the principles of social justice chosen? The answer to the above question can be that there are basic requirements to lead a good life. They include the following 1. Social primary goods-

Social institutions, income, wealth opportunities and powers, rights and liberties, directly distributed (Cohen 1968).

2. Natural primary goods, for example, intelligence, imagination, health and natural talents.

In choosing the principle of justice, people behind the veil of ignorance seek to access those primary goods, distributed by social institutions. Social justice addresses such issues as the fairest way of dividing the benefits of the society among its members. Taxation policy was designed based on the philosophy of redistributive justice. The Pay As you Earn (PAYE) policy works with a presumption that those who have the highest indices (opportunities) in society such as education have the ability to get employment, and access all the basic needs. If that individual is taxed, then the tax revenue can be used by the state to harmonize the basic needs by constructing schools, hospitals and infrastructure so that those who for some reason don’t have money to pay can access free social services. If the state provides free quality services, then the one who is taxed doesn’t have to take his/her children to private schools or seek medical services in private clinics.


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Social Equality The search for social equality is a fundamental justification for designing social policies. It was identified and recommended by Rawls (1967), that each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they benefit the least advantaged. The intuitive quality of opportunities. The prevailing justification for economic distribution in society is based on the idea of opportunity (Rawls 1967). Inequalities of income and prestige are assumed to be justified only if there was fair competition in the awarding of offices and positions that yield those benefits. However, some writers, for example Kyamlicka (1997), among others, have presented critiques on Rawals argument. They independently emphasized that empathy is of paramount importance during opportunity allocations and desire that the people who fill the position are entitled to a greater share of society’s resources.

In the same regard, Rawls maintained that such people should be paid more only if it benefits all the members of society. This argument can be illustrated in social policy on poverty alleviation. Howard, a renowned sociologist, provided a supplementary view that concurred with the above in his poverty analysis when he observed that people crusading to fight poverty actually benefit from it because poverty provides employment and a status in the society. The value principle of social equality The value principle of social equality prescribes that benefits should be allocated in a way which can equalize the equation of resource and opportunities available in society and create equilibrium. When working with the value principle of social policy, policy makers should carry out a systematic enquiry and interrogate the nexus in the variable that may hinder certain groups in the society to benefit from the policy. In universal education the following may hinder all the children in UPE Schools to benefit equally; 1. If parents cannot afford to pay education, then they may most likely fail to provide food. The state included in the UPE policy provision of lunch to all the children in UPE schools because hungry people can not learn. 2 Teacher-pupil ratio. The state embarked on training more teachers. 3 Construction of more classrooms increased enrolment in Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) schools.


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Training of teachers in special education to cater for children with disabilities and employing education officers who are trained in the area of special education. In the health policy, the value principle leads to: 1 The provision of ambulances 2 Sensitizations which can help people adopt positive health seeking behaviors towards modern medicine instead of assigning all sickness to witchcraft and spirits. Attitudes of health workers may also hinder the users to go to health centers and opt to remain in their communities where they get complications such as fistula; a health condition , which results from prolonged labor, that cause a damaged bladder. Woman with this health disorder can not control urine. They become stigmatized, husbands reject them and they become social out casts. The problem may seem insurmountable but can be corrected by a simple operation. The value principle is imperative because it helps policies do not elapse in a state of absolutism. The issue of opportunities in our society should be approached with a degree of perspectives and balance. This takes us to the discussion of ideological perspective of social policy. Rawls (1967) and Kyamlika (1991) articulated in eloquent terms the approaches about full opportunities. The implication of the prevailing view of equality of opportunities is as follows: Social inequalities are undeserved, and should be rectified or compensated 1. To say that natural inequalities can influence distribution in accordance with equality of

opportunity, the compensation high-lighted by this argument can be illustrated by state policies, which can neutralize the inequality.

2. Rawls (1969) goes beyond the checklist when he observed that some people are born with disadvantaged positions, for example, lack of access to factors which empower people i.e. land, education, and money. Such people should not be denied social benefits but also have claim to compensation.

3. In this regard for compensation, I am prompted to mention how the government of Uganda tried to revisit the Land Policy Act. It was a contentious issue from those who benefit from the inequality which was engineered by the colonialists’ imperialistic enterprise of divide and rule.

4. The issue of compensation has been a building block for friendly social policies through affirmative actions, for example, gender sensitive development projects and a conducive climate for the increment in school enrolment for the girl child.

There are both intrusive and contract reasons for recognizing natural handicaps, for example, lack of land, education, and subsidies in the agro-industry as viable compensation areas. This also includes natural primary goods in the index which determines who is in the least well off position and who is worthy compensation. Such evaluations are primarily the central yard-paramount for the government before designing social policies.


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The principle suggests that social policies should not be designed along narrow parochial interests, which are non- discriminating. Universalities for example Universals, such as primary Health Programs Immunization, are examples of compensations. The ideology of equal opportunity seems fair to a significant number of people because it ensures that people are not victims of circumstances. Inequality in social services Gini coefficients in table 7 indicate that inequality has risen slightly in Uganda. They also show a widening urban-rural gap (evidenced by a higher national value of the Gini coefficient than the weighted average of urban, rural coefficients), increased inequality within urban areas, while within rural areas, inequality has been reduced. These results are consistent with the analysis of relative poverty, i.e., hard-core poverty seems to have fallen. Table 7 showing Gini coefficients for Uganda 1989 1992 1992 excl.

7 Districts National Expenditures National 0.377 0.409 0.405 Urban 0.371 0.439 0.436 Rural 0.364 0.352 0.344 Expenditures Deflated by Poverty Lines National 0.368 0.383 0.379 Urban 0.371 0.439 0.439 Rural 0.364 0.353 0.346 Source: Calculations from the 1992/93 IHS. The principle of Social Equity The concept of social equity just means fair treatment. The galaxy of the founding fathers of philosophy, include Aristotle, Pluto and Kant who contributed significantly to the theme of


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equity when they provided a concordance that there is a fundamental difference between treating people “equally and fairly”. A useful classification of equity was provided by Fink (1998) who identified two categories of equity. • Horizontal equity and • Vertical equity Horizontal equity refers to equality principle of “like treatment for like people in like circumstances”. An example that can provide a sharp illustration is when you look at a scenario that involves a segment of people who are HIV positive. One segment can buy ARVs and the other segment is not economically empowered to buy. The horizontal equity advocates for state intervention in the provision of ARVs for the segment, which is economically disabled. Horizontal equity advocates that if 20% of the populace are HIV positive and only 55 can afford to buy ARVs, then it is the moral duty of the state to design health policies that can enable the 15% of the population to access free ARVs. In fact it is a moral imperative because sick people can not participate in the development frame-work of a nation state and what is a nation without people? Most of the education and health policies are designed on the bases of horizontal equity. Some examples of state intervention can be illustrated by the designing of ad hoc policies that can harmonize and universalize the provision of health services to all HIV positive people. The designing of social policies per se can not guarantee accessibility and can prove insurmountable if such policies are not interpreted into favorable social services that can be absorbed and consumed at grass-root level. Horizontal equity goes on to assert that equal but separate is not necessarily fair treatment. In extreme cases, it can lead to injustice. Equity foundations in some Uganda policies and programs. Government of Uganda – UNICEF Country Program 1995 – 2005 Outputs and Associated Activities Basic education, child-care and protection, and HIV / AIDS prevention among children and adolescents are coordinated through LC, government and NGO systems. In order to improve the management and coordination of resources, district coordination mechanism or committee was established and strengthened for integrated planning and management purposes. The LC5 vice-chairperson was facilitated to strengthen collaboration between NGOs and Government, to improve information flow and encourage inter-sectoral linkages. Particular attention would be given to the DPAC process to improve allocation of resources to basic education, childcare and protection, and HIV/AIDS prevention among children and adolescents.

This component would entail joint planning, mobilization, materials development and distribution, and training in identification and management of resources.


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The data collection and feedback system would be strengthened to improve documentation and information for planning. This would include improvement in inter-sectoral reporting and information sharing between education officials, the probation department, UCOBAC and the AUC. District-based data banks were established and strengthened through the probation and welfare office and UCOBAC on CEDC; existing management information systems for basic education will also be strengthened while data collection of AIDS control programs will be coordinated through the UAC.

Activities included: • Establishing or strengthening existing coordination committees; • Developing guidelines for coordination of relevant activities; • Developing and implementing inter-sectoral plans of action, e.g. for complementary

opportunities for Primary Education, HIV / AIDS prevention among the youth, child-care and protection;

• Training and sensitizing LC 5 vice-chairpersons in their role to ensure the basic rights of children;

• Establishing data banks and guidelines for data and information collection; • Training information personnel with emphasis on gender equity; and • Analyzing and utilizing data for planning. Management of basic education strengthened Improved resource mobilization and management for basic education is dependent on the capabilities and actions of education managers at district and sub-county levels. Programs supported by the World Bank and USAID have already been developed to improve various aspects of the management of education sector resources, particularly in the fields of teacher training, textbooks and classrooms. This program intends to complement that support with stronger functional linkages to social mobilization, the schools inspectorate and other actions.

BECCAD Program Plan of Operations 1995 – 2005 Activities included: • Training district and sub-county education committee members in resource mobilization

techniques and monitoring and evaluation methods; • Providing technical support and developing materials for advocacy for basic education,

especially for girls; and • Advocating for and facilitating the provision of life skills education and vocational training. Management of childcare and protection activities strengthened Existing financial, human and material resources for effective management of childcare and protection activities in the districts depend primarily on the probation and welfare department and are grossly insufficient. The program should advocate strongly for increased financial and human resource allocation to this sector, using DPAC and other mechanisms, and provide complementary inputs as required. Training of sector staff was also the work of UCOBAC.


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Activities included: • Advocacy for resource mobilization; • Training of staff in needs assessment, resource mobilization and management; • Procuring and distributing relevant supplies and equipment; and • Improving management information systems.

Coordination of HIV / AIDS prevention activities strengthened While coordination of HIV / AIDS control at national level was given considerable attention, it is now crucial to strengthen coordinating mechanisms at district and sub-county levels. The Uganda AIDS Commission is encouraging the formation of AIDS Coordinating Committees at district and sub-county level (DACC and SACC respectively). In some districts DACCs have been formed but are not effective due to lack of resources for action. The program plans to cooperate with the UAC to establish and strengthen these coordinating committees at all levels. Activities included: • Advocacy for resource mobilization and action; • Training of staff in planning and evaluation; • Procuring and distributing relevant supplies and equipment; and • Improving management information systems.

Target group and external resource partners The key actors in resource mobilization and management are political leaders, committee members, heads of departments and managers at district and sub-county levels. They include NGOs and NGO associations, like UCOBAC, and other important opinion leaders.

The process of decentralization, including the decentralization of UNPAC, will provide an enabling framework for resource mobilization and improved management. This process involves a large number of external resource persons from ministries and national institutions, NGOs and external support agencies.

Strengthen Capacity for Policy Development and Quality Assurance Component Rationale This program addresses the critical need to establish and strengthen the policy environment that is required to enable the planned developments at community and district levels. Continued promotion of UNPAC and the Convention on the Rights of the Child is critical, particularly in articulating the basic needs and rights of children and adolescents. The concept of “life skills” and its articulation in relevant curricula, training materials, programs, implementation strategies and plans is also crucial. Gender issues need to feature prominently if current biases in basic education, childcare and protection and in HIV/ AIDS control are to be rectified.


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It was necessary to take radical steps to effectively address the very serious problems in child and adolescent rights and education. This is also a prerequisite for controlling HIV/ AIDS and for creating a healthier nation. Advocacy and effective information systems will be crucial in strengthening and sustaining such commitments.

The main role in the decentralization process is to ensure proper policy guidelines and quality assurance to set standards and establish guidelines for monitoring and evaluation. The social services sector is inadequately supported in terms of budgetary allocation for effective delivery of services to meet current demand effectively. External support also needs to be co-ordinated according to well-analyzed and articulated priorities.

Objective and Supporting Indicators. The objective of this component was to strengthen national capacity for advocacy, planning, monitoring, evaluation and development of national policies sensitive to gender issues pertaining to basic education, life skills education, child and protection and prevention of HIV/ AIDS.

The indicators for this component include: • The availability of appropriate gender-responsive policies and mechanism for monitoring and

evaluation; • An effective mechanism for resource mobilization in place, with increased allocation of

funds to basic education, life skills education, childcare and protection, and HIV/ AIDS prevention;

• An improved mechanism for sectoral coordination and cooperation in place; • Gender- sensitive plans in place. • Affirmative action policies. Description This component will support the development of enabling national policies and guidelines and advocate for better budgetary allocation to basic education, childcare and protection and HIV/ AIDS prevention. Specifically, senior policy makers and planners will target for sensitization and development of management skills.

Outputs and Associated Activities Appropriate gender responsive policies for basic education, life skills education, childcare and protection and HIV/ AIDS prevention among youth, formulated and implemented viable mechanisms.

In order to coordinate the numerous actors, especially NGOs and government departments, are to ensure appropriate and quality service provision at all levels, relevant and effective policies, became increasingly the main tool for mobilizing both internal and external resources.

This program would support the policy development and review process of relevant ministries and individuals. Relevant policies include the government policy on universal basic education and complementary primary education, the multi- sectoral approach to HIV/ AIDS prevention


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and the comprehensive policy on children in extremely difficult circumstances. The program would pay special attention to the need for policies to be gender- responsive in view of the inequalities in education, and the special vulnerability of the girl child to HIV/ AIDS, abuse and neglect.

Indicators of progress would be the quality of services, and the reduction in wastage and duplication of services.

Activities included: • Advocacy for policy development; • Sensitization for policy implementation; • Providing technical support for policy development and review; • Monitoring implementation of policy; • Designing, producing and distributing advocacy materials; and • Establishing a national inter-sectoral coordination committee. Resource mobilized, rationally distributed and managed for basic education, life skills, and childcare and protection and HIV/ AIDS prevention. To sustain the major activities, especially local initiatives, increased external and local resources have to be mobilized and rationally distributed at all levels, including households. This program attempted to influence resource allocation through advocacy, sensitization and training in resource management for national managers and decision-makers. National coordination mechanisms, especially for ESAs and NGOs, would be strengthened in the respective sectors to improve distribution of resources to priority areas and reduce duplication.

Guidelines and strategies were developed to support planning and resource mobilization at district and lower levels. The role of the National Council for Children (NCC) in the development of UNPAC will be supported. Activities included: • Design and development of strategies for resource mobilization, allocation and utilization; • Sensitizing planners and policy makers towards the social services sector; and • Identifying and developing skills for rational management of resources.

National monitoring and evaluation systems strengthened The impact of NGO and government interventions was not nationally determined and documented in the past. With decentralization, one of the main roles of national ministries was to monitor the implementation by district level managers. This program would support relevant ministries and NGO parties to develop national monitoring and evaluation indicators and to set up monitoring and evaluation systems to guide and focus information to achieve the goals for basic education, child care and protection and HIV / AIDS prevention among children and adolescents. The emphasis would be on developing short and long-term evaluation plans and


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specific monitoring guidelines for key actors. Technical support would be provided for evaluation studies.

Activities included: • Developing national monitoring indicators for basic education, life skills education, child

care and protection and HIV / AIDS prevention among youth; • Developing skills in monitoring and evaluation; • Developing management information systems and a data bank; and • Conducting operational research on early childhood development life skills education,

childcare and protection, adolescent development and HIV / AIDS prevention among youth.

Appropriate, gender-sensitive curriculum, teaching and learning materials developed To contribute to the achievement of the goal of universal basic education for all, support would be given to modify the current school curriculum to ensure access to out-of-school students through the adoption of flexible teaching hours. Curriculum developers and educators would be oriented to include practical skills and life skills in the curriculum, especially on positive health behaviors and HIV / AIDS prevention among youth. This program would be to advocate for and strengthen the policy described in the 1992 White Paper to implement complementary primary education and incorporate early childhood development, care and life skills education in the current curriculum. The program will also provide technical assistance in developing appropriate gender-sensitive learning materials on the above issues. Activities included: • Advocacy for basic education as a right of the child, with special emphasis on the girl child; • Conducting sensitization seminars on complimentary primary education; • Training planners; • Developing and producing teaching and learning materials; • Developing, producing and distributing HIV/ AIDS materials for parents, in- school and out-

school youth; and • Developing, producing and distributing appropriate materials for life skills education and

training

Child Act and child rights implemented and monitored. Uganda ratified the Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990 and also committed itself to time-bound objectives and strategies for its implementation. The proposed new Child Act also incorporates the rights of adolescents and is an important opportunity for protecting the rights of young people. This program would facilitate a child rights committee to develop monitoring indictors and strategies for implementation. In addition, assistance would be provided to incorporate chills rights issues in school curriculum and in functional literacy materials.

In order to strengthen the enforcement of the Child Act, the program would support legal enforcement ministries, including the Ministry of Justice, and its functionaries at lower levels, including the police to develop appropriate guidelines.


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Activities included: • Advocacy for the enactment of a Child Act; • Providing technical support for the operations of the child rights committee; • Developing mobilization and sensitization strategies on child rights and laws affecting

women and children; • Designing, developing and distributing advocacy materials; • Conducting surveys and studies on child rights; • Developing indicators to monitor implementation of CRC; and • Engaging services of technical persons in child rights implementation.

Collaboration among childcare and protection NGOs strengthened. More than 50% of child welfare services are supported by NGOs. At the community levels, several CBOs are supporting households, where caretakers and communities participate in self- help schemes. There is a clear need to strengthen and expand the ability of NGOs and CBOs to identify, target and meet the needs of children.

This program would continue to support existing institutions such as UCOBAC, which coordinates and assists NGOs to target aid to the most vulnerable. NGOs or associations with capacity to manage national level programs would be identified and partnerships developed for the implementation of feasible solutions for most needy children. The capacities of NGO and CBO managers and personnel will be strengthened through training and accessing them to ESA funds.

Activities included: • Providing technical support to improve capacity of UCOBAC to coordinate and facilitate

collaboration among NGOs involved in child care and protection; • Providing support to strengthen the capacity of local NGOs and CBOs to meet needs in

childcare and protection; • Training personnel of local NGOs; • Advocacy for local NGO initiatives; and

• Supporting provision of seed money to NGOs and CBOs caring for children in especially

difficult circumstances.

Multi-Sectoral approach to HIV / AIDS / STD prevention among young people strengthened The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC), in conjunction with the AIDS control program of the Ministry of Health, is currently coordinating the Government’s multi-sectoral approach to HIV / AIDS control and prevention. The UAC is charged with developing programming for preventing the spread of HIV / AIDS and controlling socio-economic impact. This includes the development


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of sectoral AIDS control programs, support to AIDS control activities, e.g. education of NGOs, and developing management information systems.

In the context of Safeguarding Youth from AIDS (SYFA), this program would support UAC to develop multi-sectoral plans of Action and to strengthen its liaison with NGO coordination units. To measure impact of this objective, UAC would be supported to develop indicators and monitoring and evaluation systems.

Activities included: • Providing technical support to strengthen UAC capacity to develop plans for HIV/AIDS/STD

prevention among young people in conformity with the National Operations Plan; • Strengthening information systems and data bank on SYFA-related information; • Developing guidelines to ensure standardized approach to SYFA activities; • Developing and implementing HIV / AIDS policy on adolescents; and • Facilitating participation of people with HIV / AIDS in SYFA activities.

Life skills curriculum for in-school and out-of-school children and youth developed The Ugandan adolescent is faced with many challenges to economic survival and a healthy life free from HIV / AIDS. There is need to provide adolescents, especially girls, with appropriate practical skills to take critical decisions such as those relating to sex, careers etc. This program would support the training of adolescents in and out of school and the integration of life skills in the school curriculum. The strategy of this component is to integrate life skills materials into basic education, childcare and protection and HIV / AIDS prevention activities.

Activities included: • Sensitizing and training curriculum developers in life skills; • Training teachers; and • Sensitizing policy makers on life skills.

Target Group and External Resource Persons Government has been collaborating with and relying heavily on ESAs and NGOs as the main source of resources in this sector and also as key program implementers.

The main collaborating government ministries and institutions include MLSA, MOH, MOI, MOJ, MOE, MOLG and UAC. Major ESAs and collaborating NGOs include UCOBAC, AMREF, SCF, Redd Barna, UNDP, WHO, USAID and Would Bank.

Overall Mechanisms For Monitoring, Review And Evaluation Periodic Reviews, Reports and External Evaluations Monitoring will be conducted through district supervision report, quarterly reports and annual review exercises. Mid-term and end of country program cycle evaluation studies would also be conducted. There would also be an evaluation of the impact of life skills interventions carried out in 1998. Other evaluations will be determined during the course of the country program.


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Routine Monitoring and Surveillance The information management system would provide feedback on actions being taken by communities and on the magnitude of problems of woman and children. Use will be made of ongoing processes for monitoring including DPACs, SPACs supervision visits, RC reporting mechanisms, the District School Inspectorate and DACC activities. In addition, child registers would be used to collect data on vital statistics.

Sentinel Community Surveillance. The program would support and benefit from the sentinel community surveillance system, which would provide quantitative and qualitative information on coverage, impact and cost of interventions, SCS cycles are planned to give particular and periodic emphasis to key indicators for education, care and HIV / AIDS prevention among youth.

Special Surveys Qualitative and quantitative data collection would periodically be collected through community surveys and research throughout the course of the country program. An integrated baseline survey and supporting KAP studies would be conducted on basic education, childcare and protection, and adolescent development in 1995. Capacity Building for Monitoring, Evaluation and Research This program would support the development of national indicators for monitoring and evaluation in addition to putting in place monitoring and evaluation systems for both NGO and government programs. The development of routine child registers and growth monitoring in collaborating with the other programs would provide a valuable resource for communities and districts to assist in assessment, analysis and action.

This program would also support the development of guidelines for monitoring and evaluation at district and sub-county levels and the development of relevant schedules. Program Budget Sources of Funding In this sector, NGOs and both multi – and bilateral ESAs have typically contributed over 90 per cent of the resources provided to the communities, while most resources for basic education and the families and communities themselves provide childcare and protection.

Thus, historically, the contribution of Government has been minimal (with the exception of formal primary education). The budget breakdown shows that of the overall budget allocation, the equivalent of US$ 7.2 million (21 per cent) would be provided by central and local governments and US$ 27 million (79 percent) would be provided by UNICEF. An estimate of community contribution has not been made.


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Phasing of the Budgets Initially resources would be allocated for selected pilot district programs and for building capacity (logistics and manpower) for national and district service delivery. Considerable resources will be committed in the mid-term for the review of programs, monitoring and the provision of logistics and equipment.

The major share of the budget is allocated to the latter part of the country programmed period, mostly for expansion and extension from pilot initiatives to national programs. Budget Balance between Components Eight per cent of the budget will support community mobilization initiatives, including minimal logistical support, e.g. bicycles.

About 50 percent of the annual budget is allocated to improve capacity for service delivery, including training of extension staff, logistical support, including vehicles, and monitoring of community initiatives.

This rises to 56 percent of the annual budget total in the final years as the complementary opportunities for Primary Education initiative goes to scale.

About 14 percent of the budget is allocated to resource mobilization and management, mainly at district level, to support planning, coordination and collaboration process. Monitoring, evaluation and inspection of activities at lower levels is included in this budget allocation. Another16 percent of the budget is allocated for advocacy and sensitization of policy and decision making. This component includes high-level advocacy activities and technical support, especially for the development of pilot activities in the early part of the program. A total of 12 percent of the budget is for program support.

Making Agriculture a Business There were days when farming in Uganda was perhaps the most disgraceful activity. Farmers were by far the poorest of the poor and digging was administered like a corporal punishment. It was not economically viable and it was only a means of subsistence and survival.

This is because all the roads had broken down and access to markets was a cumbersome task. The markets themselves were very crude. But not any more; there is now light at the end of the tunnel with the inauguration of National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)

NAADS was formed to revolutionalize the way agriculture is done in Uganda. NAADS is a program of the government of Uganda put in place to increase efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural extension service. NAADS is a semi-autonomous body formed under the NAADS Act of June 2001, with a mandate to develop a demand-driven, farmer-led agricultural service delivery system. It targets the poor subsistence farmers, with emphasis on women, youth and people with disabilities.


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Its development goal is to enhance rural livelihoods by increasing agricultural productivity and profitability in a sustainable manner. NAADS activities are in pursuit of the national development framework of Poverty Eradication Agenda, which is guided by the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) and NAADS overall supervision is vested in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

NAADS is one of the seven components under the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA), which is the planning framework of the transformation of subsistence agriculture to be more market-oriented and commercially based.

NAADS focuses on re-addressing past problems that faced agriculture as a sector. It also focuses on the provision of agricultural extension services in particular through reforms and innovative approaches in service delivery. NAADS is a 25- year program with an initial phase of 7 years.

The implementation of NAADS program started in July 2001 in the Arua, Kabale, Kibale, Mukono, Soroti and Tororo, operating in only four sub- counties in each district.

NAADS is guided by a set of principles in carrying out its functions. “It centers around farmer empowerment, the organization of farmers into farmer groups based on farming interests. This encourages generation of farmer demand for agricultural services like technology, market information services, agricultural extension. NAADS is working by creating a private sector capacity.

This is through enabling the private sector to service the needs of the farmers and then retooling this capacity to the needs of the farmers.” The focus is to look at agriculture as a business, as an enterprise; other than what we have always known that agriculture is a way of life.

Consequently, it is rather imperative to interrogate the nexus of NAADS activities to the issue of food security and sustainable livelihood. When people look at agriculture as a business, and they have enough surpluses for sale, they have extra incomes. This gives them the power to purchase other foods they want and this is a much better way of food security as it is sustainable,” he says. NAADS is also built around the paradigm shift from “everybody grows what he or she eats. We want people to do best what they do best so that they can maximize production. Self- reliance should no longer be used as a measure of food security. We should instead use such parameters like extra and sustainable incomes. NAADS also aims at improving access to marketing information bringing technology closer to the farmer and several other facets that concern agriculture. NAADS programs are taking an enterprise approach by interrogating the following questions: what does the market have? What is the latest in technology? And how can we get this to the farmers?”


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Vertical equity Vertical equity in contrast to horizontal equity evokes the principle of “to each according to need”. I suggest that vertical equity if it is elaborated in its original context and in eloquent terms, it is the force behind the designing of affirmative action policies such as gender policies which will be discussed in detail in the subsequent chapters of this volume.. Affirmative action policies for example in principle assert that individuals from economically deprived backgrounds need special treatment if they are able to make use of existing social policies for example, education policies. The policy of 1.5 point at Makerere University is a great illustration of vertical equity. Students from rural districts in Uganda are taken on less entry points in state universities compared to students from urban districts. The policy was engineered while working with the presumption that culturally in many societies; girls are deprived of education friendly environments. The quarter system policy in education in Uganda illustrates the philosophy behind vertical equity. The policy works with the presumption that children studying from urban districts, are provided with a conducive environment that facilitates studying unlike those studying in rural areas where there is no adequate basic needs and available utilities such as electricity and running water. State universities may require 23 points in urban districts, for a student to be taken on government funding, but when the principle of vertical equity is considered, a student from rural district with 17 points can qualify for government funding. The vertical discourses are fundamental in empowering the disadvantaged segments in society. Some cultural practices that deprive the boy child information related to his sexuality, encouraging promiscuity among the male gender. Actually it used to be a common phenomenon for parents to keep a blind eye when their boy child is found engaging in sexual related relationships with the opposite sex something which would not be tolerated with the Girl Child. However, it is always a paradox because I want you to look at a scenario where the girl and the boy are both minors, but when the boy impregnates the girl, he would be arrested and thrown into prison where he would even get into contact with hard core criminals! Vertical equitable policies are of paramount importance to address this problem. Even the language in the existing penal code is gender insensitive. It documents that “if a girl is sexually abused or harassed” this should be revisited to state that “ if a child or an individual is sexually abused or harassed. Equitable policies in the job market The convectional criterion for remunerations and access to quality services and purchasing power is based on the individual’s contribution. There are some individuals however, who can not contribute because of structural reasons i.e. reasons which are not of their own making. Those individuals belong to the marginalized segments in society and these are the orphaned children, the unemployed, these apply to both genders and the disabled. The Ugandan master plan entails designed strategies that can lead to equitable policies that can improve on the living standards of the marginalized segments in society. This is illustrated in the resource mobilization and management for women and children.


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The resource mobilization and management for women and children The achievement of UNPAC targets was dependent on the mobilization of resources from all possible sources, their rational allocation and their efficiency, coordination and cost effective use. This is particularly significant in the decentralization policy under which districts would remain with 100% and sub-counties 50% of the revenue they raise. The decentralization of UNPAC has proved to be an excellent opportunity for mobilizing and coordinating the management of resources for programs addressing the situation of women, children and the disabled although the former category is not emphasized in the master plan. Objectives and supporting indicators The objective of this component was to strengthen capacity for and facilitate the planning, management and communication process that would result in the rational analysis of need, the mobilization and equitable allocation of resources and their coordinated effective, and accountable use for advocacy, mobilization and service delivery. As the main strategy to achieve was to decentralize UNPAC, the progress indicator would be the existence of district and sub-county Plans of Action For Children (DPACs, SPACs) and sectoral plans which allocate resources rationally and equitably and which are gender responsive, and the existence of up- to- date reports and records including accounting for resources. The development and program coordination Component Rationale This component addresses three major issues. The performance of managers at district level and below should be determined to a large extent by the policy and legal framework in which they operate. Many policies, laws and procedures in the social sector have remained unchanged since the colonial period and others were developed during the centralized government. There is need for these policies to be revisited in the light of decentralization policy and other developments. Other policy direction e.g. the Convention For the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination, have been endorsed in spirit, but the legal mechanism for their implementation have not been in place thus some policies have remained rhetoric, providing lip-service. Universal primary education policy (UPE) School education was introduced in Uganda by the White missionaries mainly for the Children of chiefs and to provide for functionaries needed by the British colonial government. So right from onset, this school system was not for all and it therefore grew to become highly selective and competitive with fewer and fewer students continuing to the next level of education. As a result, many Ugandans remained illiterate with illiteracy rates standing at only 65% with the primary education ‘reaching only 50 percent of the age group’ (ministry of education and sports 1999:7). It is against this background that in December 1996 President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni launched a policy of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in accordance with the government White paper on Education (Ministry of Education And Sports 1992). Under this policy, government was to provide ‘free’ education to a maximum of four children from each family. This has now changed because President Museveni has now said that ‘all children of school –


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going age should benefit from Universal Primary Education (UPE) (Olupot, 2002). The major objectives of UPE are:

• Making basic education accessible to the learners and relevant to their needs as well as meeting national goals;

• Making education equitable in order to eliminate disparities and inequalities. • Establishing, providing and maintaining quality education as the basis for promoting the

necessary human resource development; • Initiating a fundamental positive transformation of society in the social, economical and

political field; and • Ensuring that education is affordable by the majority of Ugandans by providing, initially

the minimum necessary facilities and resources, and progressively the optimal facilities, • Enable every child to enter and remain in school until they complete the primary

education cycle. (ministry of Education and Sports 1999:10) As a result of this policy, a lot has been achieved:

• Increased access. Enrolment figures after the launching of UPE shot up from nearly 2.5 Million in 1996 to nearly 6.8 million in2000 (Ministry of Education and Sports 2001b: 1). This increase was mainly for two reasons. The backlogs of school age children who had not been accessing school age but would not have afforded education prior to UPE were now able to join school.

This policy also has specific focus on the education of girls, the disabled and the orphans. There has therefore been an increase of enrolment of girls from 39% in 1970 to nearly 49% by 2001. To facilitate easy access to schools, the ministry of education and Sports has also embarked on building of more Primary and Secondary Schools. For example, by the end of 1999, 4,000 additional classrooms were constructed for Primary School children while by end of 2001, a total of 6,321 had been completed (an additional 2,321 classrooms in one year) (Ministry of Education and Sports 2001c:3. It is therefore clear that UPE helped improve access to education as seen by the increase in enrolments and the increase in the number of classrooms that have been put up.

• More Teachers Trained. An increase in the number of Children in school invariably implies an increase in the need for teachers. To deal with this and as part of the wider reform under the Primary Education and Teacher Development Project, there have been deliberate efforts to restructure primary teacher education and to increase the number of teachers trained/ retrained/upgraded. As a result, between 1995 and 1999 “7,800 in- service teachers have been trained or upgraded...” In addition, another 2,118 were expected to complete their (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:12). So while the number of teachers has grown, the number is still too low compared to the massive number of children in school now. In the meantime, some of the challenges faced buy UPE is briefly outlined.

Challenges faced.


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• Providing physical facilities. The massive increase in pupil Numbers immediately created a problem of classroom space. Although the Ministry has embarked on a drive to build more schools, and provide instructional materials, this is still far inadequate for as the ministry acknowledges. “The increase in the number of schools has not kept pace with the increase in the number of students” (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:11).

• Quality of education. This one area is of concern to many in the Country. There are fears that perhaps the massive numbers in schools without commensurate expansion in facilities, teachers, and teaching /learning materials may have compromised the quality of education. Although no thorough studies have been carried out, the Ministry of Education and Sports itself to 75%. In effect, 25% of the primary school teaching force is still untrained. This coupled with the poor teacher-pupil ratio certainly creates pressure on the school system. UPE has come along way since 1996 when it was launched and a lot has been done but a lot more is required if Uganda is to ensure that the objectives of UPE are truly achieved and that the quality of its education is not compromised in any way.

The Principle of social freedom Social freedom should be reflected in the extent to which people are given liberty to exercise their own preferences. In this regard, development and social workers under the principle of social freedom would advocate for the way redistribution of government benefits are offered in a form that allow recipients to exercise their group or individual preferences. This approach of people making their preferences in development work will be discussed latter. Primarily we must have a holistic view of the theory of “liberty”. When we consider Libertarian as a theory, it is of paramount importance to look at its operational definition, which refers to “freedom from too hard or “freedom from control”. The libertarian theory is one of the theories used as the baseline for the construction of the following social policies. 1 The World Bank Development policies policy such as Objective Oriented Project Proposals (OOPPs). The Resettlement policy in Kenya While working with presumption that people on the move can not be integrated in government programs, the government of Kenya decided to implement a resettlement policy for the nomadic communities. The project programs entailed provision of improved varieties of seeds such as maize and beans. The project also provided technical support in the form of training is crop husbandry to compel the nomadic people to settle in one place. During project evaluation, the donors, policy makers and development workers organized a cross-sectional representation of the nomadic communities to evaluate the impact of the project on people’s livelihoods. The people were asked what they thought about the project, and if they wanted the government to continue with the project. All the men replied that ‘’the project is a great development factor and they recommended its continuation. The women however, kept quit.


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The experts, who understand the dynamic of gender relations and the impact of cultural patterns on development discourse, employed the libertarian philosophy and separated the women and talked to them separately. When the women were asked to give their pinion on the project, the women said that “the project is terrible’’ they went on to say that they would not continue with the it and in fact they added that if seeds, were brought, they would cook and eat them. When the women were asked to elaborate, they said that beans required a lot of water and fuel wood. They went on to say that water and fuel are very scarce resources and yet the gender division of labor assigned water and fuel wood collection to the women. “The men just find food on the plate and they do not know what we go through”. The integration of the libertarian moral philosophy led to evolvement of the following projects; Water projects Tree planting campaigns, however, since this is rather a long time project, a project of fuel saving devices was implemented. The government of Uganda decided to help the pastoral communities by improving production through exchanging of indigenous cattle with Frisian cows. Development experts suggested that people with one hundred head of indigenous cattle should exchange them for only five Frisian cows to increase production. What the experts did not put into consideration is that the local people did not look at production as the development parameter per se, they also considered status. For this reason, the local people refused the project in their area. The experts adhered to the liberal philosophy, changed the policy and recommended an exchange of 1:2 ratio, which resulted into recommendation of exchanging indigenous cattle with cross breed. The principle of Social Freedom is also derived from the liberal philosophical paradigm at its rigorous level. It was the force behind the implementation of th following policy and social programs: The Multi- Grade Education System in Kalangala district. The policy makers employed the liberal philosophy and implanted UPE in shifts in Kalangala districts to allow the children participate in fishing. ABEK: an Illustration of Liberal Moral Philosophy The Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK). During needs assessment and survey on education, it was revealed that since the people of Karamoja are pastorists, they derived their livelihood from rearing cattle and attached a lot of value to their cattle. The parents were not going to allow their children to go to school. The government decided to develop a program where the teachers would follow the children grazing the animals, and teach them form the fields. Definition of Non-formal education


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Non-formal or out-of-school education tends to be defined in terms of negations that are in terms of what it is accepted by the community. As a result, the definition provided by Coombs (1973) and his associates has come to be widely accepted. This states that non-formal education is any organized educational activity outside the established system whether operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity, intended to serve identifiable clientele and learning objectives. Non-formal education is a loosely structured educational and training activity not located within the highly structured formal educational and occupational performance system. It is usually geared towards certain selected clientele and intended to achieve specific educational objectives. It complements activities within formal educational and training system by providing extra-curricular learning experiences, by offering opportunities for continuing education and by supplying the educational base for the implementation of certain development oriented projects, such as Animation Rural, Integrated Development Schemes. A more radical definition of non-formal education (deriving from Freire's concientisation process) is provided by Kindervatter (1979), who sees non-formal education as a not only promoting the acquisition of information and skills but rather as an empowering process. Empowering here is defined as: In relation to literacy, vocational skills acquisition are consequently designed to enable people to analyze critically their own life situations and develop the skills required for collaborative action to improve their conditions of living. Non-formal educational in Africa Forojjala (1993) states that in Africa, the period of the 1960s and the early 1970s were times of particularly rapid expansion in the formal education systems. Then, within the second half of the 1970s, limits to this expansion. Secondly, in spite of the substantial increase in the size of the formal system since the 1960s, continued population growth and resource limitations have meant that a large proportion of the school age population is still not attending school. This is likely to continue as the possibility of introducing Universal Primary Education has now greatly receded in most countries. There is similarly less likelihood for the expansion of adult education program. Furthermore, unemployment among school-leavers has appeared on the horizon and threatens political stability. It was, therefore, out of this pressure that the demand for the rapid expansion of non-formal educations was borne. As a result, African governments and other organizations have evolved a diversity of pragmatic, down-to-earth non-formal education schemes in the different countries. Some of the best known amongst them are Botswana Brigades and the Kenya Village polytechnics. Characteristically,


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most of the programs start with a small group of individuals working in small settings, often funded by a private foundation or a religious group. The genesis of Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja There is a widely held prejudice against the pastoralist Karimojong by most policy makers, liberal scholars and change agents since colonial times. The general perception is that the Karamojong are inherently conservative and obstinately resistant to all propositions for change and they are irrational economic actors, technically stagnant and primitive wandering erratically and spoiling the range lands by creating desertification, and exhibiting conservative and retrograde social structures and values. This prejudice and judgment is of an astounding inhumanity, and pseudo-scientifically based on faulty data, erroneous perceptions and gross misinterpretations and understanding of the functioning of pastoral systems. Their conservatism is contextual because it depends on the way their systems operate and not on their own choice; and to the extent to which they are required to change. Change takes time because it is a dynamic, social process. It requires getting to know the people and entering into their thinking. It is disastrous to change what has taken centuries to establish within a limited time frame. The Karimojong are receptive to new ideas, but must be gradual and brought to bear from their own perspective. This, therefore, is what policy and decision makers, change agents and scholars should understand. The Karimojong require longer interaction, dialogue and consultation, if new ideas are to be accepted. The unique lifestyle has vexed plans of educational providers and governing elites, who are among millions of people the world over, to whom education seems to mean only attending primary, secondary and tertiary education, and institutions. They have considered that the pastoralists' education system is mutually incompatible with the formal school system and so this incompatibility must be removed by radical means. While working with the liberal moral philosophy, policy makers in Uganda integrated the fore mentioned cultural thought of the Karimojong and endeavored to recast at the pastoralist problematic and proposed new and innovative ideas and developed the Basic Education Strategy for the Karimojong children, with the consent and support of the local people while retaining the pastoral and cultural nature of society. The initiatives have proposed refreshing options for action that can affect the education and life of the Karimojong children directly and immediately and provided in sights and an invitation to the thoughtful and mindful people. Conveyers (1982) underpinned the relevancy of libertarian moral philosophy of taxation when he observed that for the social policies to be implemented and trickle down to the right users, societies must choose a suitable degree of government involvement in problems, and clustering. The next stage, the users guided by the change agent-facilitators, develop an objective tree which involves reflecting on the type of intervention can help to alleviate the identified problems.


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With the change agents experience and expertise, they may be tempted to convince the users to choose the kind of interventions, which they (change agents) deem viable. There have been situations where users have been assertive and maintained their preferences of the intervention despite the recommendation of change agents. The philosophical discourses provided a relevancy of the libertarian theory in the social policy space when it advocated that for social policies to be implemented and trickle down to the right users, society users must give their preferences. The next stage, the users guided by the change agent-facilitators, developed an objective tree which involves reflecting on the type of intervention that can help to alleviate the identified problems.

With the change agents experience and expertise, they may be tempted to convince the users to choose the kind of interventions, which they (change agents) deem viable. There have been situations where users have been assertive and maintained their preferences of the intervention despite the recommendation of change agents.

For this reason, it was the structure and imbalances in social policies that compelled (Rawls 1936, Brandt 1959 Nozick 1974) the fathers among others of political and moral philosophy to look for a science of analysis. Libertarians defend market freedom and demand limitation on the use of the for social policy Barry (1986). The above statement by analysis, harbors a note of capitalism or free enterprise in which most developing countries operate predominantly under uneconomic system of free enterprise. Such a conclusion is reached basing on the thesis that, in capitalism, there is private ownership of the means of production. In such a system, in its purest form; there is little room for government to offer its people a conducive climate to make their preferences. People own property directly or as share- holders and as consumers. They participate in a free market that responds to the laws of supply and demand. However, developing countries operate under mixed free enterprise system. Privatization policy advocated by IMF and World Bank can illustrate a phenomenon that defied the libertarian social policy principle of social freedom. Libertarians, for example Hyek (1960)and Barry (1986) independently defended the libertarian calculation of market freedom. Exceptions have been Nozick (1974) and particularly Gray (1986) who supported the reverse. The quartet opposed the liberal theory, which advocated for equality of opportunities through distributive taxation schemes. Nozick criticized government interference in taxing people’s property, which is in parallel to the utilitarian and liberal calculation of common good and equality of opportunities respectively. To some, the disadvantage is a violation of people’s freedom of choice who more often than ever exert or impose taxation on people through coercion. To even conceptualize the libertarian claims of government violation of peoples’ social freedom, would be to disempowering the government of its authority and legitimacy in it’s holistic role as


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the “God father”. Government by definition is the peoples’ institution and process that make rules for society and possesses the power to enforce them. In this respect, it is the government’s responsibility to make policies that protect its people on the basis of who gets what valued things in society, not to leave such critical issues, which determine peoples’ welfare to market forces subscribed by libertarians.

Easton (1976) usefully observed that even in the smallest and simplest societies, some one must intervene in the name of society with its authority behind to design societal policies. This authoritative allocation of values is a minimum prerequisite for any society. Checks and balances in the government, however rudimentary, are imperative in resolving differences in societies. The above phenomena maybe the case because most governments seeking legitimacy subscribe to the philosophy of democracy and governments in developing countries are no exceptions. Interest aggregation in relation to social freedom In Uganda, the culture for pressure groups to manifest their preferences is not developed among the populace. There have been incidences where pressure groups would have played a very important role in influencing policies. One example to enhance this line of argument was the abnormal increase in electricity tariffs in 2001. A significant number of people grumbled but there was no particular group of people who came out to carry out an interest aggregations exercise, and make assertive demands that would cause a reduction (downing) in the electricity tariffs. The affected people would not dare be the initiators of change. The problem of non-existing pressure groups, coupled with poverty, means that beneficiaries of social provisions are bound to take what is offered without exercising their freedom of preferences. The history of interest group in Uganda The first pressure groups in Uganda were, among others, “Nyangire Abaganda of Bunyoro” after fall of the Omukama Kabalega. This pressure group was against the Baganda chiefs deployed in Bunyoro to extend colonial rule. The implication has been that pressure groups have not been very instrumental in influencing government policies towards their preferences.

Other pressure groups were Nyabingi cult of Kigezi, the Lamogi of the Lamogi clan of Acholi. These pressure groups were trying to exert pressure to the colonial administration so that they (the colonials) could relax their policies and redesign them in incorporating the native preferences in policy packages.

Interest groups in Uganda are based on individual production or investment in the perspective of development work (Burkley 1991). Membership in the group provides access to credit facilities, training and investing of loans from group funds. These groups are more development-oriented rather than influencing policies to achieve their preferences. Group formation is not an end in


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itself. Influencing policies should be the ultimate goal of groups in developing countries and in Uganda in particular. Social freedom as a development factor Social freedom can be reflected in the extent to which people are given liberty to exercise their own preferences. In this regard, development and social workers adhering to the principle of social freedom should make sure that government benefits are offered in a form which allows recipients to exercise their group or individual preferences. When we consider Libertarianism as a theory, it is imperative to look at its operational definition, which refers to “freedom from too hard or “freedom from control”. As a matter of fact, libertarian theory is one of the theories used as the baseline for the construction of social policies.

The Role of Democracy in Influencing Policy Directions By definition, democracy is a Greek word with two syllables, “demo” meaning populace and “Kratia” meaning rule taken together. In democratic governments, power in theory is a bottom up process via the vote. Virtually all votes are equal whether from the upper class (the rich) or from the poor who are usually the majority. That is why governments subscribe to liberal calculations through redistribution philosophy rather than free market freedom to ensure legitimacy and sustainability of votes and power. For the government to execute such important tasks of redistribution, it requires resources through taxation. Although democratic governments revolve on mixed economic systems as mentioned before, voters, whether those with freedom of market ideology, libertarians or liberal with equality of opportunities crusades, look to the government to provide remedies to the countries social and economic problems through policy reforms.

There is a diversity of problems which includes unemployment, inflation, poverty and high interest rates. The government is expected to provide remedies, which can only be commensurate with tax revenue.

The following extract is from a critic of the budget of the government of Uganda under the Movement system. Table 7 showing recurrent expenditure by selected ministries (Uganda) 1993 - 1996 (by % total budget Ministry 1993/4 1994/5 1995/6 Agriculture Animal & Fisheries 1.5 1.5 0.1 Labor and social Welfare 1.2 0.6 0.4 Women Youth & Culture 0.2 0.5 0.2 Trade & Industry 0.5 0.4 0.4 Source: Background to the Budget 2000/15, Kampala 2000.


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In the table above, the writer was trying to manifest government lack of adequate support to the agricultural sector through which the problem of food insecurity can be arrested.

The figures in the table reveal that the lowest budget, which is about 1.5% of the total government expenditure, is for the ministry of agriculture yet the same ministry contribute 90% of the total export. For this reason since agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Uganda, it is of importance for the Ministry of Agricultural to get a big share in budget allocation. This can enable farmers to get access to agricultural subsidies in agricultural inputs such as pesticides, farm tools, credit facilities and extension services (Mwine1997).

The distribution would trickle down to the poor subsistence farmers who constitute the biggest percentage of the population. They would otherwise not be able to participate favorably in the free market to be able to guarantee food security in their households. The redistribute policy would also help such farmers to increase house hold incomes hence improve standards of living and the alleviation of poverty in their households (Mwine 1997).

For the government of Uganda to be able to achieve the above, it should put in place a strict program to control public expenditure and introduce new policies aimed at increasing domestic revenue. A new tax authority, The Uganda Revenue authority (URA), was created in 1991. As a consequence, tax revenue as a percentage of GDP rose from 4% percent from 1986 to 12 per percent in 1999 during Movement system of governance. The taxation system, which is sharply criticized by libertarians, has helped the government of Uganda to widen its redistribute horizons. This is evident in the significant improvement of the social services section in the following areas: 1. Access to safe water increased in rural areas from 10 percent in 1986 to 47 percent in 1999.

The same service increased from 17 percent in 1986 to 65 percent in 1999 in urban area.

2. Through the increased tax revenue, health services were brought nearer to the people by reactivating and expanding most of the hospitals and building healthy centers in every sub-county at constituency level. There was a plan to equip every health centre with a theatre and a resident doctor.

3. Out of 214-health sub districts 184 were build and equipped.

4. In 1985 before the Movement came to power ,188 children out of every 1,000 were dying before their first birth day (World Bank Report 1996). That infant mortality rate has now fallen to 88 children.

5. A program to fight HIV / AIDS was implemented which resulted into the rational prevalence rate fall from 18.5 percent in 1995 to 9.5 percent in 1999.

In the education sector the introduction of broad-based primary education was affected. Primary school enrolment increased from 2.5 million pupils in 1977 to 6.5 million pupils in 1999.


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In the fiscal year, in 1997, for example, the government was spending more than sh 120 million in grants to 2,000 students in Makerere University alone. Without fiscal policy which yields taxation resources, a big proportion of the Uganda population would not access the above services which are indispensable. To supplement Burkley’s analysis, experts in the traditional approach to development would assume to know all the societal problems and the answer to such problems without consulting the people’s in that particular society. In this approach, the concept of inclusion that would manifest explicitly people preferences was never put to use.

The whole project design and implementation use information based on statistically reliable data and case studies often processed by anthropologists after a long period. Used also were detailed project plans and elaborate project proposals to obtaine home office approval and funding while crusading for social development. Development work based on the above approach led to the countless collapse of development projects.

The failure for project achievement and sustainability occurred at three levels: 1. Wrong assumptions

More often than not, even experts assume the wrong problem to be effecting the society. The expert, for example, may assume that the problem in a particular community is food insufficiency or lack of water, when in the actual sense it is not the real problem.

2. Misperception The users of the development services may fail to perceive the objective of the project implementation.

Usually development crusaders work under the national policy framework. They may conflict with politicians who would advocate for symbolic projects, which would guarantee their future votes. Asingwiire (1993) discussed that such high profile projects were not only attractive to the local politicians but also to the donor community. Under such developments, the donor community, for example IMF and World Bank and other development donor agencies adopted the liberal principle based on human preferences. For only funding projects based on users intrinsic preferences.

In the same view Bade (1989) advanced three interwoven principles, which can cultivate freedom of people’s choices.

1. The participation of users in problem identification, through collectively developing what is

called a “problem tree” in the language of development work.

2. It is a very high profile exercise, the participation process, which involves cross-section representation of all the stakeholders.


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3. Furthermore, the process entails ranking of problems, and clustering them. The next stage,

the users guided by the change agent-facilitators, develop an objective tree which involves reflecting on the type of intervention that can help to alleviate the identified problems.

With the change agents experience and expertise, they may be tempted to convince the users to choose the kind of interventions, which they (change agents) deem viable. There have been situations where users have been assertive and maintained their preferences of the intervention despite the recommendation of change agents.

Consequently, Projects which are planned and not based on the practical and implementation dichotomy, borrowing the libertarian principle of respecting people’s preference, have proved to be a sustaining factor in development work. However, Burkley (1985) observed that some donor agencies have hitherto the conviction to change their policies in regard to empowering the users and have found out that respecting the users preferences is an empowering factor.

Authority as a Coercive Measure Many scholars have tried to define authority as a resource allocation factor.The galaxy includes Michael (1990), Juvenile (1997 and Kaplan. Their definitions tended to concur with that of Lasilie (1992) who stated that authority is an innate tendency or capacity for exercising influence and ascendancy over others.

The encyclopedia of social sciences defines authority as a manifestation of power and implies obedience on part of the victims. The principle means of exercising authority is the dispensation of punishment.

The encyclopedia’s definition expounds on the coercive dimension of the whole policy making processes and the source of controversy between the state and the libertarian theory. It also explains the harmonization of the modes of tax collection and the resultant consequences to the defaulters the world over and how these approaches are viewed as legitimate.

In his book Introduction to Sociology, Hara Das observed that political decisions affect society greatly. However, there must be sufficient resources to make the decision effective. He went on to say that authority is the most effective resource, which the government can utilize.

The principle of Social Control This principle is very much recommended and used as a baseline in the construction of development organizational and government social policies. While analyzing the principle of social control, it is rather imperative to accept the thesis of Goodie (1988) who discussed that social control is a process of punishing wrong doing and rewarding appropriate behavior. Social control is imperative to help the members of society to co-exist in harmony. Social control gained its relevancy in the social policy debate by engaging


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all the authorities whose job is to oversee the behavior of others. These authorities include judges,who isolate criminals from societies by sending them to prison. Religious leaders are also facilitated by the state through policies and laws which advocate for freedom of association. The state works with the presumption that religion plays a fundamental role of diverting people from indulging in criminal and deviant behaviors through religious laws and teachings. Teachers also contribute to harmony model in society through the education system. Education liberates people's minds by changing their attitude which otherwise could lead to deviant and criminal behavior. Behavior can is always deviant only if it is defined as such by the society. In some societies, promiscuity or fornication is defined as deviant, whereas in other societies, it is sanctioned. There are societies in Papua New Guinea which sanction homosexuality and sex before marriage. If a man is found having sexual relations with a woman, he is despised and ridiculed. Heterosexual relations are allowed only for procreation. Promiscuity is allowed in this society to the extent that a parent can ask his/ her child the number of sexual patters he/she had before he/she gets married. If they are few, the parent would recommend that the child should have sex with more partners because he presumes that practice is the best teacher. Psychologists and psychiatrists also contribute to social control by controlling peoples by guiding the minds of people with psychological disorders. Social control has been interpreted in the social policy space because it has played a fundamental role in alleviating deviant behavior in societies. Any policy in society which helps to create harmony and co-existence in society is always derived from the principle of social control. Lombroso’s theory and deviant behavior The mode of deviance literature arguably saw Lombroso’s theory as rigorous, notwithstanding certain flaws noted by the advocates of the opportunity theory. Lomboroso (1935-1909) attempted to fill the gap left by Darwin’s theory of evolution when he argued that the genetic profiles of criminals entail genetic accidents representing a more primitive life form of human evolution chain. These human beings are biologically defective and they are born criminals. Lomboros’s ideas had parallels with the works of his contemporaries Sheldon (1949) and (Sigmund Freud 1856-1939). To assign deviant behavior to genetical inheritance would mean that the behavior is in the direct governance of chromosomes and there is nothing one can do to change that behavior. However, despite this view, it is logical to assert that to assign Lomboros’s theory to deviant behavior such as theft, prostitution terrorist or genocide participation is being fairy simplistic. These were theories that were rejected as no canonical and more scientific knowledge which would be tested with empirical significance and that can bring a change in behavior of criminal was required. Congruently, it can be said that the theory was found to be lacking in significance and in the inspiration of behavioral change in particular. However, Lombross's theory was the force behind


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the construction of prison and banishment laws advocating for isolation of criminals so that they do not endanger the society. Institutions which derived their existence from the Lambroso theory The Uganda Police force The Uganda Police force dates way back in 1906 during the colonial period. Before this period, there was an armed constabulary that was basically deployed to protect the interest of the colonial maters. This element of armed forces in Uganda Societies was a new principle. Most communities never used to have armed police as most tribal groups policed themselves through chiefs and elders. Al able-bodied men were part of the “army” and could be called upon to fight if a particular tribal group was invaded. The colonial police therefore, was viewed with suspicion. The community found it strange whenever the police came to the village to pick a murder suspect for trial when in their tradition; this was social problem to be solved by compensation or sacrifices. General Objective To safeguard peoples lives and property so as to enhance safe environment, unity and harmony, through sensitization of the community/public in a professional manner. Specific Objectives

• To narrow the gap that existed between the police and the members of the public through sensitization and mutual dissension between the two parties.

• To promote open and honest relations between the police and public • To establish an effective and efficient system with the assistance of the public to prevent

crime. • To sensitize the communities on the wide range of issues such as police procedures, law,

court procedures, human rights etc. • To poster crime prevention and its control. • To enhance greater accountability in policing to members of the public. • To ensure that policing priorities tally with community or local security needs • To promote human rights and freedom, treatment of offenders and other people in the

criminal justice system. • To improve the quality of police services and integrate them into the community life.

Programme of the agency. • The Child Care and Family Protection Unit. (CFPU). • Minor Crime Book (MCB) • Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) • Traffic Unit.Divisional • Special Branch Office (DSBO)

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

PRESIDENT


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INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE REGIONAL POLICE COMMANDER (RPC) DISTRICT POLICE COMMANDER (DPC) OFFICER IN CHARGE (OC) DIVISIONAL SOCIAL BRANCH OFFICER CHILD CARE AND TRAFFIC OFFICER MINOR FAMILY PROTECTION IN CHARGE (OC) CRIME BOOK (MCB) OUT POSTS Activities of the agency.

• Sensitizing people about their rights. • Guidance and counseling. • Investigations. • Arrest and prosecute offenders. • Visiting families.

Problems facing the organization. Office space, where the C.L.O and the CCFPU have to share a small room and furniture. There is no private room for counseling and guidance services. Transport means to coordinate activities effectively is lacking. The welfare office has no funds to cater for the vulnerable. The officers are inadequately trained. The time allocated for training is not enough to acquire care training. There are some weaknesses in the laws concerning the rights of children and this makes enforcement difficult. The organization lacks enough rehabilitation homes where to refer the abused children for proper management. The organization lacks facilities such as computers for record keeping.


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UGANDA PRISONS SERVICE Agency: UGANDA PRISONS SERVICE, attached to Luzira Women Prisons Welfare & Rehab. Section Background: Uganda prisons service is part of an integrated justice system in the justice/law and order sector. It is under ministry of justice and internal affairs; established to contribute to the protection of all members of society by providing reasonable, safe secure and humane custody and rehabilitation of offenders in accordance with universally accepted standards. Prison service is composed of the Commissioner General and Deputy Commissioner General, Regional Prisons Commanders, District Prison Commanders, Officers in Charge of Prisons, Directors, Heads of Departments at Prison Headquarters and other persons appointed as members of the prison service under article 215 of the constitution. Mission: The mission of the agency is to contribute to the protection of all members of society by providing a reasonable, safe, secure and humane custody of offenders in accordance with universally accepted standards, while encouraging and assisting them in their rehabilitation, reformation and re-integration as law abiding citizens. 1) Counseling and guidance of convicted women prisoners and those with HIV\AIDS

• Vocational training skills to the prisoners • Functional literacy programs to women prisoners who do not know how to read and

write. • Tracing and follow up of prisoners especially for resettled purposes. • Provision of recreational activities for example music, dance and drama and sporting

activities. • Paralegal advisory services to increase access to justice • Placement of female prisoners babies back to the community. • Linking people on remand with their relatives to enable them get bail, thereby

decongesting prisons.

a) Teaching adult literacy class

I conducted literacy class to 45 female prisoners with the academic background levels of Primary 1 and Primary 2. The lessons conducted circulated around the four main skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. The conversation exercises helped them develop oral communication skills in simple English. This was intended to help them be able to express them selves better in court and to the social workers.

b) Counseling and guidance; Female prisoners are faced with a number of problems ranging from social, psychological, economic and health problems. In the prison, I was able to do individual talking or interviewing the female prisoners in order to explore ways of addressing their problems to my supervisor. I was able to counsel those rejected by their


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relatives because of the crimes they had committed. Group counseling was also done to those who are infected with HIV\ AIDS. This helped them to live a positive life while in prison.

c) Attending meetings; the agency usually organizes meetings with the prisoners purposely intended to understand the needs of the prisoners more. I would attend such meetings because they would help me understand my work better. One of the most striking meetings I attended was that of restorative justice.

d) Making contacts with the families of the prisoners; This is one way of helping prisoners get in touch with their families. Most of the contacts I did were through telephone calls to the relatives of the prisoners and after I would give a feedback to the prisoners. However, some times if it was an agent issue to rise to the relatives of the prisoner I would reach the homes where such relatives are allocated.

e) Placement of female prisoners babies in day care and back to the community; Here I was

responsible for monitoring the dairy needs of the children in center. There are about 30 children in the center all belonging to the women prisoners. The agency has the responsibility of taking good care of these children through the social workers.

Naguru Juvenile delinquency center Naguru Juvenile delinquency center is under the Uganda probation and welfare In a circular letter of September 1931, the probation of offenders system which was first suggested by the Chief Justice Uganda Probation and social welfare started in 1948 and it was accommodated in the Criminal procedure code in 1930 under section 3.4-317.. Because of its unique characteristics, the probation service enjoyed a semi-autonomous status and control of staff was generally dealt with directly between its headquarters and the Chief Secretary office. In 1930, the top administrators gave a lot of support to social welfare work that resulted in the insurance of a blue print famously known as “Sessional paper no. 4” of 1959 giving legal recognition and guidance to the operation of voluntary welfare organizations and social work in General.

The Agency was decentralized under the control of the city Council in 1993 in which it was fully applied by dividing Kampala district into five divisions where Nakawa district is located. Each division had its welfare section and a probation officer. This was mainly due to the increasing difficult breakages of families but most especially children in at least 50% of Nakawa divisions (Kampala District) total population and this was mainly due to:

• Violence of civil strife • Moral degeneration in society • Drug abuse


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• Family disintegration. • Hazardous work • Family breakdown, mental and physical abuse plus neglect.,

Therefore because of all these increasing noble causes, resolutions were made by setting up the probation and social welfare section to bring down or reduce the rate and number of welfare problems in Nakawa Division largely in Kampala City. This section is grouped into departments of Social improvement, community development and Antiquities departments.(S.A, CD, Ad) It is responsible for ensuring that special emphasis is put on the under privileged communities. For example; women, Children, elders and youth to enable them develop their potential and fully participate in the development and contribute to the uplifting of standards .of living. The social improvement community development and antiquities department is responsible for ensuring development interventions meet the needs of all division residents. The organization structure of the Agency (Nakawa Division) is grouped right from the top organizational hierarchy to the lower authorities as illustrated below, Divisional community services department Probation and social welfare section which is operating under the city council of Nakawa division (CCND) with its offices located at Naguru Community center. Furthermore at its place of location, there are other division offices for example; community development, Cooperatives women and Youth Office which all work together and the probation social welfare office to facilitate services to the division. Types of agency The probation and Social welfare section is Government owned under the Ministry of Gender and Community Development. All its programs carried out are Government based with a proper government plan for which all programs implemented by the Government are to be done actionable. Programs of the agency The programs of the Agency include;

• Promotion of children and youth programs. • It carries out sensitization programs. I.e. people are sensitized about their legal rights and

rights of children. • Attending the chain link meeting (CLM) at least once in a month at Nakawa Court. This

is usually programmed at the end of each month and involves magistrates, police officers, prison officers and the Probation Social welfare officer all from Nakawa Division.

• To visit and check on the work done by Non-Government institutions after every three (3) months.


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• By attending offices daily from Monday to Friday during working days and hours. • Activities of the agency • They carry out counseling and guidance (It is done through counseling clients who lack a

general sense of humour, knowledge and dignity to reduce on their natural well being for remedies)

• Working upon broken families. For example; solving matters of indifference between married couples who may want to force separation matters of infringed children against their parents and others.

• To settle displaced children at any time. • Holding meetings/workshops and seminars. • Placing beyond control children into reformation schools Field trips/home visits

Those who had attained the age of 2years and already those in this age bracket such that they are taken back to the community to live with their relatives.

Hedonistic Psychology as a social control factor

Hedonistic psychology is one of the theories from which social control mechanisms can be derived. The theory advocates that mental processes always prompt human behavior. The theory is based on the calculation between pain and pleasure. If people feel that they will gain more pleasure if they engage in an act, then they go ahead and indulge in that act. On the other hand, if pain is projected to outweigh pleasure, that calculation will prohibit a person to engage in a particular act. Laws and policies that have been derived from the hedonistic psychology arithmetic can contribute to alleviation of social problems such as corruption rape and defilement. Let us look at a scenario where one engages in embezzlement of funds, and taken to prison, then his/her property is consificated. I am prompted to say that this mechanism can reduce on the levels of corruption in our societies. To achieve social control in societies, the harmony model is usually adopted as a policy among development agencies. However many social scientist question the basic assumptions of the harmony model that is when development agencies and the social control principle try to avoid conflict.

Conflict is part of human existence with all individuals competing for scarce resources. Conflict will always be there to jeopardize the harmony. Further more, for the development workers to visualize project harmony among users of social services, like a classless society, it is a myth. The only solution can be to design social policies on conflict alleviation instead of conflict resolution because like poverty, conflict multi- dimensional and does not exclude any society.

In the same view, Lewis (1996) in Hara Das, concurred that conflict cannot be excluded from human life, so the issue of harmony is out of question. Conflict is an expression of social tension


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and social struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the aim of the parties in the conflict is to neutralize, injure or eliminate their rivals.

Social policy makers, Social Scientists, Social Workers and Development Workers tend to make projections of conflict and endeavor to resolve it only among user societies. This is looking at one facet; this approach is not holistic because there are always conflicts among professionals and the communities where they implement development projects. This is because development workers have a certain amount of power as they possess factors which empower people, such as finances and expertise. In turn, users also posses indigenous knowledge, they also have power in their own way, hence conflict leads to tension within the user-profession relationship.

Conflicts arise not only because of social resources but also political, like status and power. It costs a lot of money, which can buy status in any given society. Likewise, there must be few people with power, that is why conflict is a phenomenon of infinity with different dimensions. At the Climax of the twentieth century, the world over experienced conflict, this disrupted harmony. In this case, in the pursuit for harmony, conflict has to be treated like any other social problem. The fight against conflict has to be intrinsic or spontaneous from within the societies. The society is the arena in which all stakeholders struggle for scarce resources.

Struggle and conflict take many forms for example:- • Competition • Disagreement • Physical violence • Court battles • Strikes • Interest articulations and war. Opportunity theory and social control The genesis of opportunity theory was a second generation in the theories of social control and its conceptualization was done with prudence, albeit its provision of a finer detail to social policy and social control debate. The development of the opportunity theory was not outside the realm of science because it provided for both statistical inference and careful analytical judgment by advocating that if all opportunities that are fundamental to the development of humanity are universalized such as education, food health and adequate shelter, it would provide mitigation to criminal behavior. The above school of analytical thought was reached by working with the presumption that people who are frustrated by societal structures that hinder them from accessing the basic needs, feel


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that society is unfair by creating social stratification, with people with high indices and those who are at the lowest of social and economic class structure. Those at the lowest of the economic class would be compelled to steal from those who have. Even a father who is supposed to be role model may encourage his son to pick pocket or his daughter to engage in prostitution as a means of accessing the basic needs. The opportunity theory led to the designing of universal policies such as UPE in Uganda so that people would be educated, acquire skills and body of knowledge that would help them compete favorably in the job market and access sustainable incomes that would help them access the basic needs instead of being trapped in non-sustainable wage incomes. Even the children who would be driven from their homes to the streets because of lack of food, would access free education where free lunch is provided. They will acquire skills and knowledge that will empower them to have sustainable employment and incomes, hence a sustainable attainment of social control. Education can empower people to acquire skills and body of knowledge that can help them get employment and incomes. The resultant effect would be that the people end up accessing the basic needs such as food and education to stop a continuum of illiterate and ill health existence in the society. Through adequate incomes, the populace can also access adequate housing. On this note, however, several studies have revealed that the government of Uganda has left housing to chance and market forces. A big percentage of Ugandans living in urban areas are housed in slums in one roomed houses where a curtain separates the children and their parents beds. There is a general outcry of moral decadence in our societies. The common denominator cited is access to pornographic material which compels the children to put in practice the images they encounter. Absence of government intervention in the housing sector compels people to reside in one-roomed houses which subject the children to live pornography from their parents. It is common for such children to engage in sexual relations early, get pregnant, drop out of school, hence lack of skills that can help them compete favorably in the job market. While conceptualizing the moral decadence factor, the conventional debate is that children’s moral fabric has declined because of the media influence such as television, when certain scenarios children are subjected to live pornography in their homes! The morality discourses compel the following question to emerge; who wouldn’t get pregnant if subjected to live pornography at an early age? These children end up engaging in deviant behavior such as prostitution and pick- pocketing to access the basic needs, hence a continuum of crime in slum areas. Another policy in the Ugandan context that provides social control is the remuneration policy, which is based on academic qualification as a criterion for promotion and salary scale. Let us look at a scenario at a World Food Program Depot. The manager and a group employee are assigned different tasks. The group employee task is labor intensive, carries several 100kg sacks a day. The manager sits in a very good working environment, air conditioning, rotating and even rotating chair provided! Actually, most of the work entails paper work and meetings. At the end of the month, the manager gets a big cheque but the group employee can not dare complain because his/her education does not equal that of the manager.


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Education policy: An illustration of the principle of equality Education this is the process of acquiring skills and knowledge to call the informal in an institution school environment. The education policy in Uganda has sub programs which includes those given below. Universal Primary Education (1997). This program was implemented to offer a equal learning opportunities to all citizens. Initially, it was restricted to only 4 children in a home but currently, it is open to as many as the family has. The program that was established between 1996-1997 is aimed at curbing illiteracy rates in the country. It inculcates skills and knowledge to its beneficiaries and also enables those who had been left behind the education movement due to poverty, economic constraints, culture, and others. It is “a savior of the times” to 5the poor and needy population. Universal secondary education. This is a newly implemented program, they are still undergoing pilot testing because it has not been widely taken up. Currently, the program is running in few selected schools like in Masaka, Kampala where only senior ones are benefiting. Through this policy still, it has enabled those who have graduated from universal primary education to continue with their education careers up to a certain recognized level where they can be able to join vocational institutions to acquire knowledge, skills in the various professions. Affirmative education action. This includes 1.5 point added for girls to join higher institutions of learning like Makerere, emphasis and prioritization of girl child education has been made through sensitization and campaigns for girl children to be sent in schools for example alternative basic education for Karamoja. Awareness and sensitivity about the importance of girl child education has been made through a gradual change acceptance by culture and society. This has boosted and motivated girl children to work harder when given chance hence leading to women emancipation movements, women transfer from private to public spheres, improved women’s roles and duties among others that never existed before. Universal primary education policy (UPE) School education was introduced in Uganda by the White missionaries mainly for the children of chiefs and to provide for functionaries needed by the British colonial government. So right from the onset, this school system was not for all and it therefore grew to become highly selective and competitive with fewer and fewer students continuing to the next level of education (see figure 1.1). As a result, many Ugandans remained illiterate with literacy rates standing at only 65% with the primary education ‘reaching only 50 percent of the age group’ (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:7). It is against this background that in December 1996 President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni launched a policy of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in accordance with the government White Paper on Education (Ministry Of Education And Sports 1992). Under this policy, government was to provide ‘free’ education to a maximum of four children from each family. This has now changed because President Museveni has now said that ‘all children of school-going age should benefit from Universal Primary Education (UPE) (Olupot, 2002). The major objectives of UPE are:


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��Making basic education accessible to the learners and relevant to their needs as well as meeting national goals; ��Making education equitable in order to eliminate disparities and inequalities; ��Establishing, providing and maintaining quality education as the basis for promoting the necessary human resource development; ��Initiating a fundamental positive transformation of society in�the social, economic and political field; and ��Ensuring that education is affordable by the majority of Ugandans by providing, initially the minimum necessary facilities and resources, and progressively the optimal facilities, ��Enable every child to enter and remain in school until they�complete the primary education cycle. (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:10) Achievements of UPE Enrolment figures after the launching of UPE increased from nearly 2.5 million in 1996 to nearly 6.8 million in 2000 (Ministry of Education and Sports 2001b: 1) This increase was mainly for two reasons. The backlog of school age children who had not been accessing school were now able to do so while more of the children who had attained the school age but would not have afforded education prior to UPE were now able to join school. This policy also has a specific focus on the education of girls, the disabled and the orphans. There has therefore been an increase of enrolment of girls from 39% in 1970 to nearly 49% by 2001. To facilitate easy access to schools, the Ministry of Education and Sports has also embarked on building of more primary and secondary schools. For example, by end of 1999, 4,000 additional classrooms were constructed for primary school children while by end of 2001, a total of 6,321 had been completed (an additional 2,321 classrooms in one year) (Ministry of Education and Sports 2001c:3). It is therefore clear that UPE has helped improve access to education as seen by the increase in enrolments and the increase in the number of classrooms that have been put up. More Teachers Trained An increase in the number of children in school invariably implies an increase in the need for teachers. To deal with this and as part of the wider reform under the Primary Education and Teacher Development Project, there have been deliberate efforts to restructure primary teacher education and to increase the number of teachers trained/retrained/upgraded. As a result, between 1995 and 1999 “7,800 in-service teachers have been trained or upgraded. In addition 3,023 candidates in pre-service courses for teachers have completed their training …” In addition another 2,118 were expected to complete their training (Ministry of Education and Sports1999: 12). So while the number of teachers has grown, the number is still too low compared to the massive number of children in school current.


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The different training programs, especially distance education programs mounted to meet the UPE challenge will be discussed in further detail in section 2. In the meantime, some of the challenges faced by UPE will now be briefly outlined. Challenges Faced Providing Physical Facilities The massive increase in pupil numbers immediately created a problem of classroom space. Although the Ministry has embarked on a drive to build more schools, and provide instructional materials, this is still far inadequate for as the Ministry acknowledges. “the increase in the number of schools has not kept pace with the increase in the number of students” (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:11). Quality of Education This is one area that is of concern to many in the country. There are fears that perhaps the massive numbers in schools without commensurate expansion in facilities, teachers, and teaching/learning materials may have compromised the quality of education. The Ministry of Education and Sports itself voices this concern when in its report says, “the quality of teaching has probably been affected by the adverse pupil-teacher ratio after the introduction of UPE” (Ministry of Education and Sports 1999:12). The other issue related pupil-teacher ratio is the morale of the teachers. Prior to the introduction of UPE, most schools charged additional fees through the Parents Teachers Associations. Some of this money was used to supplement teachers’ salaries. This is no longer the practice and so teachers must rely on the extremely low salaries. This seems to have affected the morale of the teachers. The fear therefore is that UPE may have indeed compromised the quality of education in the country and this issue certainly requires further exploration but is not the focus of this paper. Coping with the UPE Bulge The Ministry of Education and Sports has done a commendable job ensuring that UPE is introduced and that the primary school system copes in every respect with growing numbers. However, the forthcoming challenge is going to be coping with the bulge in secondary and higher education. This is pressure is already being felt. In 2001 for instance, 360,000 children sat the Primary Leaving examinations and of these 250,000 qualified for post primary education. However, only 150,000 children were admitted into the 734 government-aided secondary schools and 29 technical and farm rural schools. 100,000 children were therefore not placed in any of the government schools (Mugaba, and Eremu 2002). Training Teachers The increase in pupil numbers as a result of UPE has raised the challenge of the need for more teachers. Government has done some work in this regard and a number of teachers have been trained and upgraded, however, the teacher-pupil ratios are still poor. For example in 1996 the


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ratio was 1:37.62 and by 1999, this had declined to 1:63.63. Also, the number of untrained teachers is still high. For example, in 1989 only 52.2% of the teachers had been trained but by 2001 this had risen tremendously to 75%. In effect, 25% of the primary school teaching force is still untrained. This coupled with the poor teacher-pupil ratio certainly creates pressure on the school system. It is for this very reason that the Ministry of Education and Sports has acknowledged the role and place of distance education in meeting this gap. The various initiatives since 1995 when government began to prepare for UPE will be discussed in section 2. Challenges faced in UPE program Sustainability Nearly all the programs discussed here with the exception of the Diploma in Primary Education have had a heavy reliance on External funding. Although this helped start and run the programs to end of their project lives, it raises the question of sustainability. ( Makau 2001) says, The TDMS project illustrates the need for Uganda to pro-actively consider long-term sustainability of social development initiatives. External funds constituted the highest proportion of the resources invested in the project. Uganda needs to consider how dependence on external funding could be reduced. Therefore as Uganda struggles to meet the enormous UPE demands, the question of sustainability of the distance education teacher education programs need to be critically given attention. Quality The issue of quality in still an unresolved one in both UPE and teacher education. True through these programs a number of trained teachers have been added to the system. However, the enormous increase in primary school enrolments far outstrip these efforts. A lot more therefore needs to be done otherwise the schools will continue to be filled by untrained teachers and this could adversely affect the quality of primary school education. Also, whereas distance education is growing in the country there are still fears that the products are ‘not as good’ as those trained through the full time residential programs. The onus therefore is on the providers of distance education to ensure that the systems put in place facilitate quality teacher training. Relating to Policy on Recruitment Government employs majority of teachers in Uganda and so their salaries are dependant on what the government policy is. For example traditionally primary school teachers were holders of a Grade III teachers certificate and so their salary was set at that level. However with the opportunities for upgrading it is becoming increasingly difficult for government to accommodate all the upgraded teachers in the salary budget. This is particularly the case for primary school teachers who upgrade to either diploma or graduate level. Many of these teachers have upgraded but have had problems being registered and salary


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adjusted to the new level achieved. This is demoralizing and is likely to affect the enrolments in some of these distance education programs. Integrating Information Communication Technologies in the Programs All the programs discussed in this paper relied on print materials and did not integrate other technologies. The challenge therefore is for distance education programs in Uganda to begin to explore possibilities of integrating ICTs in their programs. This is critical especially because of the widespread use of ICTs. Teachers trained in Uganda need to be knowledgeable in these ICTs if they are to have any competitive edge in the world of education today. Also, in Uganda, a new syllabus on computer Science has been developed for primary schools and for this syllabus to be effectively run the teachers involved must have knowledge and experience in computers. One way of achieving this is by integrating computers in the teachers training. This is likely to have a lot financial and management implication for all distance educators but it needs to be given more thought.. Reasons for implementation of UPE programs (policy) include; The policy of Universal Primary Education (UPE) has increased the enrolment of children in Uganda which a rose from 3 million to 5.3 million on indication that over two million children were out of school for various reasons, the greatest being inability to afford fees. UPE total enrolment stood 7.7 million pupils last year with girls constituting 3,644,364 and boys 3,732,928. The implementation of Universal Primary Education as a Education policy has nearly closed the gender disparity that characterized the primary sub-sector. For example the annual performance report 2004/05 indicates that the ratio of girls to boys which stood at 46.3% to 53.7% in 1996 is now 49.3% to 50.7 due to strategic policy interventions. The policy of education under Universal Primary Education program has brought in several initiatives to bring on board disadvantaged children. For example Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja and this worked as complementary opportunities in primary education. Initially the Karamajong children could not go to school, when ABEK was introduced they can now access the education programs in the morning and evening. Universal Primary Education (UPE) program is taking place in Uganda and has reduced the levels of illiteracy in the society which is a social problem and has increased the enrolment in primary schools. (Reference NRM Manifesto 2006) Alternative basic education for Karamoja (ABEK)> An illustration of the value principle of equality


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Alternative basic education for Karamoja (ABEK) is another justification that proves the implementation of education policy (UPE) and in Karamoja the pastoral children have joined primary schools and have learnt to read and write (New vision February 1st2006). The implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy by the ministry of Education and sports has led to the development of infrastructure. For example many classrooms have been constructed and feeder roads have been graded in the country ( NRM Manifesto 2006). Another point to prove the implementation of education policy in Uganda is that it has led to the training of more Primary Teachers in the Country which has improved the skills and knowledge of teachers. The implementation of education policy in Uganda has led to employment opportunities because UPE program has trained and recruited more teachers to bridge the gap between pupils to teacher ratio. The implementation of education policy especially UPE Program has led to increased enrolment of the girl child in society. To improve this again therefore it has led to increased enrolment of students from higher institutions of learning compared to early 1986. However the implementation of education policy has got the following weakness Universal Primary Education (UPE) has not achieved to its highest expectation because children in rural areas are still learning under trees. There are inadequate classrooms. The problem of teachers and untrained teachers also affects the program because teachers are few compared to the number of children. For example one teacher to 200 pupils and some are untrained. Scholastic materials such as chalkboards, chalk, books and other material are inadequate. The teachers may have nothing to use in lesson planning and this is a big challenge to government. Embezzlement of universal Primary Education funds by some teachers is till a problem in society. This is a common aspect where many teachers have been arrested and dismissed from service. Corruption is a fundamental challenge which has hindered the activities of UPE program in Uganda. For example the high personnel in the Ministry of Education and Sports miss-direct funds that are always a planned for and budgeted for UPE program and this is common in Ministry. For example ABEK funds which were supposed to have been paid for teacher salary (facilitators) into 2000 – 2001 disappeared.

Written By Catherine Mwine

Gender Policy IssuesNational Evaluation of education policies in Uganda

The “Gender in Education”of Education to women by increasing their enrolment, training providing adequate facilities and elimination of patriarchal cultures which inhibit women’s education. To a large extent, the policy has succeeded in Wakiso District as his case studyshown in the following indicators (Nkata 2006).

• Increase in girl-child enrolment (50.65%) as compared to (49 34%) males.• Increase in number of women teachers (3 8.9%) female teachers. • Increase in female enrolments (46.7%) as compared to average (40%)

female enrolment. • Provision of separate school facilities for boys and girls.

Increase in female admissions to senior 1 in the year 2002.

Areas of weakness under “gender policy” in educationThere are areas where weaknesses were identifiattention by the Ministry.

• Drop out rate for females is still high • Female headed schools

Universal primary e The U.P.E policy is aimed at increasing access to primary eimproving quality, achieving equity and improving relevancy oAreas of policy success:

• Increased enrollment • Abolition of school fees • Reduction in class repetition • Effective payment of teachers salaries • Evaluation of performance • Improvement in primary teacher qualifications • Provision of refresher courses • Provision of new curriculum • Equity in provision of Primary Education

Areas of weakness under U.P.E polPolicy on Disadvantaged Children

2005

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Gender Policy IssuesNational Evaluation of education policies in Uganda

“Gender in Education” policy is aimed at increasing access to, and improwomen by increasing their enrolment, training of more women teachers,

providing adequate facilities and elimination of patriarchal cultures which inhibit women’s education. To a large extent, the policy has succeeded in Wakiso District as his case study

the following indicators (Nkata 2006).

child enrolment (50.65%) as compared to (49 34%) males.Increase in number of women teachers (3 8.9%) female teachers. Increase in female enrolments (46.7%) as compared to average (40%)

Provision of separate school facilities for boys and girls.

Increase in female admissions to senior 1 in the year 2002.

Areas of weakness under “gender policy” in educationThere are areas where weaknesses were identified under gender policy in Education which need

Drop out rate for females is still high Female headed schools for both primary and secondary schools are still very few.

Universal primary education policy (UPE)

aimed at increasing access to primary education, reducing wastages, improving quality, achieving equity and improving relevancy of primary e

Abolition of school fees Reduction in class repetition rate Effective payment of teachers salaries Evaluation of performance Improvement in primary teacher qualifications Provision of refresher courses Provision of new curriculum Equity in provision of Primary Education

Areas of weakness under U.P.E polPolicy on Disadvantaged Children

Gender Policy Issues

policy is aimed at increasing access to, and improving the quality more women teachers,

providing adequate facilities and elimination of patriarchal cultures which inhibit women’s education. To a large extent, the policy has succeeded in Wakiso District as his case study as

child enrolment (50.65%) as compared to (49 34%) males.

Increase in female enrolments (46.7%) as compared to average (40%) of 1999 National

Areas of weakness under “gender policy” in education ed under gender policy in Education which need

are still very few.

ducation policy (UPE)

ducation, reducing wastages, f primary education.

Areas of weakness under U.P.E policy


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The objectives of this policy are to support children such as;

• Slum dwelling children • Homeless, delinquents and orphans

To a large extent, this policy has not been firm on the ground though emphasized due to lack of knowledge and data on the numbers of the disadvantaged children in Schools. There is also failure by the government to liaise with organizations helping these children. Social Problems and Social Planning.

The main objective which lead to the development of social policy as a discipline is to develop a science which can provide an arena where strategies for arresting social problem can be inspired and developed.

If there were no social problems, there would not be a need for social policy and social planning. That is why it is of importance to have a brief discussion on social problems. A policy maker must make an independent judgment when designing policy by considering the definition of social problems.

According to Zastraw (1992), social problems are defined as a social condition affecting a large number of people. It has to be a problem that can get remedy through collective action. He went on to define an influential group as one that appears capable of having a significant impact on social policies at the national level. To consider a group to be influential at only national level would not be holistic. Social policies can also be made at grass root level in a bottom up process. The origin of the conceptualizing of social problems. Conceptualizing social problems develops social policy into an applied discipline, which merges with sociology. The basic writing of the forefathers of sociology Auguste Compte, Karl Marx Emile Durkein and the Waberian debate which, inspired several masses to identify and manifest their undesirable conditions as social problems. In the same regard it was from those writings from which the academia community received intellectual impetus for a more autonomous and more institutional view on social discourses, they created a tempo for social policies design and implementation.

From a broad angle, the reflection on the original development of sociology provides a foundation for the conceptualization of social problems when designing ad hoc social policies. Considered from this perspective, the core of social policy involves the description analysis of formal and informal institutions of the state with its linkages to governmental bureaucracy in the designing of social programs which are meant to provide solutions to social problems in totality.


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The Role of Sociological Profiles in Solving Social Problems. Marx Weber and Karl Marx greatly influenced the mergence of sociology as a discipline from which social policy also as discipline derives many of its theories and principles. Marx observed the class conflict and social stratification, which influences the social relations in the policy. The descriptive analysis of the above forefather of sociology is mainly related to their origin in developed countries. However, when you make a comparative analysis, with the social and political structures in developing countries, the concept of tribalism creates a regional social stratification. Social problems of such big magnitudes are the resultant effects.

The creation of social stratification through tribalism erodes democracy as an institution in developing countries. Tribalism is synonymous with ethnocentrism, and racism with it’s implication of viewing one’s culture and values as right and superior deserving the best or lion’s share in both political and economic resources / allocation. The above phenomenon have always culminated into conflicts for example process that is local level influencing the policy making process. Zastraw (1992) formulated on the basis of a group asset of interrelated factors on which to measure group influence, on social policies as the number of those expressing the concern, the strength with which the concern is expressed and the power of those expressing the social problem concern. Zastraw usefully identified various steps taken by people through collective action. Such steps include strikes demonstration public service advertising, sit on strikes, lobbying and formation of interest groups.

However in developing countries and in Uganda in particular there is a culture of people being passive in employing the methods, which can put pressure on the power structure to bring about positive change through social policies.

The people may be justified because some power structures are not democratic, they may not entertain confrontation and dread conflicts.

In retrospect on analysis and recommendations of other social scientists, I concur that conflict and confrontation is beneficial as opposed to functionalist theorists who tend to believe that conflict is destructive because it brings about social changes.

There are many writers, (Harton and Leslie 1997) (Zastraw 1991) among others who subscribe to the belief that a condition can only be a problem when it is believed something can be done about it. It is the belief in the possibility of treatment that compels people to regard it as a problem. The hope of treatment is sufficient to lead people to consider a condition a problem and resort to activism calculations.


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As I said before there are a number of conditions, which were never regarded, as problems for several decades but through collective action they have been brought to the forefront and social policies have been designed in favor of the collective entities. However as we discussed in chapter one there are groups in Uganda, which tried to exert pressure on colonial structural powers but were suppressed. In this case, findings such as those of Bibangambah (1983), Baker and Gergen (1968) prompt further speculation in the psychological consequences when groups resort to pressure in their bid for social policy reforms.

The above phenomenon is underpinned in the incidences when some examples of interest groups, for example, when university students tried to show the power structures that certain conditions affected their well being and requested for changes in policies. They were never given audience; instead their interests were suppressed through threats and coercive measures. The police always confront these pressure group trials with tear gas resulting into loss of lives and status.

Such groups have never been given an audience from the power structures and of course no social policy reforms were designed in their favor. The problem may be that the victims of social problems never unite into a power bloc for them to be influential. Another problem may be in the approaches employed by groups in our contemporary society. They mainly resort to two approaches in their venture, that is, demonstration and strike. When in the actual sense there are many strategies a pressure group may use which could compel the power structures to enact social policies that can help to resolve, dissolve and solve the existing problems as illustrated a case study below.

Alternative strategies in group power confrontation. In America, one of the nation’s famous pressure group organizers helped to assert pressure on the authorities that had promised to improve undesirable social condition in their vicinity, which the group had highlighted. However, it became clear that the authorities were not going to honor their promises. The pressure group convened and tried to lay strategies which could pressurize the authorities into making good of its promises.

An indigenous strategy was selected to pressure the structural authority by planning to embarrass them by closing all the lavatories at the nation’s international Airport one of the world’s busiest. To implement the strategy, an intelligence study was launched to learn how many sit on toilets for both men and women, as well as stand up urinals in the whole International Airport complex and how many men and women would be necessary to carry out the operation.

The pressure group projected the consequences of this kind to be catastrophic in many ways. People would be desperate for a place to relieve themselves and children unable to withhold would mess up the whole place. The international airport would soon become a shamble. The


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whole scene would become unbelievable, the laughter and ridicule would be published nation wide. It would probably make a front page in the national media. It would be a source of great mortification and embarrassment to the administration. It might even create the kind of emergency in which planes would have to be held up while passengers went up to use the toilet facilities. The threat of this tactic was leaked to the administration and within 48 hours, the pressure organization was given an audience and found itself in a meeting with the authorities who swore to live up to their promise by designing favorable social policies. Source: Harton 1985

Cultural relativity

I keep on speculating whether it is the realm of cultural diversity, which has resulted from the heterogeneous society, which has evolved over the last decades hence the failure to influence policy directions through pressure group interest aggregation. When conceptualizing the concept of pressure group it is imperative to note that it is mostly urban based. The migrants to urban areas come with their relative cultures. Further more, most of the tribes belonged or belong to monarch administration. Many studies have showed that the influence of the monarchy on their subjects is passivity. The culture in monarchy cultural settings program people not to question policies and the subjects always expected to implement policies not to debate them. This phenomenon has led the people to develop a passive mental programming. Many differences among cultures have contributed to reluctance in forming pressure groups to advocate for change in policies, which would lead to alleviation of social problems.

The vacuum has been filled with normative strategies resulting into the following recommendation as distinguishing features of social problems, recommended by none other than development and social workers.

1. Size and extent, that is it must be affecting a large section of society 2. Failure of the government to meet needs at a wider scale. 3. They should be relatively permanent as much as the effects of the problem have been existed for some continued period of time.


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CHAPTER NINE Social policies and social service programs implemented in Uganda

National Water Policy The over all policy objective is to manage and develop the water resource of Uganda in an

integrated and sustainable manner, so as to secure and provide water of adequate quantity and quality for all social ands economic needs, with the full participation of all stakeholders, and so as not to leave the future generations any worse off than ourselves. Legal context The enabling environment for integrated management of water resources has finally been put in place takings advantage of and linking with overall developments in Uganda towards decentralization, privatization and creating frame work for environment for water resources management: (a) The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda enacted in 1995- provides the frame work for

decentralization, set state objectives and principles of state policy. (b) The local governments Act, enacted in 1997- to give effect to the decentralization of

functions, powers, responsibilities and services to local governments (c) The national environment action plan and management policy (1994) and subsequent

environment statute(1995) which provides the frame work for co-coordinated and sound management the environment including environmental impact assessment of the water resources projects and setting water quality and effluent standards.

(d) (d) a water statute, 1995- provide the frame work for the use, protection and management of water resources and water supply, constitution of water user

(e) Associations and devolution of water supply and sewerage undertakings. (f) The water resources regulations 1998 and waste water discharge regulation 1998 which

prescribe the threshold and procedure for applications to construct any works, use water or discharge waste under the Water Statute 1995

The National Environment Act


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The National Environment Act was enacted in 1995 to provide for sustainable management of the environment and to establish an Authority (national environment management authority, NEMA) as a coordinating, monitoring and supervisory body. With regard to water resources the statute empowers NEMA, in consultation with Directorate of water development (lead agency), to set water quality standards, establish standards for discharge of effluent into water, set limits on the use of lakes and rivers, establish regulation for environmental impact assessments, manage river banks and lakeshores, restrict use of wetlands and manage wetlands. The Water act. The water Act was enacted in 1995 to provide the legal basis for the water resources management in Uganda. The main objectives of the statute are: (a) to promote the rational management and use of the waters of Uganda (b) to promote the provisions of clean , safe and sufficient supply of water for domestic

purposes for all persons (c) to allow for orderly development and use , such as the watering of stock , irrigation,

agriculture , industrial, commercial and mining purposes, energy, navigation, fishing preservation of flora and fauna and recreation in ways which minimizes harmful effects to the environment

(d) to control pollution and promote safe disposal of waste water. Water regulations Since the water Act was deliberately formulated as an enabling law, its implementation required supporting regulations issued by the minister. The two regulations for water resources and waste water discharge have been gazetted. Water policy committee The water statute provides for establishment of a water policy committee (WPC). While in principle being advisory to the minister , WPC is over all responsible for setting national policies, standards and priorities , including coordinating revisions to legislation and regulations, and coordination sector ministries’ plans and projects which affect water resources. In addition, it mediates dispute between agencies and co-ordinate the formulation of an international water resources policy. The 12 members of the WPC are defined by the water statute and comprise relevant government ministries and departments, representatives from district administrations and two persons having special qualifications and experience. The directorate of water development is the secretary and DWD provides secretariat for the WPC. Directorate of water development The directorate of water development was created under the ministry of water, lands and environment. The role of DWD with regard to water supply has changed from implementation to


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planning, monitoring and supervision of water supply and sanitations services (which are now the responsibility of the local governments). With regard to water resources, the role of DWD has been strengthened and includes water resources monitoring and assessment, regulation of waste water discharge and water extraction in the transition, however, DWD is still directly involved in implementation of water supplies and sanitation because of the limited capacity in the local governments The Uganda Food and Nutrition policy It may superficially appear to have a remote connection between food and the principle of social freedom which was discussed in the previous chapters; in fact, these two themes are central in importance and extremely rich in the variety of influences involved, when operating in two respective directions, from food to freedom during the designing of food policy. I shall try to supplement the logical and theoretical discussion of food policy with illustration from implemented food policy, using empirical content. The Uganda Food and Nutrition policy was formulated with in the context of the overall development policy objectives of eradicating poverty as spelt out in the Poverty Eradication Plan (PEAP). This is important given that poverty is one of the determinants of malnutrition and the recognition of various cycles between poverty and malnutrition. In addition, the policy is in line with Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) which seeks to ensure food security, create gainful employment, increase incomes and improve the quality of life of rural people. The policy is also in line with other national policies like National Health Policy, vision 2005, National Gender Policy, Population policy, National Plan Action policy for Children, the Decentralization Policy, UPE and Environmental policy. The policy and strategies are also within the context of international treaties, conventions and resolutions to which Uganda is committed to. The overall goal of the Uganda food and nutrition policy is to ensure food policy and adequate nutrition for all the people in Uganda, for their health as well as their social and economic well being. The overall objectives of the policy is to promote the nutritional status of the people of Uganda trough multi-sectoral and coordinated interventions that focus on food security, improved nutrition and increased income. The very specific objectives of the Uganda Food and Nutrition Policy include the following:

� To ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of food in quantities and qualities sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals sustainably.

� To promote good nutrition for the population. � To incorporate food and nutrition issues in the national, district, sub county and

sectoral development plans. � To ensure that nutrition education and training is incorporated to formal and informal

training in order to improve the knowledge and attitudes for behavioral change of communities in food and nutrition-related matters.


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� To ensure food and income security at house-holds, sub-county, district and national levels.

� To improve the nutrition as well as socio-economic status of the population � To monitor the food and nutrition situation in the country. � To create an effective mechanism for multi sectoral coordination and advocacy for

food and nutrition. � To promote the formulation or view of appropriate policies, laws and standards for

food security and nutrition. � To achieve maximum production with maximum effort. � To ensure a healthy environment and good sanitation in the entire food chain system. � To safeguard the health of the personnel associated with agricultural chemicals,

processing inputs and products, consumers and any other third parties likely to be affected

� To promote technologies that is user friendly. From the above objectives therefore, the epistemological positions in the policy (facts existing in the policy) include the following: There was illiteracy about food among many people in Uganda including those who are educated. People, for example, ignored certain types of food by grading it as for those people with low income, not knowing that all food is equally important to the body. Some people also depend on particular type of food for survival, say having porridge for break fast, posho for lunch and supper, not knowing that they are actually missing out on other food nutrients and also some people are hindered by culture with different food taboos. For example women not eating eggs, chicken and other nutritious foods yet these are equally important to the women. There were many development plans that had been set up in the country at district level, sub county and other sectors but there was little progress in these plans like in agriculture, education, health and others because there were other problems that arose out of poor nutrition, say students being dull in class because of under feeding, people growing food crops but simply harvesting what they needed and leaving the rest wasted in the garden, increasing the number of malnourished children and mothers. Other agricultural programs that had been successful else where such as Australia in its 2000l-2001 budget provided about 309 million dollars for its farmers under Agricultural Advancing Australia (AAA) program first launched in 1997. It was targeted at assisting rural areas to become competitive, sustainable and profitable. Canada gave additional non crop support to farmers affected by competition, price instability, and adverse weather conditions. Other countries like Ukraine, Unite States of America also did the same thing in attempt to protect farmers who are the main producers of food. This policy was successful in these countries in that it increased the amount of food supplied in these countries. The approach thus yields little in the way of explanatory power. In the Ugandan context, the problem is disclosed by the self defeating nature of its food policies. In other government, to secure cheap food, governments lower prices, which in turn, lead to higher food prices. However, this arrangement can only apply to societies with highly developed processing industry


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and food can only be accessed in a departmental store. Therefore basing on the fact that this policy was successful in these counties, the Ugandan government also decided to adopt the same policy since its farmers were facing more or less the same problems of competition, inflation in agricultural product prices, and absence of processing industry. There is increasing abuse of people’s rights to food in the country. There are several instances where it has been reported that the rebels have burnt peoples food especially in Northern Uganda, deliberate looting of grain and food granaries by the rebels or even the soldiers, failure to make an appeal or delays in making an appeal for international humanitarian aid when needed, for example in times of famine, implementation of trade embargo on certain foods are all the facts that prompted the government to set up a policy to address these problems. There were ideas from right bodies implemented in policies of some countries like article 14 of the protocol additional to Geneva Conventions of 1994, relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflict, (protocol 11) and generally four Geneva conventions of 1949 and the two additional protocols of 1977. The Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition (adopted at the first world food conference in Rome November 1974) article 24, 27 and 23 of the convention on the rights of the child and others. Since these rights were successful in these countries, the Ugandan government decided to adopt the same policy since its population was facing the same problem especially after the NRM bush war in 1986, when there were many victims of armed conflict and famine in the country. The policy makers therefore swathe food and nutrition policy as vital in addressing the different nutrition problems in its various programs. There was increased food poisoning through the sale of expired food, selling cooked food in unhygienic places, leading to rampant outbreaks of diseases like cholera as result of poor food hygiene and others. There for basing on these facts, the government had to come up with the food and nutrition policy so as to address these problems. There is wastage of food during harvest when peasants try to consume in excess than their normal requirement. There are also poor storage facilities leading to famine in some parts of the country like Karamoja. These are alternatives which view government as agencies that maximize the social welfare and interpret government policies as choices made out of a regard which prompted to formulate the food and nutrition policy so as to address this problem in the different programs it offers. There is increasing endangerment of health personnel associated with agricultural chemicals, processed foods since some times chemicals use in storing foods, fertilizing soils turned out to be dangerous to the peoples health who consumed these foods a case in point are the tined foods that used to be sup plied to people in the late 1980s ant early 1990s these were believed to be harmful to human health, some fertilizers like lead fertilizers are also believed to be harmful to human health. Therefore with all these facts on ground, the government had to come up with a policy to address this problem thus the food and nutrition policy.


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There were also increasing cases of malnutrition among children, pregnant mothers, HIV AIDS patients and others this worsened their vulnerable states. These facts on ground prompted the Ugandan government to come up with a policy to address this problem. From the above facts of the policy (Epistemological positions of the policy) we therefore get to know the ontological positions that are how the existence of the knowledge about the facts of the food and nutrition policy came about as follow; Through experience of individuals through mass media, face to face interview who have gone through there food and nutrition problems say those people in Northern Uganda especially in camps keep telling their stories of what they got through to get food, how they go hungry at times without food, some people from large families also do feel their experience on how they have been denied food by their experience, and through all information told by individuals, the government way able to get sufficient knowledge of what was actually happening and this therefore compelled it to implement the food and nutrition policy to address this problem. Through observation of several people including governmental official and even concerned citizens of the country, they got to know that there was increasing number of children who are malnourished of which majority of them come from poor families, people waste a lot of food especially in the harvesting seasons, sell it at low prices and when the season has ended people have no food, increasing number of people who beg for food on streets is also an indication to the government that people have no food, in hygienic places of selling food cause of food poisoning and with all the knowledge got by the above observations, the government was prompted to design a policy that is food and nutrition policy to address its problem. Through research, it has been found out that most of the infant mortality rate is as a result of malnutrition especially in war torn areas in camps live in Northern Uganda, low birth weight of infants is as a result of poor feeding by the mothers, victims of diseases like HIV/AIDS are endangered because of poor feeding that’s their health depends on how well they are fed, through research still it has come to the policy makes you knowledge that famine is caused as a result of poor shortage facilities, of food, un equal distribution of food in different parts of the country whereby some regions have more food than the others. It has been found that some foods especially the tinned ones are actually poisonous to people and also some fertilizers used in polythene bags. Guiding principles

- That adequate food and nutrition is a human right - That food is treated as national strategic resources. - That the policy on food and nutrition is part and parcel of the overall national

development policy that the policy emphasizes on the cross cutting nature of food and nutrition as they affected men

In the light of the above provisions, the fact that the demise of food policy has not led to the eradication of food insufficiency which is not surprising but regrettable owing to the fact that


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Uganda is endow red with feasible natural resources. The value principle of social equality stresses that all social benefits, resources and opportunities should be availed equally to all members of society. Yet one feels the sources of fool insufficiency extremism have not been properly grasped or the implications thought through have not been integrated in the government policy priorities. Therefore, the value principle of social policy inherent in the food and nutrition policy is that adequate food and nutrition is a human right, everyone has a right to access enough food irrespective of their age, sex, race, income levels. Distribution of food in the country has been on of the fundamental factors, making the whole problem to look insurmountable. The common starting point at this stage of the debate is that it is imperative to improve road net works to combat the problem of food distribution. The above argument is inherent in Kyamlicka’s (1990) concepts to the purposes of principle of social justice which according to him recommends that “all primary goods liberty and life opportunities and all basics of self respect are to be harmonized and supplied in totally to all members of society.” But because of the positions adopted have also proved to be mutually exclusive, the situation, the controversy has not led to a progressive solution of the out standing issues in food distribution. What has been established in the food policy is that the concept of the ,mode of achieving food sufficiency is subject to multiple and in practice contradictory theoretical requirement which make it incapable of inconsistent application. The National Land Policy) Turning of Mailo land tenure in urban areas into leasehold The historical experience of the colonial discourses shaped the current National Land Policy, which dates back to the 1900 Buganda Agreement that allowed the Kabaka to give out land to the Colonialists to set up their headquarters and most of it belonged to him and his officials which was one of the great mistakes and more so the Kabaka then Daudi Chwa was so young to make sound decisions, so the three regents ; Sir Apollo Kaggwa, Zacharia Kisingiri and Stanislas Mugwanya made a decision on his behalf that has led to the current land Tenure conflict that the new land proposal (National Land Policy) is trying to correct. The most basic misconception underlying much of the land policy has been a rejectionto varying extents of the behavioral assumptions that common Law definition of land is summed up in the Latin phrase Cujus est solum ejus est usque ad coelumet and inferos, which translated, literally means that a land owner owns the airspace above it and everything below it. (Uganda’s land law pg 134). The proposal of this land policy based on creates the idea of land reform which means changing the rules by which individuals relate to one another with respect to land..


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Therefore, basing on the above the perspective of social policy as a philosophy can be identified basing on the proven fact gained through learning and borrowing of ideas from other countries or case study to address some of this problems, for example Zimbabwe, Eriterea South Africa and now Uganda are calling for land reforms as a need to right historical wrongs that were created in the colonial times for Uganda in the 1900 Buganda agreement that so miss appropriation of land. Further more the idea of collectivism is portrayed here as portrayed in the New vision Thursday, March 8, 2007. (Historical perspective to land reform in Uganda pg 1) The experience that countries have also gone through in settlement of land disputes, distribution of plots also portrays the fact of this policy as inevitable in Uganda as stated by the lands minister Omara Atubo as to why Uganda needs a new policy of land since the failure of the 1998 land Act Implementation in 2000, the 1975 land Degree among others and in relation to countries like Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique thus experience of the past failures proves the fact this new land policy in Uganda. When the exercise of revisiting the land policy was most rigorous, Uganda has used case studies of some countries like Tanzania, Swaziland, Lesotho. Numerous empirical studies from different cultures and climates however show that conflicts arising from inefficiency within the existing tenure relations like enrolment of local chiefs, collectivism of the local people for example the issue of the Buganda and Bunyoro over the lost countries was addressed through collectivism thus portraying the philosophy of proven facts. The neoclassical assumption about the possibilities of stimulating agrarian development as portrayed from the selling of forest resources for investment to foreigners which has been a very contentious issue in Uganda has been borrow from Swaziland, Kenya and South Africa. The success of this land polices in most countries like Tanzania, the Ujama policy which means the stimulating agrarian development as portrayed from the selling of forest resources for investment to foreigners which has not been fully welcomed in Uganda. The philosophical debate is not unrealistic in developing countries sharing of land underpins the projection that its implementation can help solve the internal problems of land in and give room for development. The 1900 Buganda agreement that was implemented by the British Colonialists but it instead created land disputes overtime mainly between Buganda and Bunyoro kingdoms over the issue of the lost counties thus leading to the later proposals of the land Act of 1998 that failed to be implemented in 2002 and then the idea of 1975 land decree that is being proposed now again to try and solve the mailo land tenure system to leasehold. A second and major strand of the land policy has been based on the intellectually valid arguments against the ontological debate which seeks optimal out comes if perfect harmonization of all means of production prevails. The Goals for land tenure system in Uganda have also been reviewed to contribute to economical development of Agriculture in the whole nation, provide flexibility in transfer of land so that progressive farms may be pushed harder or helped to seek their advantage thus portraying the fact that the policy makers have considered the fact of the


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goals they want to achieve and consequences to the whole public based on the knowledge on ground. The National Land policy Working group, has also gathered Knowledge and information from the public concerning the new land policy asking for their opinions and way forced as to create a good solution to land conflicts in Uganda fore example the New Vision article March 8, 2007 saw People like Mr. Ssebaana opposing it, Mr. Christopher Acire. The mayor of Guru Municipality calling for communal ownership, Mr. Asuman Kyafu, the local council five chairman of Iganga calling for Government to own Land thus this among others portrays the Knowledge on ground and way forward to solve and integrated land in Uganda. While most people are willing to question the omnipotent or benevolence of governments and its people, there is a considerable temptation to believe that the latter have an omniscience, endogenous knowledge I dealing with land disputes, hence the use of land Tribunals at district to deal with land disputes other than courts the disputes related to grants, lease, repossession, transfer of acquisition of land among others and also the use of customary dispute settlement, in that the traditional authority may continue to exercise their functions in dispute settlement, the mediators were also used someone with knowledge, integrity, high moral and neutrality, with authority to take charge of the mediating process therefore all the above portray away forward to the settlement of land dispute in Uganda. Out comes based on centralized forecasts, may indeed turn out to be than those based on the decentralized and individualistic forecasts of mailo land tenure system as opposed to leasehold were the land should be in the hands of the government underpinning the value principle of social equality. The fact that the policy calls for central ownership of land, creates an equal and justifiable sharing of land based on social and economic grounds, those who do not own land can also benefit from the development projects the government sets up on this land equally fore example if government sets up a load, a school among others, all the public can share and gain from it be it rich or poor, thus eliminating the dominance of land by the few rich or royal ones thus the value principle of social equality is portrayed. Poverty reduction policy. Egalitarianism and the utilitarian calculation is usually the corner stone in most arguments concerning poverty. The odd usually the sophisticated defender of poverty alleviation (World Bank) has tried though not very convincingly to shoe that poverty is the lack of enough income and resources to live adequately by the community standards. Crusader of poverty alleviation assumed unquestioningly that poverty can also be understood as when people do not have the same extent of choice or control over their own lives as other members of the society for example the rich have a greater reliance on the public utilities and


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services while the rest of the community members especially the poor are les able to afford to buy for example food, medication, security, through hiring the guards, educating the young ones and even the goods within their purchasing range are of inferior quality and not effective and may need to be replaced sooner than more expensive items consumed by the rich. A number of writers in the poverty tradition (Chambers, 1995, Burkey 1998) have made much of the fact that poverty is rooted the vicious cycle of existence where one cause leads to the other and thus trapping the poor into poverty and get rooted in the Marxist economic theory.

Circular reasoning is central to the Marxist class stratification theory which concluded long ago that the poor are often times force to remain at the base of the economic hierarchy. The provided illustration implies that factors leading to poverty are inter locked and thus require inter grated multi-sectoral and multi disciplinary approaches to induce poverty on such individuals and the community at large. Poverty reduction means lowering or reducing the level of poverty which may be through education, investments, acquiring employment, having access to the means of production and other opportunities to lower poverty. There two types of poverty which includes Absolute poverty which is a type of poverty when a person can not afford the basic necessities of life such as food, clothes, housing among others and Relative poverty which a kind of poverty which is the overall standard of living that prevails in a particular society that is to say a person can afford the basic necessities of life but compared to other standard of living he or she finds him or herself poor. . Until now, the crusade for poverty alleviation and development debate, as it has affected the welfare of people has taken the form , almost exclusively adopting the epistemological frame of reference by borrowing approaches from developed countries such as Japan and it is involved in such activities as industrialization to improve the level of the country’s standards which Uganda also got the same solution and started up to develop industries like textile industry, Mukwano

Powerless Poverty

Isolation

Physical Weakness

Vulnerability


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industry which produces goods like cooking oil, soap, jelly sold to individuals at a cheaper price to improve on their health status. What makes it impossible to dismiss this urgment of epistemological arithmetic is the simple resurgence alleviating poverty following agriculture of countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, German, India which are involved in agricultural activities to reduce poverty level such as coco growing in Nigeria which gives people many products as cocoa lotion, cocoa batter which have proved to be sources of hose hold incomes. Plantation agricultural such the growing of cotton growing, tea growing in Kasaku, Rice growing in Kibimba and sugar cane growing has been a source of foreign currency which the government use a resource distribution factor (b). The vertical equity, it stresses that resources should be distributed to each other according to needs. Therefore it is a force behind the affirmative action policy for example when the government is selecting areas in Uganda for development and poverty eradication, the areas like Karamoja, Kotido, Paderi, Gulu, may be selected since people are never settled and they are affected with war and therefore never have time for development and reduce poverty.


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Where; A – Rich B - Poor C – Poorer. And therefore for the case of equity, ‘A’ may be given less benefits, because it has what ‘B’ and ‘C’ is not having and ‘B’ and ‘C’ should be given more resources for them also achieve what ‘A’ has. The success of poverty reduction policy. The government proposed to involve women by mainstreaming gender into development planning. To improve the status of women, the government proposed reforms in the country’s property laws, including those considered ‘gender neutral’ to ensure equality and equity in ownership and control of land. Road development, communication and transport, can enable the rural people to transport their agricultural products to the market or business areas. For example, the northern by bypass can help the poor deliver their goods to the market in time. It has helped the quality of life of the poor by supporting the delivery of basic services to them. The grant provides the only Bank group to support financially education, health and water and sanitation sectors.

A B C

A B C

Y - Horizontal

X – Veritcal


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The government decided to promote efficient and equitable use of public resources by supporting the alignment of budget execution that has benefited the rural poor by supporting and enabling environment for transition from subsistence to commercial agricultural benefits and improved environmental sustainability. Poverty reduction policy has also benefited governance in Uganda by supporting reforms in the key institutions to reduce corruption, improve the efficiency of public procurement and strengthen financial management through the justice system and civil society participation. Poverty reduction policy has got the negative relevance Despite significant progress, 35% of the population in Uganda has supplemented household surveys with the Uganda participatory poverty assessment project (UPPAP) over the first three years. Specifically the poor in Uganda are concerned with the lack of access to basic services like health care, education, and safe water and sanitation land and production inputs. Furthermore, they are only concerned with security in terms of war, rebel activity, cattle raiding and theft plus corruption which denies the poor the access to the public service. Development partners bring in several measures that require a number of complementary actions on their part such as integration of donor funds in the medium team expenditure framework (MTEF) and having a shared view of out comes. Institutional reforms are very difficult and taking time in many areas will be gradual and measuring the impacts of reforms initiated will be difficult. Lack of immediate tangible results may weaken the resolve to keep the momentum going and raise questions about the results of the programs. Continued insecurity and the socio-economic challenges by the seventeen year old conflict in the northern Ugandan and the cattle rustling related insecurity in the East. Conflict has affected a large segment of Uganda’s poor, heightening regional disparities. The destruction of the livelihood of the communities living in these areas has resulted in very high poverty levels and displaced some 1.2 million persons. Corruption, where economic and social advancement are driven by nepotism and graft rather than entrepreneur’s productivity and level playing fields, hence the consequences are clearly negative for investment and growth. The Uganda public still sees corruption, particularly petty corruption, as a serious problem. Poor government coordination of the implementation of the poverty eradication affects plans on poverty reduction support credit. The reform program contains multiple elements that require coordination and follow up across sectors and agencies, weak institutions, duplication of efforts and poor inter sectoral linkages have made wide poverty reduction support credit (PRSC) coordination arrangement described above promising and not fulfilled.


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The Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy in Uganda In 1990, the world conference on education for all was held in Jontien Thailand. At this conference, Uganda committed itself to the education for all targets including universal access to primary education by the year 2000. In 1992, the government concretized this commitment. The government White Paper on education recommended a gradual approach to UPE primary tuition fees were to be programmed for one class year after the other, starting at P 1, UPE was to be achieved by 2000 or P1-5 and for the entire primary cycle by 2003. The Universal Primary Education started in 1996, when President Yoweri Museveni pledged to provide free tuition for two boys and girls of primary school going age from every family/household. The Universal Primary Education as a program was launched with the first school term in 1997. With UPE in 1997, primary fees were wavered for P1-7 for four children per family. This advanced the white papers time frame by many years since then the program has enjoyed political financial and social support through out the country. The result has been the massive number of children enrolled in primary school. Enrollment kept from 3 million in 1996 to 5.3 million in 1997 by 2003. This figure had already reached 7.6 million. Fundamental aims of education; To promote understanding and appreciation of the value of national unity, patriotism, cultural heritage with due consideration of international relations and beneficial inter-dependence. To eradicate illiteracy and to equip the individual with basic skills and knowledge to exploit the environment for self-development as well as national development for better health, nutrition and family life and the capability for continued learning. To promote scientific, technical and cultural knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to promote development. The Universal Primary Education (UPE) program initiated in 1997 resulted in a 70% increase in primary school enrolment in Uganda. Although there is almost equal access at lower primary levels between orphans and non orphans and across the genders there are still inequalities at the upper and post primary levels, especially among orphans and girls. The Uganda demographic and health survey (2000/2001) found that 17% of primary school going age children was not attending school. The primary school drop out rate for the 1997 UPE has also been increasing. At the same time the current transition rate from primary to secondary school is a mere 14%, with a disproportionate burden of girls failing to proceed to secondary school (Black et al 1999) access to pre-primary education in rural areas is also very poor at 23% compared to the urban rate of 65%. About 16% of children start schools at the age of 8 years oar older. the main barriers to access and full participation of children in education includes school fees, uniform, scholastic materials, distance to school, the quality of education gender issue (early marriages, teenage pregnancy, sexual harassments and the heavy burden of household chores on girls), physical


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insecurity, poor nutrition, disabilities and the fact that it is not yet illegal to keep a child home from school. However, Universal Primary Education was borrowed from India and later president Museveni talked about it in the 1996 presidential elections and initiated it in 1997, this policy has the following objectives:

- To enable individuals to acquire functional literacy, numeric and communication skills in one Ugandan language and English.

- To develop and maintain sound mental and physical health. - To instill the value of living and working co-operatively with other people and caring for

others in the community. - To develop cultural, moral and spiritual values of life.

The Universal Primary Education has got the epistemological or proven facts as listed below. Illiteracy levels have been reduced or eliminated. The Universal Primary Education assumes that illiterate population is easy to mobilize. Politically, socially and so on, because illiterate people always want to be directed on the assumption that their immobilizers know more that they do so they easily comply and cooperate in developmental ventures such as vaccination and immunization programs. There are increased and better trained teachers. Initially when Universal Primary Education began there were not enough teachers to cope with the sudden influx of pupils into primary schools. In 1996 teachers, numbered just 81,564 but by June 2003 these were 122,904 on the government payroll. When Universal Primary Education began the primary teachers colleges (PTC’s) could produce only 4,000 teachers a year. The final years of Universal Primary Education saw the highest pupil teacher ratios ranging from 100 to over 300 pupils per teacher. Universal Primary Education has led to self-reliance in the primary education through Universal Primary Education is arranged so that people try to fulfill their needs themselves and become self-dependant. Education at this stage aims at providing the children to solve their day-to-day individual domestic and social problems on their own. Through Universal Primary Education socialization is achieved by teaching social ideas which can lead to liberating people’s minds. Social feeling can easily be developed by establishing relations with other members of society. It is developed in children by various programs through the medium of cooperation and association. UPE has increased enrolment in schools. Before Universal Primary Education only about 60% of 6 to 12 year olds attended primary schools, now the figure is about 90%. The Universal Primary Education has increase the enrollment of girls as more girls gained access to primary education. Today in P1-5 girls pupils equal boys pupils, before Universal Primary Education, girls were fewer than boys in all years.


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Universal Primary Education has made education equitable in order to eliminate inequalities and illiteracy levels, the free education has made education accessible to all schools going age children of all Ugandans irrespective of regional, ethnic, religious, political or social differences. It has made education more accessible to the learner and relevant to their needs and a way to meet national goals. This is in way that those who could not manage to go to school have now an opportunity to study. For instance, the elderly are acquiring knowledge to improve on their activity or meet their needs and of national goals such as alleviation of poverty and reduction in the level of illiteracy has been achieved. Universal Primary Education has made education affordable to all Ugandans, poor parents now don’t have to strain so much for fees, and their work is to send their children to school and buying them small things like books, uniforms and pens. This has enabled all school going age children to go to school and attain free education. This has contributed to development in that the level of illiteracy has reduced and parents are now using their money to construct good housing and to do other developmental programs. Universal Primary Education has also transformed society in a fundamental and positive way for example, in terms of social, economic, political, cultural, health and other sectors of society for instance, Universal Primary Education has made it possible for people to know their rights like right to vote and participate in politics, know how to prevent common health problems like diseases such as cholera and diahorrea. It also creates awareness to society and economically they use the skill and knowledge to initiative self-employment like stetting business enterprise. It has provided minimum necessary facilities and resources to enable every child enter school. This has been made possible with the help from government and non-governmental organizations for example, World Vision. Alternative Basic education for Karamoja (ABEK) project activities include; construction of classrooms, teachers quarters, train them and identify needy children under Universal Primary Education for support. This has lead to development of villages and employment opportunities like to teachers, the non-teaching staff members and the society as a whole. In 2003, the education budget took about 24% of the national budget up from about 7% in 1990 and 17% in 1994.5. This is far than the second largest sectors in 2003 public administration took 19.3%, security 12.6% health 8.6% and roads ad works 8.3%. Primary education itself now takes at least 65% of the education budget. This is a great change from before the implementation of UPE. Indeed in 1986 the government was spending 200 times more on the average student at Makerere University that it was spending on the average primary school pupil. Ontological position in Universal Primary Educations.


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The critics of UPE claim that there has been reduced quality of education because the contents of the education materials are not properly tailored to benefit the child. Several schools been opened in remote areas without access to proper facilitation in terms of scholastic materials or qualified teachers. Pupil’s teacher’s ratio, the pupil out number teachers for example, the universal primary education curriculum required that each teacher controls 40 pupils in a class but in reality one teacher controls more than 200 pupils at the same time. This contributed to less attention and poor performance. We will be arguing that corruption especially common among head teachers (as accounting officers) has significant disadvantages because it is consistent with mismanagement of funds or diversion of resources allocated by government to the running of the school to their own selfish businesses. Divergent perceptions among Universal Primary Education critics assert that UPE as a program of the ruling government is a wastage of resources. Free education has opened doors for the poor who would have opted for marriage. Universal Primary Education schools have been regarded as instruments for the poor while the rich send their children to paying schools with better quality services. The negative multiplier effect of this scensrio is the widening of the gap between education performances among UPE and private schools. Pupils under UPE Schools cannot favorably in performance, compete with those in paying private schools. One of the causative factors are the general imbalances in the distribution of education facilities such as scholastic materials, teachers for instance, between It should be noted that it not only poor facilitation but also poor curriculum design. We have already seen that subjects offered to pupils/students is not parallel to the demand of the job market. Hence producing more job seekers than job makers for example, students molded to become engineers development fund relevance in the subjects like religious wastes a lot of time meant for concentration/specialization to the best of their expectation. Social equality refers to the fair treatment that is to say every one is treated the same way the other people are being treated. Another value principle of social equality inherent in the Universal Primary Education is that poor parents nowadays save the money that was meant for school fees and invest it in other development projects from which they would get income to send their children to high institutions of learning. Housing policy in Uganda Housing stock in Uganda is one of the areas the government has left to chance and market forces and at the same time it is creating a new source of paradox because at present little research has been contacted into the nature of impacts of housing on the whole society.


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Housing policy refers a range of activities that government and private institutions jointly undertake to provide housing facilities. In short, housing policy refers to a wide range of government action. (Any government actions legislation or economic policies that have a direct or indirect effect on housing) The national housing policy in Uganda and its objectives are viewed as a strategy for the government to ensure good quality housing. The objectives of the national housing policy (Uganda) include: -

1. Rehabilitation of the housing industry. 2. Building more industries that produce modern materials used in housing industries. 3. Increasing the housing stock through corporate efforts, self- help initiative, and private

sectors development and housing agencies. 4. Provision of sufficient land laws so that most people can have access to land example, the

1998 land Act which empowers the tenants to build boys’ quarters. 5. Improving access to infrastructures like roads, electricity, communication lines. In achieving the above objectives, the government worked with the local authorities in order to up-grade perfect housing to ensure good housing conditions for its citizens (Namwongo, Nalya housing projects).It is interesting to speculate whether the recent World Bank Projects in Namuwongo housing project benefited the poor. My work with Lake Victoria basin VicRes suggests that the elites grabbed the project by buying plots at very low prices, constructed storied houses and fancy bungalows. The poor people were forced down into Nakivubo wetland where they cannot even construct pit latrines because the water table is very near. Under the housing policy, the government has encouraged the private sectors to set up estates left by the public and the NGOs have been allowed to set up credit facilities so that the poor can also have access to better living conditions. The factors that contributed to the housing development, is land, which is a basic requirement for housing development in any community and Uganda inclusive. There are three types of tenure system namely; public land (owned by/ the government, customary land and mailo land owned by customary land and another type owned by the (Kabaka) king of Buganda respectively. However the central government (public finance), parastatals bodies and urban council build houses using public funds, by mobilizing resource from both within, and outside Uganda. These bodies Include; National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC), Housing Finance Company (HFC) of Uganda and national insurance company (through collecting premiums and invest them in housing, and provide montage facilities) to the people. Individual Ugandans and Non Ugandans are building houses out of their personal saving. For example, the majority of housing/ buildings in the rural areas and even in the town / city areas have been built using household labor and local materials.


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Through the help of the government and other private investors, housing quality has improved and many urban dwellers (town and city) are enjoying higher standards of living and this has solved the problem of overcrowding by the middle income earners and the young people living in the urban centers. The housing sector in Kampala is so much developed compared to other areas in the country. For example what used to be seven hills are now 21 hills and rent rates has generally gone comedown. The epistemological position of the housing policy in Uganda is due to the notion that government should be directly involved in building housing on a large scale, renting it out, and controlling the housing market. Housing is the fundamental areas of welfare and human needs hence increase in, housing units from 7 hills to 21 hills, 24,000 and 66,000 black log. Hosing is now and always has been a considerable degree an area of welfare in which the markets is far and away the most important means of setting who gets what or how needs are to be met. A relevant study of housing in Bradford found that, the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, although forming close on one-fifth of the city’s population occupy only 2. 24% of council housing and 8.4% of either housing rents’ (Wright 2001)

In the nineteenth- century period, model housing schemes were like beacons in a sea of squalid 1970- the market and home ownership have become more central to housing policy resulting to Mrs. Thatcher’s governments of the 1980’s which were chiefly responsible for widening the base of , home ownership in Britain, England. Octavia Hill (1838-1912) has been seen as one of the key founder of modern social work as well as pioneer of housing policy and management contracted on trying to find housing solutions to the slum dwellers and the poor (Britain, England) therefore the government of Uganda adopted the British housing policy in order to provide quality houses to its citizen through mobilization of resources from the international communities such as Britain America.

In the early 1990s, the government of Uganda raised shs. 30 billion from the sale of pool houses to senior civil servants and is going to capitalize housing finance company with these funds. The NRM government promised to buy land and build low cost houses for the urban poor who are living in slum areas. In the NRM’s 10 point programs, President Museveni said the fifth point calls for the building of integrated and self- sustaining economy of which housing is seen as a means to achieve high standard of living. Also according to, the ministry of work status report 2004; there was a housing deficit of 522.dwelling and a need to upgrade nearly 2 million units’ country wide (Daily Monitor March 2007). The Royal palms projects report an annual need for anew housing at 377.000 units by 2020 According to the Uganda household survey of 2001/03 it indicates Kampala as having 264,000 housing units with a backlog of 66,000 housing units. For example, houses with iron roofs have been on the steady increase, that is, in 1992/3, 37% of the houses in Uganda were roofed with iron sheets, 48% in 1995/6. 57% in 1999/20.


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However other districts such as Gulu, Soroti, Karamoja, Kitgum and others are lowly developed due to inadequate income, insecurity and poor government facilitation leading to inequality in terms of infrastructures such as housing, roads and generally unequal development. The underpinning of the social policy (housing policy) in Uganda is under a narrow definition because it is meeting the needs of particular individuals but not all the people in the country for example, municipality, town, city are under operation, and yet the poor are the majority in Uganda and they are exposed to many problems such as inadequate accommodation leading to spread of diseases.

The ontological position of the housing policy in Uganda is underpinned by the unplanned structures that surround Kampala city with differences between houses of the rich and the poor. The most plausible explanation for the differences, in an environment where most families can only access adequate housing by engaging in some kind of self-help construction is that the availability of land varies greatly between mailo land (privately own) where government has no power over it and public land. Through the help of private investors, nongovernmental organizations, the planning boards and the district councils, the ministry of works, housing and communication board, the national housing and construction company they have been responsible for mobilizing and evaluation, and coordination of housing activities. Housing institutions face several problems such as inadequate resources amidst corrupt personnel housing is given less attention. the budget at different levels, hence the reason why most areas are being under developed. Under utilization of land due to cultural practices, inadequate building materials, with 60% of building materials being imported, un skilled manpower. The government should ensure that there is equitable distribution of housing facilities among the people so as to reduce on the in equality existence in terms of houses. The government should ensure that there is a policy that protects the environment so that the housing industry is set up in a good atmosphere to benefit all citizens. The principle of social equity which prescribes that benefits should be allocated in a way that can equalize the equation of resources and opportunities available in society should be part of the packages in housing policy. Under social equality, the government/states ensure that all the people in the society should access equal redistribution of resources. For example the habitants of Uganda are catered for in order to have good livelihoods through construction of houses/ estates affordable by all classes. With the consolidation of security in the country and stabilization of the economy, the government plans to make it possible for every Ugandan to own a decent house. On the other hand equal provision of social services will definitely leave others deprived, this can be evidenced in the case of the North and eastern Uganda where there are inadequate resources such as estates, roads and generally low development due to imbalance government policies.


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Therefore since, the northern and eastern Uganda has been and still is facing the problem of political insecurity (wars) there is need to help the suffering people through provision of food, shelter and clothing because the people cannot afford to provide good shelter for themselves. Not only should that security be availed through peace talk with the conflicting parties so as to create a conducive environment for the suffering people. The urban population especially the working class should be taxed and even the business people so as to subsidies the poor people. The government however tried to reduce-unbalanced development through implementing financial policies in order to make the poor people to get involved income generating activities such as farming, poultry, and business activities through giving loans. Northern Uganda social action fund scheme has been given to, the people of northern Uganda without any interest with the aim to reduce the level of poverty among the Acholi people.

Social policy has various principle dimensions in which it looks at or defines and understands social policy. The other perspectives reflected in the contraction of the housing policy can be analyzed as below. Social policy as a philosophy should be the alternative, the government should choose in the struggle to adopt favorable resources. This is based on held facts which have been generated basing on other societal experiences for example when Uganda adopted a housing policy from Britain in order to improve on the standards of people through provision of quality houses roads and communications systems to achieve development in totality. It is clear to us that as a program, social policy consists of conclusions reached by the government concerning the betterment of society through creation of symbolic changes. This analytical thought finds developmental underpinnings in the increase of housing units from 7 hills to 21 hills (in Kampala city), roofed houses increased from 48% in 1995/6 to 57 % in 1999, 2000 and 63% in 2002/03, and reduction in grass thatched houses from 42% in 1999/2002 to 35% in 2002/03. The liberalization policy, opened development space for many actors such as individuals and agencies for example, habitat for humanity, to helped people access adequate housing. Health policy Health is defined as the condition of the body and the degree to which it is free from illness or it is the state of being well. A health can also be defined as the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of our organism at both the micro (cellular) and macro (social) level. In the medical field, health is commonly defined as an organism ability to efficiently respond to challenge (stressors) and effectively restore and sustain “a state of balance” known as homeostasis.


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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and socially well being and not merely the absence of diseases or infirmity. In recent years the statement has been modified to include the ability to lead a “socially and economically productive life”. Health is maintained through the science and practice of medicine but can also be improved by individual effort such as physical fitness, weight loss, stress management training and stopping smoking and other substance abuse. The Ugandan government in view of the poor health educators has aimed in that health outcomes over the medium term. Measures to improve health educators are contained in the new National Health Policy and Health Sector Strategic Plan 2000-2005. The overall purpose to the new Health Sector Program is to reduce on morbidity and mortality rates across various groups and regions of the country. The new health policy set by the government with a strategy for improving health outcomes will be based on the implementation of cost effective interventions to minimum health care package targeted to major causes of ill health, for example malaria. In addition, the new health policy is for adoption of a Sector-wide Approach (SWAP) for health, and also to establish functional coordination mechanisms at the centre and district levels, for the national multi-sectoral response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Under the National Health Policy and Health Sector Strategic Plan, there are other sub-policies and these include; immunization, HIV/AIDS, anemia policy, school health policy, food and nutrition policy, ABC policy among others. Immunization as a health policy in Uganda: Immunization may be defined as a process through which people are given protection against particular diseases by introducing a special substance into their body especially using an injection. Immunization is a technique used to cause immune response those results into resistance to a specific disease, especially an infectious disease. Immunization may also be a process that increases an organism’s reaction to antigen and therefore improves its ability to resist or overcome infection. Immunization is also a process by which an individual is exposed to an agent that is designed to fortify his or her immune system against that agent and the material used is known as Immunogen. Immunization is the same as Inoculation and Vaccination which uses Viable infecting agents like the immunization does. When the human immune system is exposed to a disease once, it can develop the ability to quickly respond to a subsequent infection therefore by exposing an individual to Immunogen in a controlled way, their body will then be able to protect its self from infection later on in life. a. Epistemology is the study of knowledge justifications. Epistemology can also be defined as the nature of knowledge, it is presumptions and foundations and job extent and validity.


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Ontology may be defined as a specification of a conceptualization of knowledge domain. Ontology may also be the study of being or existence, it seeks to describe the basic categories and relationships of being or existence to define entities within its frame work. It can also be said to study conceptions of reality. Immunization was first practiced successfully for centuries in India, Persia and China, prior to its introduction in England in 1720, by Mary Wortley Montagu wife of British ambassador to Constantinople. She describe a method of violation used in Turkey called grafting in which a small amount of material from a Small Pox lesion was introduced with a needle into a vein. Edward Jenner, a physician practicing in Gloucestershire England, introduced a safer method to immunize against small pox called Vaccination. He used Cowpox materials from lesions on the hands of milkmaids or pussy material from infected animals to confer cross-immunity against the variola agent. Jenner studied vaccination from 1789 to 1798 and published a book describing his expansion which included a successful immunization of an eight-old boy named James Phipps. Then the small pox vaccine was licensed for use for the general public in 1903. Some 45 other vaccines and toxoides, apart from several immunoglobin preparations were introduced in medicine since then. Due to the success of the immunization policy in other countries like Persia, China, and England, the government of Uganda adopted the above policy which has also been a success because through the community approach, the government improved its immunization coverage from 30% in 1986 to 89% in 2005 beyond the target of 80%. The ontological position is that immunization coverage against childhood diseases (Tuberculosis, Polio, Measles, Whooping Cough and Diphtheria) is over 85%, in addition to Anti-tetanus immunization for pregnant women and those of reproductive age. The Ministry of Health is now working with districts to do “mop up” campaigns in sub –counties that did not achieve the target levels of immunization and has set up a comprehensive surveillance system for measles. The immunization policy has also reduced the death rates especially at births which mostly affected the babies. This has been so in the way that today babies are immunized at birth against certain diseases and expectant mothers immunized before and doing pregnancy. b. Social equality is the provision of equal opportunities for equal enjoyment of rights resources and rewards by women, men, girls and boys. Social equality may be defined as away of equality availing members of the society with social benefits, resources and opportunities.


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Social equality may also refer to the right of different groups of people to have a similar social position and receive some treatment regardless of these apparent differences. The principle of social equality exists as a natural or basic part of the immunization policy in Uganda because all people no matter tribe, sex, have a right to good health and Health Sector Strategic Plan underway for people to participate effectively in other sectors of the government, for example economic, political among others they should be health. Immunization is not meant for the babies, children and mothers but also men because it is for prevention against certain diseases. Immunization in Uganda is provided to people according to need, for instance the babies are immunized at birth that BCG pregnant mothers for tetanus, the n Vitamin A, for these children 6-36 months, polio and measles are also given at birth that is to say treatment is given respectively according to the need present to add on the above the ongoing immunization of the people in Gulu and Arua districts with the trivalent vaccine against Meningitis zero group W135. Meaning at this time it is needed by the particular people. Horizontal equity position of the immunization policy requires that people who are within the some situations are given the same treatment or vaccination to prevent them from being infected by some diseases, for example today there is immunization of all people in Uganda due to the outbreak of meningitis which is claiming peoples lives so as to reduce at the rate of the happening the government is immunizing every one from the children to adults against it. The horizontal and vertical equity have the following relevancy to the immunization policy in Uganda. Immunization is seen as program in Uganda and a product in the way that through the strategy of preventive health care, the government has taken the lead in encouraging parents to have their children immunized against killer diseases and deliberately diseases and through the community approach, the government of Uganda has resolved immunization coverage from 30% to 80% in 2005 beyond the target of 80%.Forexample we have to immunize people against meningitides sero group W135 and major vaccination program were implemented in Arua and Gulu districts. We also see children being immunized against the six killer diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, and polio, among others. Evidence was presented to suggest that immunization in Uganda is based on the interest of the people due to high mortality and morbidity rate. It is best for the people that certain diseases be prevented through vaccination, for example the government of Uganda each year properly plans and allocates resources in form of finances so that the program is carried out in the stipulated time hence the perspective of frame work for action. Vertical equity is relevant in the success of the immunization policy in vaccines or prevention is for example, BCG is given at birth, DTW, PHIDHEP children of 6,10,14 weeks, measles, 9moths TT pregnant women, 1st contact +1,+6 Vitamin A 6-36months among others. Health policies


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Health policies in developing countries like Uganda have been modeled on those of the industrial nations and communicable diseases as well as their causes have been neglected. Colonialism fostered this development. During colonial times, modern medicine catered primarily for Europeans and with the exception of those living in areas where mission hospitals, were built few native people had access to it (Turshen 1977). In Nigeria in the nineteen thirties, 12 modern hospitals served some 4000 Europeans while 40, mostly mission hospitals, catered for 40 million Africans (Rodney, 1972). However today modern curative medicine dominates the health services of developing countries, but it has had little effect on their most urgent health problems. Although some preventive measures were introduced and attempts were modest, efforts were financed from international rather then domestic sources. Turning on to the HIV/AIDS policy itself, it is seen that in the quarter century since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 65 million people world wide have become infected, including more than 25 million who have already died. In the United States, there are now more than one million people currently estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. HIV epidemic is on to be, one of the worst epidemics in the history with millions more estimated to become infected by the end of this decade alone, if more is not done. Multiple challenges remain in the areas of prevention, care and treatment, research, infrastructure and capacity development; and funding. As such, the HIV/AIDS epidemic presents numerous political economic, social and scientific challenges to the United States and nations throughout the world including Uganda. It’s therefore because of the above challenges that the policy of HIV/AIDS exists today in various countries in the world. The epistemological position of the HIV/AIDS policy that resulted in its being adopted or implemented can therefore be seen bellow; In order to reduce on the number of HIV/AIDS cases among women in the countries of China and India, some health experts have urged the countries to implement HIV/AIDS programs modeled on those initiated in Thailand- including condom distribution, HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, no-cost exam in public clinics and programs that offer small business loans to pairs of HIV-positive and HIV-negative people who are agree to become community ambassadors for HIV-positive people. It’s therefore because of the success of this policy in Thailand and also being adopted in other countries like China and India that led to its adoption and implementation in Uganda too. The other is the AIDS treatment in South Africa Rights-based, patient-driven HIV/AIDS. Under this it’s seen that over five million Africans today are HIV positive. In the post Apartheid era, the AIDS policy making process has been characterized by activists aligned with the treatment Action Campaign (TAC) have framed their struggle for HIV treatment access in terms of human rights f people living with HIV/AIDS. They insist that access to such life saving combination antiretroviral drug treatment for all HIV positive people is a human right in as much as it fulfills their rights to life and the socio-economic right to access to health care.


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In 2003, the South African cabinet instructed the health ministry to develop a comprehensive HIV treatment and prevention plan. The government has since begun to roll out HIV treatment at public health care facilities across South Africa. TAC is seen as the most successful example of civil society pushing to South Africa and indeed international government policy to reflect socio-economic and health rights in the post apartheid era. Uganda therefore adopted the policy of the ART treatment because it seemed to be very successful in South Africa and hence why not Uganda. This policy was also adopted and implemented because of its attributed successes in the United States of America. It should therefore be noted that it’s because of the positive attributes of the HIV/AIDS policy in the above mentioned countries, that Uganda has been able to adopt and also implement the HIV/AIDS policy. Today, Uganda is regarded as a success story in the fight against HIV/AIDS, on the political will, empathy and proximity to the people. This can all be witnessed through the current NRM leadership or government traversed the country talking to school children and adults alike, telling them the Abstinence, Be Faithful and using Condoms (ABC) method. This method has helped reduce AIDS prevalence from 30% in the early 90s to about 7% currently. 75,000 people are receiving Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The government is seen doing this through the AIDS organizations like The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), AIDS Information Centre (AIC) and other non governmental organizations that do extend these services to the health centers and also get the people aware of these services in order to avail the HIV positive people. The government today has also been able to introduce the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services with 846 health workers trained on strategies for PMTCT. For example out of the pregnant mothers who test HIV positive at PMTCT sites, 56% receive single dose Nevirapine. This therefore clearly indicates and shows to us the ontological positions of the HIV/AIDS policy in Uganda today. The value principle of equality inherent to the HIV/AIDS policy in Uganda can be seen as bellow. The policy of HIV/AIDS is aimed at bringing equality between the people having the virus and those that do not have. This policy also emphasizes that all human beings are the same and equal irrespective of their HIV status. The lifespan of those with AIDS is as the same as those with out especially with the introduction of the ARVS treatment. It also brings to the attention of the community that HIV/AIDS patients also have their rights as human beings like any other person in the society. Still under the above principle, the government of Uganda has and is still carrying out sensitizations among communities to avoid fear and stigma of those having HIV/AIDS. This,


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therefore, has also helped in putting together those with the virus and those with out to live happily with out fear of one another. According to the HIV/AIDS policy In Uganda, horizontal equity is implemented through the accessing of the ARV drugs to all the HIV/AIDS affected or infected persons. All the people having this virus can not afford to buy the drugs that try to prevent HIV/AIDS from killing someone very fast. The government however intervenes and sponsors or delegates to offer these drugs to all the people infected irrespective of whether the person can afford or not and hence practicing horizontal equity. The government has been able to allow the distribution of the HIV/AIDS oriented organizations to almost all the regions of Uganda. For example TASO services are offered and available in every region in Uganda and hence helping serve the people of Uganda infected with the virus equally. Other organizations have however been implemented in an attempt to help serve the people with the virus in various regions of Uganda like AIC. Other forms of horizontal equity implemented by the government of Uganda are the introduction of sensitization activities or programs to all the people of Uganda even as far as villages are concerned. These services cover up the prevention, causes and mitigation of HIV/AIDS. Through government intervention in the provision of ARVS, the community has been able to access HIV/AIDS treatment and hence helping in the success policy of HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Vertical equity, in Uganda has been observed when ARVS have been extended to the needy even deep in the villages, to people who can not afford these drugs. This is always done through the extending of the drugs to the nearby health centers in the villages that are possibly accessed by the HIV positive people who are eligible to ARVS. It’s therefore because of their need for help of accessing these drugs, that the government considers them. According to this need, mothers and especially pregnant women with HIV have been helped. The government has introduced the PMTCT services to these women which are meant to save the children from acquiring the virus from their mothers. The government of Uganda today has implemented the ABC method to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It therefore emphasizes abstinence for those who are not yet married, being faithful for spouses and then using condoms for those who could neither abstain nor be faithful. This, therefore, has also been so relevant in the success of the HIV/AIDS policy in Uganda in the following ways; Through the provision of PMTCT services, the government has been able to reduce on the number of HIV/AIDS infection of the children through their mothers during delivery and before. This therefore indicates the relevance to the success of the policy since, because there has been a reduction of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. ARVS that are extended to the people in their various villages through the health centers has also helped a lot in making the policy successful since, it’s been able to achieve helping the people having and living with HIV/AIDS with the present and current treatment.


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The encouragement of the ABC method has also been very relevant in helping prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS in Uganda today especially among the people of the community whether married or unmarried. This therefore shows that the policy is surely heading to a success. It’s therefore because of this that Uganda has been ranked one of the best countries in handling the HIV/AIDS epidemic today. This therefore shows clearly that Uganda’s policy of HIV/AIDS is a success. The policy is aimed at by the government to better the society through the creation of visible changes like building of the HIV/AIDS based health centers or units with mainly services like voluntary counseling and testing and later helping the affected. The government also encourages the putting up of HIV/AIDS non governmental organizations to serve the communities in various places n Uganda for example in Soroti, health need Uganda was set up as a non governmental organization in order to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS and also help the people suffering with HIV/AIDS. Other visible services by the government are the sensitization of the people about the existence, causes, effects and the mitigation of HIV/AIDS in the areas of Uganda. This is often done by the government through holding rallies and addressing them on issues concerning HIV/AIDS epidemic. Child Labour Policy Child Labour Policy comprises of those activities which prevent a child’s physical, social, psychological and moral development. Child Labour is exploitative and harmful to a child. In 1995, Uganda had more than ½ of the working children less than 18 years old. A number of working children 5-17 were attending primary school were estimated to be 1.9 million. More than 300,000 aged between 5-17 years have no formal education statistics indicate that 46% of the children aged between 10 – 15 years and 30% aged between 15 – 17 years were reported to as working children. At regional level the eastern region reported the highest proportional of working children (Demography of working and health report 2001 by Uganda Bureau of Statistics). The are many forms of Child Labour for example too many hours spent working, too much responsibility at an early age, work that undermines children’s dignity and self esteem such as sex exploitation, neglect and many other forms. One area of high Child Labour prevalence is the businessmen industry where children are used for cross border trade for example cigarette trading, food stuffs and others assorted goods. Boys also engage in lading and off loading of heavy goods and lay bricks. The main causes of Child Labour in Uganda include the following: Social disruption especially starting from northern war and Karamojong cattle raids have driven them to basic destitution especially in Tororo and Malaba area with no one to support them.


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When parents are constrained financially and fail to provide scholastic materials to their children, they are usually compelled to send them to earn extra income for buying books, pens and other scholastic needs. This means that parents send children to engage in Child Labour activity for supplementing their income. Large family size is one of the causes of child labour as parents can not afford to look after all of them. Within poverty context at family level, child labour becomes a perfect instrument to access the basic needs such as food and clothing. When children are orphaned due as result of diseases especially AIDS, they resort to child labour as a survival strategy. Some are not looked after by relatives and thus they engage in heavy activities like loading and off loading of goods. Urban attraction leading to rural/urban migration of children. When these children go to town for example girls, end up working as waitresses in restaurants and some as sexual workers. One of the risk factors of child labour is broken families were child negligent is most rampant living the children to fend for themselves. There are several negative multiplier impacts of child labour on children as explained below: Child Labour has contributed to poor performance in schools and high school dropouts. Since working children earn income they have become disrespectful to parents and to community elders. Working children are always prone to delinquency tendencies. Government in collaboration with development partners has put in place several strategies to solve the problem of Child Labour in Uganda in the following ways: Universal Primary Education (UPE to ensure as many as possible children go to school. Some local Non Governmental Organization’s and internal Non-Government Organization’s have supported children by taking them to school e.g. compassion, UNICEF and many others. The National Constitution of 1995 Art 34 prohibits all forms of harmful, exploitative and hazardous child labor. Government has ratified convention number 138 on minimum age for admission for employment and convention number 182 on worst forms of Child Labour. The Children Statute number 6 of 1996 consolidates all the laws about children in an comprehensive law to ensure the observance and fulfillment of the rights of children and provides for relevant enforcement mechanisms. In conclusion therefore, the government should address the problem of poverty. Poverty is by far the most important cause of Child Labour in Uganda. National Poverty Program like PEAP (Poverty Eradication Plan and budgets should be main streamed to reduce Child Labour. Universal Primary Education as success story Government has prioritized improvement of the quality of UPE with results showing positive trends in select quality indicators. Provision of instructional materials has resulted in the reduction of the pupil book ratio from 6:1 in 2000 to 3:1 in 2003. School sanitation and hygiene


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has also improved from a stance pupil ratio of 700:1 in 1997 to 96:1 in 2000, with one third of schools having separate facilities for girls. Notably focus of funding has been mostly on new facilities, often neglecting the maintenance of existing infrastructure. A policy for the educationally disadvantaged children was also put in place and provides among other things for basic education for children who are experiencing barriers to learning and includes the cope, ABEK and BEUPA programs. Table showing indicators of access and quality in primary education. Indicator 2000 2001 2001 2003 Midterm

2006 Long term

Primary enrolment (administrative data)

6.6m 6.9m 7.3m 7.6m

Gross enrollment (administrative data

127% 130% 126% 127%

Net enrolment (administrative net enrolment (household survey

84% 86%

Female share of enrolment 49% 49% 49.2% 49.4% 50.1 Pupil / class room ration 98:1 99:1 95:1 94: 94:1 40:1 Pupil teacher ratio 65:1 58:1 58:1 58:1 40:1 Pupil/textbook ratio (P.3 – P.7) 6:1 3:1 (P.3

& P.4) 1:1

Source: Uganda Master plan 2005 However, UPE has the following challenges since its implementation. Retention of children in schools remains a challenge to the sub-sector out of the 2,159,850 pupils enrolled in P.1 in 1997,


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only about 33% reached P.6 by and 22% reached P.7 in 2003. Explanatory factors for high drop out rates 2002 include poor quality teaching including the limited availability of instructional materials. Participatory studies suggest that costs, including uniforms and the difficulty of providing lunch are also problems that may cause drop-out. Inadequate school hygiene and sanitary facilities has been shown to impact negatively on attendance and drop out, particularly of girls. Despite the UPE policy under which government covers fees, costs borne by parents remain a major cause of drop-out. Other causes include poor quality, distance from schools, involvement in economic activities, lack of appropriate facilities in school and harassment by teachers. Inequalities associated with poverty, gender, geographical isolation and cultural attitudes persist. While there is little difference between the national enrolment rates for boys and girls, in some areas such as the North girl’s enrolment remains very poor. In upper primary classes, the drop out rate for girls (9.4%) is higher than for boys (8.2%) actions such as improved sanitation are needed to address this problem. The national environmental management authority (NEMA) The national environmental management authority (NEMA) was established under the national environment act cap 153, as the principle agency responsible for co-coordinating, monitoring and supervising all activities in the field of the environment in Uganda. In order to improve the capacity of government in ensuring sustainable use of wet lands, the cardinal principle provided for in the constitution article 237(2)b) there of , is that these resources are held in trust by government or local governments for the common good of all the people of Uganda and shall not be alienated through individuals ownership. This constitutional provisions is echoed in section 44 (4) 0f the Land Act chapter 227 which provides that the government or local government may not lease out or otherwise alienate any of the above resource. This implies that no one should buy any wet land, lakeshore or river banks. To nationalize the above provisions, and related provisions in the National Environment Act, the national environment (wet lands, river banks, and lake shores management ) regulations, statutory instruments number three of 2000, were made under the national environment act. The regulations provide details on wet lands, river banks and lake shores. Whereas NEMA provides oversight on enforcement of the regulations, the district authorities, relevant lead agencies such as the wet lands inspections divisions and the police are responsible for implementation of the regulations in addition, local communities and resource users living in area surrounding river banks, lake shores and wet lands have an obligation and sustainable use of these areas, also classified as fragile ecosystems. Wetlands, river banks, lake shore have a variety of importance among which include; Wet lands are transitions zones (acetones) between land and water, providing a diversity of habitants that support rich biodiversity of not only the communities directly associated with them but also those from the aquatic (water) and terrestrial (land) habitants. Wet lands ecosystems ameliorate extremer of temperatures as a result of evapo-transpiration.


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Wetlands have the capacity to attenuate (purify) polluted water, making it fit for several other uses. This is achieved by slowing down of the speed of water, thus allowing the suspended sediment to settle out down and also wetland vegetation has the capacity to absorb pollutants in their vegetative material which is a purification process. Wetland have are sources of financial resources associated with a number of social economic value to communities such as crafts productions, particularly using papyrus and other wetlands reels. These wetland crafts products are of economic value to communities. They are sources of traditional medicinal, herbs, source of fish, are source of water for various uses. Wet lands are traditional grazing areas and sustain livestock populations especially during drought. River banks and lake shores provide shelter and food for wild life supports spewing beds for fish. Traps run off and excess nutrients from the land that would other wise end up in water bodies thus enhances water quality, shades and cools water. Wetlands as important development of tourism amenities. What the policy (law) says about the use and lake shores. Under the National environment (wetlands, river banks and lakes shores management) Regulations, some activities are prohibited (not allowed in a wet land and others are allowed. The activities that are prohibited (not included) include-reclaiming or draining any wet land, erecting, constructing, demolishing any wet land any substance in a manner that has or is likely to have an adverse effect of the wet lands. Destroying, damaging or disturbing any wetland in a manner that has or is likely to have an adverse on any plant or animal or its habitant. Introducing or planting any exotic or introduced plant or animal in a wet land. The activities regulated or allowed are brick making, recreation activities such as spot fishing, maintenance of green spaces, cultivation, drainage, commercial exploitation of wetlands resource, sewerage filtration, and fishing using fish gear and, fish farming and other aquaculture activities. Construction of transport and communication facilities such as roads, railways, telephone lines, burning and other exploitative activities which is of a commercial or track nature, such as harvesting of papyrus for commercial purposes. The currying out of these activities is subjected to issuance of pursuit by NEMA in consultation with the lead agencies, after a care full evaluation through the process of environmental impact assessment (E.I.A) For river banks no activity should be carried out between a zone of 30m and 100 meters depending on the size and importance of the river. No substance should be deposited in the river or under its bed.


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No activity is permitted in the protection zones of river banks and lakes shores without a permit from NEMA, Local environment committees are empowered to determine watering points and routes for animals to have access to water in lakes or rivers. A person who intends to carry out regulated activity in the wet land, river bank or lakeshore should involve a formal application for a permit to carry out the activity from the executive director, NEMA. One pays and fills the forms by a non refundable fee of Ushs 50,000 to the cashier at NEMA and a receipt is obtained. Where the executive director finds that the proposed activity is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental, impact an approval would be given and the applicant would pay a permit fee of Ushs 100,000/= and obtain a receipt. The ontological position in the Implementation of the law/policy on the management of wet lands, rivers banks and lake shores) There was environmental degradation due to political and economic conditions that prevailed from early 1970s and mid 1980s as result of this, Uganda carried out a successful National environment action plane (NEAP) IN 1991-1995 SO AS TO Integrate Environmental considerations into Uganda’s economic and social development. Due to the lack of finances to implement this policy, Uganda asked for Netherlands had initiated a joint project on environmental law and institutional in Africa. It was funded by the Dutch and Partner agencies included FAO, LUCN, WORLD BANK, UNDP AND UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMETAL ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME. They believed that although Africa was endowed with abundant and diverse national resources with corresponding diverse ecology, there was no effective development. There was increasing degradation of the resources hence the present generation suffered loss of development opportunities and the interests of the future generation was not safe- guarded. The Dutch government felt concerned and as a result, initiated a joint project to make an environmental law and also to make institutions in Africa adopt effective utilization and management of natural resource. The steering committee selected eight countries as the primary focus during phase one of the project (December 1994) that is Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. In addition to the above, Uganda is a member of the 150 countries of the Ramseur convention on wetlands. The convention was signed on February 2 in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramseur. Uganda adopted proven facts from other countries such as Iran, Netherlands, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, south Africa among others and discovered that policies/ laws on utilization and management of the environment for National development were successful in those countries hence it had to recommend, borrow them and as result of that the National environment managemental policy 1994 was approved, the National environment Statue no 4 of 1995 was enacted and the National environment authority (NEMA) established in1995.


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The ecosystems: Fragile areas (wetlands, river banks, lake shores have been restored and managed in the districts of Nebi (River Nyagak, and Namrwhodho) Jinja, Kamuli, Mukono , Kayunga(Victoria Nile) among others districts. Illegal land title issued in wet lands and river banks have been canceled especially in Mbale and wet lands were restored. People who had settled in wet lands have been evicted especially the pastoralists who had settled in the wetland of Kumi and Soroti districts illegally. There is a significant decrease on encroachment into wet lands as a result of implementation of the law. Flood damage has been reduced and water quality has been preserved hence protecting our wealth, health and safety in turn. Wet lands have sustained fisheries 1.8 million people in Uganda directly depend on fisheries including boat owners, fishermen, fish processors, fish traders; fish is a source of protein to 17 million people. Wetlands, lake shores support large number of insects, worms and other important sources of fish species. They protect the fish from predators and as a result of this, the poverty eradication action plan (PEAP) 2004 recognizes fisheries as an important resource for Uganda’s population and economy contributing to 12% gross domestic products (GDP) Wet land have rare plants, species of water birds animals which has facilitated the development of the tourism industry in Uganda hence the utilization of wet lands, river banks lake shores for national development. However, the National Environmental Authority has faced some problems/ challenges in the implementation of the law as follows: Planning authorities continue to allocate plots in wetlands, river banks and shores, development of recreational sites at lake shores with out approval from NEMA, failure of people to guide and protect wet lands on their own and pressure of degradation due to rapid population growth associated with poverty Single parents association of Uganda (SPAU) as a social service initiative Single parents association of Uganda (SPAU), an independent non governmental organization for single parent families, formed on 17th–December- 1999 by a group of poor single parents to address problems facing all poor single parents in Uganda. SPAU campaigns to achieve equality of opportunities for Single Parents and is concerned with their welfare and development. The vision of this organization is to overcome poverty and stigma among single parents and help, create society that recognizes respects and accepts single parents. The mission of the agency is to improve the welfare of the poor and marginalized single parents and their families through the provision of counseling, training services, and promotion of income generating activities. Strategic objectives

• To change the negative attitudes of society towards people coming from single parent families.


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• To initiate projects that can enhance the welfare of social economic development of the people in poor single parent families.

• To raise HIV\AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns among the single parent communities

• To advocate for the respect and advancement of the rights of marginalized single parents. • To develop support system among people from poor single parent families. • To elaborate and network with other NGOs and government agencies that share single

parents association of Uganda’s vision. Programs of the organization

• The organization has various programs and these include • Nutrition and food security. • Family protection. • Gender and development

Activities of the agency The organization carries out various activities depending on its programs and these include

• Monitoring of projects like building project for orphans, conditions of orphans and process of construction

• Community research. • Training\capacity building • Reviewing projects.

Activities in which the worker was involved are described as follows

• Attending workshops and seminars. The social worker attended various work shops and seminars like psychosocial counseling and trauma work, Budget advocacy and analysis and many others

• Report writing. The worker wrote a lot of reports which included among others

workshop\ seminar reports, supervision reports and others

• Food distribution is another activity the worker did. It involved delivering foods to the poor HIV\AIDS positive single parents to their respective homes such foods included eggs, sugar, rice, maize flour and others.

• Formulation of budgets. The worker used to be involved in the development of various

organizational budgets.

• I was also involved in the Sensitization of the single parents on HIV\Aids through drama shows, video shows and seminars.


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• Advisory role on project planning and management. In planning and management of various projects Agency staff always asked me to advise and give my opinions and recommendations on various issues like on project identification and on feasibility studies.

• Advisory role on nutrition and food maintenance and management. During food

distribution to the poor single parents, the worker’s role was to provide advices on how to prepare, consume, preserve and protect the food. This was necessary after discovering that some people used to sell off their food and exchange for alcoholic drinks.

• Supervision and monitoring of organization’s activities. Some times the social worker

would be sent to supervise the progress of projects like construction, piggery, poultry, mushroom growing projects and others

Kampala City Council, Kawempe Division Kampala City Council, Kawempe Division in the Department of Community Development and Welfare.

Kawempe Division is one of the five divisions forming Kampala district in Uganda. The Division is located in the Northern part of Kampala District between latitudes 320ss-32025 East of Greenwich and longitudes 020-024 north of the Equator. It has an area of 32-45 square kilometers and borders with Wakiso district in the northwest, Rubaga division in the south east, Nakawa Division in the North East and Central Division in the Southwest. Administratively, the division is made up of 22 parishes and 119 zones. The location of the division strategically makes it the major entry point of traffic from the wider part of the North Western and North Eastern parts of Uganda to the city center. Historically, a bigger part of land now Kawempe Division belonged to King Daudi Chwa11 who gave it to Prince Nuhu Mbogo after signing of the 1900 agreement. Prince Mbogo then gave part of his land to Prince Kakungulu. The early 1950’s witnessed the development of unplanned Asian industrial area in Kawempe and rapid development was experienced up to 1970’s. In 1955, Kawempe was declared a Township between 1958 and 1967, a bigger part of Kawempe became part of Mengo municipality and thereafter 1968 it was made part of Kampala City. Kampala City Council Kawempe Division is a government organization; the Local Government Act 1997 made Kawempe Division a body corporate Local Government that thereafter the Parliamentary Amendment in the Local Government Act became a municipality. 1.2 The Vision:

The vision is to have a harmonized division with good working and living environment for the residents.

1.3 The Goal:


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The goal is to improve revenue collection in order to improve the living conditions and alleviate poverty of the people of Kawempe Division. Department of community development; Poverty Alleviation and Social Services; Functions include: • Mobilizing and organizing the youth, women, men, elderly and people with disability in the

division. • To empower and facilitate social groups in Kawempe division who live under difficult

conditions. • To coordinate and network with NGO’s and CBO’s in partnership for development. • To implement the children’s statute of 1996 purposely to promote childcare and protection of

their human rights and freedom. • To be responsible for capacity building for leaders particularly of special groups, social

groups and other disadvantaged people, parish development committees and project committees in the division.

• To register birth and death as well as organize groups of different activities (social-economic).

1.5 Activities or programs of the Organization: • Cleaning and clearing the drainage system of Kawempe Division, collecting garbage. • Inspecting of schools, markets, health centers and providing health and education services to

the division. • Registration of birth and death in the division. • Plan and develop Kawempe Division and ensuring that the structures are on plan. • Registering and monitoring of the non-governmental organizations and community based

organizations. • Collecting of taxes from the division.


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CHAPTER TEN CASE STUDIES WHICH CAN ILLUSTRATE THE EXPOUNDED SOC IAL POLICY THEMES, PRINCIPLES AND PERSPECTIVES Several case studies are cited in Uganda and other societies to provide illustrations for different scientific knowledge discussed in the whole text.


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Case study No. 1 Can Ocuka Woman’s Group Can Ocuka Woman’s Group illustrates social policy as a philosophical concept The geographical location of this group is along River Nile in Northern Uganda. The area has poor soils and two short seasonal irregular rainfalls. In such conditions, the fishing industry is the main production occupation for male and fish processing and marketing for women. The group started as a saving group and established an internal loan fund to help members. The members used to record their comments about the business in a visitors book kept by each member. In this way members would be able to verify whether they actually invested the money they individually borrowed. This approach helped to combat the problem of defaulters. This responsibility trickled down to the whole group as the money was given to the whole group, not to an individual. Credit Information: The loans helped members for reinvestment in foodstuffs and local beer businesses, which in turn supported household provisions. Apart from its investments, the group embarked on collective investment. It financed construction of a fishing boat, which is rented out, bringing the group daily income. It bought a cow and its calf, three oxen and an ox-plough for use on members’ fields. It borrowed money to buy a donkey, which is used to carry water, firewood (for members) and sand for building purposes. It is saving to buy a donkey cart. Source: The people first by Stan Burkey (1996). Case study No. 2 Mutundwe Twegatte Women’s Group (MTWG) MTWG is a member organization of MWODET, an umbrella organization based in Mpigi district in central Uganda. The area is both rural and urban rural. There are 15 members in this group and the group comprises Micro and Small Enterprises. For example, one member grows mushrooms, another processes wine from fruits and there are members with roadside stalls selling fruits and vegetables. One member supplies food to schools and rears chicken. Four raise rabbits on a small scale.


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Members must be active, so they visit one another’s business, inspect the account books and make comments. Although the women seem to be working individually, there is a collective component whereby they access different opportunities such as training, marketing their products and access credit facilities collectively. Source: Ugandan women enterpreurs by Wallman (2000). The following case studies can help to internalize the concept of social policy as a product and to widen the horizon of students of social policy in developing countries. Case study No.3. Ghana Village Managed Water Project Under the national policy frame-work, the Ghanaian government designed a policy of safe and clean water for all its population. The policy was designed after research revealed that water was a major problem which affected a significant number of people and created undesirable conditions. The government started a water project located in a semi-arid rural area with a cycle of annual dry and irregular wet seasons. Area residents are subsistence formers, staple and supplementary crops are grown using simple technology and relying extensively on female labor. Men are responsible for the staple crop and livestock and women for household management, water and firewood collection, food preparation, child-care, much of manual agricultural labor and increasingly, some income generation. Water is traditionally collected from often-distant river beds and ponds. The rate of infant mortality is high. Project Objectives To improve the health and productivity of area residents through provision of adequate clean

water supply, the government assisted the communities through provision of wells, loans for pumps, materials, technical assistance and training to install community-managed and financed hand-pumps.

Project components (i) Community mobilization through radio adverts and Bill boards. (ii) Community consultation: this was done by organizing workshops with a cross–section of

representation. Then participants were asked to rank questions and the water problem featured high. This was done so that the users of these social services develop a sense of belonging to the project and to know that it belongs to them not to the government, hence its sustainability.

(iii) Organization of village and district committees and training. (iv) Pump installation and pump site construction; drilling, materials distribution, loan program

training, construction and installation. (v) User education, operation and maintenance of pump site, health and sanitation.


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(vi) Key project players: Canadian NGO, government, National Water Corporation, Multi-sectional district management committees, village committees and water users. Source: Two halves make one, Gender profile analysis (1990). Case study No.4 Rural Health Project in Brazil The population of the common area in poor north east Brazil is predominantly rural, only about 2,000 out of 20,000 inhabitants live in the town itself. In the rural areas communication is very poor and there is no organized health service even for mother-childcare. Health-caused deprivation and poverty is common. It was worsened by the misuse of pesticide in agriculture. In this regard the government thought that intervention in health services was paramount. The government designed and implemented the Rural Health Project which was to run for five years after which the community was to take over and negotiate with the government for improved health services. There were two main areas of work: (i) Medical – social Research It was done with students from the local agricultural school and people from the community. This was done on the perceived needs from the community (as well as those not perceived), to shape an appropriate plan of action and provide baseline information for evaluation at the end of the project The research included discussion of health needs, contact with local organizations, seeking out traditional healers, identification of health promoters (bare–foot doctors), preparation of a demonstration garden with the media and medicinal plants and vegetables, sharing of knowledge and the introduction of some alternative technology. (ii) Popular Health Education The aim was to help community members become active participants in their own health-care rather than passive receivers in the curative process. This encouraged the sharing of the community indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants and discovering the cause and effect of illness. The emphasis was not on curative medicine but urgent needs for medicinal care were met. There was maximum use of official government resources within a program of primary health-care focused on food and nutrition, water and sanitation, control of transmitted diseases, traditional medicine and education for health. The project included some health work related to women. The extent of woman involvement was not known although it was projected to be high. The project was aimed at meeting the practical health needs of women and children.


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The proposed annual budget for the project was US dollars 16,800 which included 12,000 for three part-time workers, 1500 for transport, 1,500 for administration, 1000 for medicine and the garden and 800 from community contribution. Source: Adopted from the files of Care Canada Case study No 5 Nicaragua Bee-keeping Promotion Project Rural farm families of Nicaragua, especially producers of basic grains, experience under- employment and loss of income during the dry season. During this time, there is always little work beyond some migratory picking of cotton and coffee. The dry season, however, is the active season for bee-keeping. In the search to rectify farm low income during the lean season, the government designed a policy of increasing household income under a government policy framework. In 1979 the government established a bee promotion program, which supplied farmers with bee keeping equipments, beehives and working capital. This enabled farmers, both men and women, to increase their house-hold income and savings by undertaking a secondary economic activity. The government lobbied support from a Canadian donor agency. It was involved since 1980 with the establishment of a technical program, providing materials and equipments and strengthening marketing and production institutions. The objective of the program was to increase the income of 2,000 Nicaraguan families involved in bee-keeping by making the industry viable and productive and increasing house-hold income, which is of significant benefit to the rural families. During internal evaluation, it was concluded that bee-keeping, indeed, increased rural household incomes and that the funds were usually used for basic household provisions. In the same regard bee-keeping and sericulture projects plays a big role in combating deforestation as farmers were compelled to manage forest ecosystem as they maintained such viable projects. Case study No 6 Power project in Uganda The following is a multiple case study extracted from the Uganda policy reform. Between1988-2004 the government of Uganda under its national policy framework, put emphasis on improving infrastructure, especially roads. Between 1988-1998, 66% percent of the total network of trunk roads were repaired and were in good condition compared to 15 % in 1987-1996. Between 1989 and 2000- 65% of the total feeder roads network was restored to motorable conditions compared to less that 20% in 1987.


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In 1996, the government embarked on the rehabilitation of the Owen Falls Dam now renamed (Nalubale power station), to install capacity of 150 megawatts out of which it was producing only 60 megawatts. Since then its capacity has increased to 180 megawatts. However, total estimated peak demand is 250 megawatts and domestic power demand is estimated to be growing at rate of 2 megawatts per month. In order to provide a conducive climate for private sector participation in the power sub sector, government put in place a new power policy. Its purpose was to abolish monopoly and promote competition and efficiency. This was to arrest the problem of parastetals exploiting users of this imperative utility and to attract private capital and expertise. To implement the designed policy...a power purchase agreement between the governments of Uganda was concluded with AES Nile Powers to develop Bujagali hydro power site which was expected to generate 250 megawatts. In a comparative analysis the policy of the Ugandan government compared power out-put of other countries. Tanzania produces 600 megawatts, Congo 2,000 megawatts at Inga dam alone. South Africa produces 40,000 megawatts Kenya 800 megawatts, Britain 55,000 megawatts and Norway 28,000 megawatts. With the completion of Nalubale Power extension, Bujagali and other small station, Uganda could produce 650 megawatts. With such increase in production Uganda will be able to count itself among efficient power producers. The government is also embarking on rural electrification, which is essential for the promotion of balanced economic growth in the country and to ensure that rural areas also benefit from the modernization policy. Rural electrification is also essential for attracting small and medium scale enterprises and for effecting the agricultural modernization policy. The government also projects that the danger of desertification brought about by the cutting of trees for firewood will be arrested through this program. Given the Uganda population of about 27 million, which mostly live in rural areas, it is estimated that the average fuel consumption per family is about 7 cubic meters per annum. This means that approximately four million rural families in Uganda consume about 28 million cubic meters of wood per annum. This is the equivalent of 15 million mature trees occupying an area of 3,500 hectares per annum. To stop this deforestation, there is a need to generate adequate hydro- power per year and distribute it to rural areas. However, some writers have presented a critique of rural electrification program for being far too expensive and un-affordable, basing on the contemporary electricity tariffs, which are not even affordable in urban areas. There is a common phenomenon for the users to find ways of creating survival strategies in order to use power even at domestic level. For this reason therefore, there is need for the electricity tariffs policy to be revisited.


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