Uganda

The Icelandic International Development Agency ICEIDA initiated its cooperation with Uganda in 2000 when a General Development Cooperation Agreement between the countries was signed. Opening of an Icelandic Embassy in June 2004 further strengthened the relations between the countries.

In the first years, the cooperation focused on support to the national Functional Adult Literacy Program (FALP) in fishing communities on Lake Victoria, quality assurance in fisheries and prefeasibility studies of geothermal prospects. Recently, two new project were launched namely; support to the Kalangala District Development Program, and support to Entrepreneurship Training Programs. Furthermore, ICEIDA has provided direct support to MGLSD and various local NGO´s. A brief description of the current ICEIDA cooperation projects can be seen below.

In December 2006 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland decided to provide a generous contribution to the World Food Program (WFP) targeting school children in Malawi and Uganda under WFP’s school feeding activities in these countries. The concept behind this contribution was for each school age child in Iceland to contribute to the education of one child in Africa through WFP’s school feeding, for a period of 2 years.

In 2008, there were 20 ICEIDA´s employees based in Uganda, thereof five from Iceland and one intern.

From Iceida´s Annual Report 2008:

Introduction

In February 2008, an agreement was reached on how to end the confrontations between the Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which had been ongoing since 1987. Peace talks were finally held in 2006, after a nearly 20 years’ period of conflict, which had caused much suffering to the inhabitants in the north of Uganda. Around 1.7 million people had been displaced as a direct result of the conflict and living in refugee camps for years on end. A truce was finally achieved in 2006, bringing with it, for the people in the disputed areas, the hope of peace. They began to return to their homelands and by September 2008 some 60% had returned. However, the LRA leader, Joseph Kony, did not attend either of the two signing ceremonies, which had been organised, and, therefore, no peace agreement has been signed to this date. Conflict broke out again in December 2008 when the combined armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Uganda attacked the LRA headquarters in the eastern part of Congo to defeat the LRA. Alongside the peace talks, a wide-ranging development and reconstruction plan for the northern part of Uganda was made with the participation of the country’s main donors, and the aim was to implement this plan immediately in 2008. As it turned out, the decision was taken by the government to postpone implementation of this plan for one year. Therefore, there is some uncertainty concerning the future of the reconstruction in north Uganda.

Uganda’s Poverty Eradication Plan has been in operation since 1997, but was reviewed in 2007. Early in 2008, a draft was completed for a new National Development Plan and was widely approved of by both locals and Uganda’s main donors. Under this new plan, Uganda’s ownership is better ensured and it is expected that the country’s share will increase further through direct contributions to the national budget, whereas project support, which characterised the former plan, will be reduced. Implementation of the new plan was to commence in the middle of 2008, but the authorities decided to postpone it to the next financial year.

Uganda’s economic growth was 6.9% in 2008. Agriculture, including fisheries, continued to be the largest sector, although services continue to grow. The international financial crisis at the end of 2008 had little direct effect on Uganda, leaving the banks, for example, unaffected. However, the crisis may still affect Uganda’s economy and it is expected to cause a recession and a decrease in both exports and economic growth over the coming years. Similarly, it may also be expected that contributions from donor countries, intended for development and reconstruction in the country, will be reduced.

Corruption has been a serious problem in Uganda and has become even more prevalent than before. In 2007, the country ranked at a position 126 among 180 countries on the Transparency International list and the World Bank estimates that over US$ 300 million are lost annually due to corruption. Debate on corruption was prominent in 2008, primarily due to the extensive coverage given to three large corruption cases concerning the finances of the 2007 Commonwealth Meeting, purchase of land by the Ugandan National Social Security Fund (NSSF), and support by the Global Fund to the HIV/AIDS struggle in Uganda. In his keynote speech introducing the 2008/9 budget, Uganda’s President, Museveni, declared the fight against corruption, along with the development of the country’s road network, as top priority as these were prerequisites for development in Uganda.

 

ICEIDA’s Development Cooperation

Development cooperation between Iceland and Uganda was in 2008, as before, concerned with the implementation of projects in the fields of adult literacy, rural development, entrepreneurship training programmesand fisheries. The aim had been to increase aid at the beginning of the year, such as in the field of fish quality control, but due to the state of international financial affairs, coupled with the recession in Iceland, there was some decrease at the end of the year and the implementation of new projects was, for example, postponed.

In April 2008, a new Country Director, Árni Helgason, former Country Director in Sri Lanka, took over from Ágústa Gísladóttir who was leaving after a period of four years in Uganda. Similarly, a new project manager of fisheries, Gunnar Þórðarson, came to work. The local project officer of adult literacy, Edward Kabangoya, retired in September after five years with ICEIDA and was replaced by Maria Goreng Ssenyomo.

Support to the Social Sector

Support to the Implementation of Uganda Functional Adult Literacy Programme (Non-formal education)

Support towards adult literacy and basic education consists of direct contributions towards the UN Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. The direct effects of support towards these two fields are: poverty eradication; educated and healthy society; gender equality and community empowerment; environmental sustainability; peace and security at individual, local and national levels. The Functional Adult Literacy Programme, FALP, is an intervention by the Ugandan government designed to reduce poverty through increasing literacy rates. The programme enables non-literate people to acquire literacy skills that will enable them to interpret written messages, reply to messages, work with figures, and participate in household and national development programmes. The programme enables the adult learners to continue their search for knowledge and skills that will help them improve the activities they are engaged in for the betterment of their lives and communities. The programme was designed for those who either completely missed out on the formal education system or those who dropped out in the early stages, with special emphasis on women. FALP operates in a decentralised manner in all the districts at each sub-county throughout the country.

Support at Local level

ICEIDA in Uganda began supporting the implementation of FALP in the hard-to-reach island communities on Lake Victoria in 2002. The support was initiated at the Ssese Islands in the Kalangala District and in 2005 the support was extended to the Buvuma and Koome islands of the Mukono District. During 2008, ICEIDA’s main contributions to the implementation of FALP on the islands were as follows: capacity building of those implementing the programme, namely the district staff and FALP instructors at village level; conducting learners’ proficiency tests, and operation of the 97 groups with 1,848 participants in Kalangala and 238 groups with 4,141 participants in the Buvuma and Koome islands in Mukono, a total of 335 groups with 5,989 adults taking part. Approximately 56% of the learners are women. The projects have increased the number of participants in the Small Business Course and Functional English for Adults along with the foundation of FAL in local languages. The weekly FALP pro-active radio programme broadcast in Luganda, one of Uganda’s many local languages, and the advocacy of the instructors’ associations in the two areas has played a significant part in encouraging participation in the programme.  A total of 2,393 adults passed the annual national FALP proficiency test and were awarded certificates at the sub-county celebrations of the International Literacy Day in September 2008. Furthermore, the FALP project in the Kalangala District received additional funding from ICEIDA in 2008 to start the implementation of a sector-specific literacy programme in the fisheries sector, under the name “FAL in BMUs”, aimed at training the members of all the 63 Beach Management Units in Kalangala. From October to December, training of 203 instructors and the district supervisors´ team comprised of fisheries and community development officers took place.

Support at National level

Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) received support, in the form of scholarships, technical assistance, research and material development and printing, for capacity building at the central level in regard to development of the FAL programme. In June 2008, the MGLSD went through a restructuring process with the result that a new department entitled Department of Community Development and Literacy was established, where the national Functional Adult Literacy Programme is now placed, therefore giving more attention to non-formal education and the literacy programme. In 2008, two needs assessments and baseline surveys were carried out in the fishing communities of Bugiri and Busia Districts in Eastern Uganda. The main findings showed that currently the majority of livelihoods in fishing communities are directly or indirectly linked to fishery activities. However, due to declining catches, the communities themselves are searching for ways to diversify their livelihood opportunities. The studies propose an approach for strengthening the fishing communities’ chosen livelihoods with various forms of literacy, numeracy and other relevant adult education. Furthermore, support was given for the printing of FAL material in English, which had been developed in 2007, and for the development and printing of a trainers’ manual, as well as for the training of a national team of trainers. In May, support was given for the review of the National Adult Literacy Management Information System (NALMIS), data collection tools and database software.

ICEIDA received a request from the Department of Fisheries Resources (DFR) for support in regard to the simplification and translation of the Department’s training curriculum for the beach management units. A partnership between MGLSD, DFR and ICEIDA was formed for the development of the training material and printing in three local languages (Luganda, Luo and Swahili). This partnership is a very positive step for adult literacy in Uganda as this is a good example of a sector-specific literacy programme.

In June, a stakeholder workshop and technical planning meetings were supported for the purpose of developing the second National Adult Literacy Strategic Investment Plan (NALSIP II). The five year plan will be incorporated into the Government of Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP) under the Gender and Social Development Working Paper and the development priority of Community Mobilisation and Empowerment.

In September, support was given towards the national celebrations of the International Literacy Day (ILD), held in Nakaseke District, which comprised 500 t-shirts, airing of a film on FALP by two TV stations and newspaper supplements. The purpose of supporting the ILD celebrations is for advocacy of the Functional Adult Literacy Programme.

Multisectoral support

Support to the Kalangala District Development Programme (Rural Development)

The Kalangala District Development Programme (KDDP) is being implemented in the island district of Kalangala. The district has 84 scattered islands of which 64 are populated. The principal objective of this rural development project is to support the implementation of the Kalangala District Development Plan and by doing so enhance the ability of the district to deliver the decentralized services within its mandate. The project will last for ten years and supports four sectors: administration, fisheries, education and health. The support is for training, infrastructure development and service delivery.

The first phase of the project, the initial phase, was completed in 2008. This phase is designed to put in place all the underpinnings of project implementation. During 2008, the focus has been placed on carrying out the relevant studies necessary for the implementation of the project. A capacity building needs assessment was carried out for the Department of Human Resources to identify the training needs of district staff and plan accordingly. A local revenue enhancement study was carried out to identify new or underdeveloped areas of revenue collection in the district. A baseline survey for the infrastructure development in five fishing villages was also carried out. These fishing villages will receive piped water supply and facilities to enhance quality in upstream fish handling. Infrastructure development is a fairly large component of the KDDP support. The plan is to build district and sub-county administrative blocks, school kitchens, dormitories and transient hostels. This year a consultancy firm was contracted to design, plan and cost the buildings. The consultants handed in their inception report by the end of the year. It is envisaged that construction phase will commence by mid-year 2009.

Other major activities that took place in 2008 are the ongoing sensitization programmes in all primary schools and the training of teachers in multigrade teaching. Due to low enrolment of students and the lack of trained teachers, children from differing grades are taught together. This poses a challenge to teachers to deliver the curriculum.

The identification and training of village health teams (VHT) also started this year. This is the latest addition to the National Health Service, where volunteers are trained at village level to work with trained health personnel in order to deliver basic healthcare at village level. This year, 46 VHTs were trained and equipped with basic healthcare kits and are now operating. The second batch of 46 teams will be trained in 2009, after which all villages in Kalangala will be covered.

At this point, at the end of the inception phase, a process review is underway to assess the efficiency and the effectiveness of project implementation. This will guide project implementation for the coming three-year period.

Support to the Fisheries Sector

Support for quality assurance of fisheries products in Uganda

Fish production is important to Uganda’s economy, accounting for approximately 6% of the GDP. Statistics show, however, that fisheries amount, in fact, to only 3% of the GDP, and that the difference lies in primitive processing methods and unregistered sales. Around 300,000 people work directly in fishing and processing, whereas a total of 1.2 million are dependent on the industry for their livelihoods. The most important export markets are in Europe, which make requirements on the industry that must be fulfilled if Uganda intends to continue to supply these markets. A Competent Authority (CA) is responsible for establishing the quality standards for fish exports needed to meet the EU criteria. The Ugandan authorities sought assistance from ICEIDA in regard to the Quality Assurance for Fish Marketing Project (QAFMP) and the first draft of a Project Document was ready in September 2007, with the project expected to start in 2008. Preparations continued in 2008 and following its adoption in May, the Project Document was sent to the Ugandan authorities for signing. Due to uncertainty following the collapse of the Icelandic banking system, ICEIDA was delayed in signing the document; however, the Icelandic and Ugandan governments later signed it on 13 March. By then, the project had been reviewed with the aim of reducing costs, while still achieving its main targets.

Support to Laboratories (UFL)

ICEIDA has, since 2002, supported the development of a laboratory for the Ugandan Department of Fisheries Resources (DFR), and the laboratory received partial official accreditation in 2007. In August, it was decided that ICEIDA would continue its support of the laboratory’s accreditation process until it was completed and the office had received accreditation in all the areas necessary. Preparation for sample collection in regard to accreditation commenced in the autumn and it is expected that this process will be completed by 2009-2010.

Support for the LVFO Conference in Kampala 26-29 October 2008

ICEIDA supported a Conference held by the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO) in Kampala from 26-29 October. The support involved providing a speaker for the Conference and Ragnar Árnason, professor of fisheries economics at the University of Iceland, gave a lecture on the effect over fishing on Lake Victoria has on fisheries yield, “Rent drain”. What instigated the Conference was mainly the staggering reduction in catches and, as far as can be seen, the size of the Nile perch stock in the lake. Catches over the past three years have fallen from well over 300,000 tonnes to about 250,000 tonnes last year despite increased fishing, and they still seem to be declining. It is safe to say that Ragnar’s speech aroused much interest amongst the attendees and there were extensive discussions on his theories and results. During his stay in Kampala, Ragnar visited, amongst others, a landing site and a fish processing site.

 

Support to Private Sector Development

Support to the Entrepreneurship Training Programmes(ETP) in Uganda

The main purpose of the project, which has been running since 2007, is to improve the access of Ugandan entrepreneurs to training and instruction in order to increase their ability to participate in the economy and business, including the handling of finances, accountancy and the use of information technology. Emphasis has been placed on reaching those who are already involved in small and medium-size companies, with particular emphasis on women in such businesses. The project is run by the Uganda Invest Authority, with both financial and guiding support from ICEIDA. In 2008, just under 2000 entrepreneurs completed the training, which is a considerably higher number than had been expected. In fact, a larger portion of the financial support went into the training itself and less to other components. The project is estimated to end in 2009. In the middle of 2008, the Belgian Embassy in Kampala approached the ICEIDA country office, requesting to participate in the project, providing a support of 500,000 euros. The Belgians would remain silent partners, that is to say would entrust ICEIDA with the supervision of the project and responsibility for its implementation, while only requiring a report on the progress. An agreement to this effect was signed between ICEIDA and the Belgian Embassy on 5 October and, thereby, the project has adequate funds to run until 2011.

Support to NGOs

The foundation for supporting NGOs and grassroots projects is to promote civil society and democratic development in Uganda. ICEIDA supported a number of local NGOs involved in social and educational projects in 2008. The following list shows the support given:

Adult Literacy and Basic Education

• Kalangala FALP Instructors Association (KAFIA): for the running of its office and the training of its members in operating a saving and credit scheme.
• Buvuma and Koome FALP Instructors Association (BuKoFIA), Mukono District: to write a constitution, legalise and launch the association.
• Uganda Literacy and Adult Learners´ Association: to take part in a regional workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya, for the preparations for CONFITEIA VI - UNESCO Conference to be held in May 2009.
• Uganda Adult Education Network: for two of its members to take part in a seminar intended to explore ways of promoting the LETTER approach, under the theme Ethnography and Literacy/Numeracy in Developing Societies, held at the Uppingham Seminars in Development Discourse and Diversity, UK.
• Always Be Tolerant Organisation (ABETO): for the printing of its textbooks and pamphlets. The books are used in adult literacy and education programmes in Uganda to enrich functional knowledge about peace, tolerance and human rights.
• A grant was given to a female Luganda writer Mrs. Angella Namagga Nkalubo to publish her novel in Luganda, one of Uganda’s many local languages. The book has been distributed to all the FAL groups in the Kalangala and Mukono Districts and is sold in local bookshops.

Vunerable Social Groups

• Candle Light Foundation (CLF) – a rehabilitation centre for vulnerable girls in Kampala received support for its vocational training programme (tailoring, hairdressing, candle and soap-making).
• Uganda Australian Foundation (UAF) received support from ICEIDA through ABC Children’s Aid in Iceland. The support was towards a Community Radio Station in Pader District in Northern Uganda.

Scholarships

Two scholarships towards tuition fees were given to individuals:

• A Diploma Course on a distant-learning basis in Enterprise Development through Value Chains and Business Service Markets: A Market Development Approach to Pro-poor Growth, a course organized and conducted by the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization.
• One for a Masters programme in Development Economics at the School of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia, UK.

 

Gender Mainstreaming

The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda guarantees equality between women and men before and under the law in the spheres of political, social and cultural life. Thus, all ICEIDA´s projects and activities in Uganda take gender mainstreaming into consideration. Despite the significant progress in mainstreaming gender and rights, challenges to attain gender equality and social equity still persist. Historical factors have hindered a significant number of women from accessing basic education. There are gender disparities in literacy levels with 24% of the males being illiterate compared to 39% of females. 

The Fishing Communities

Women in fishing communities play important roles in fish processing and marketing activities. They also undertake many of the non-fishing related income-generating activities that compensate for the seasonality and day-to-day variability of fishing. As well as undertaking for the most part the responsibilities for childcare and household tasks, they also often assume responsibility for family food security, health, social and education expenses. Furthermore, women’s income from fish processing and other post-harvest work leads to their active involvement in financing fishing operations. This suggests that, with improved support and training, there is strong potential for further business growth and entrepreneurship for women.

Women’s participation in resource management, as well as in professional associations or community bodies related to the fisheries sector, is usually limited. There are several inequities that contribute most to the marginalization of women: legislation related to women’s rights is poorly enforced; men control decision-making, both on access to capital assets, such as natural resources, savings and credit, education, social and political networks, and within the family, economy and traditional gender roles, and furthermore, low levels of education constrain women’s participation in community-level management structures and processes.

The FAL programme in the Mukono and Kalangala Districts has, over the years, aimed at promoting gender equality among the fishing communities by introducing FAL training in the form of a small business course and English tuition, giving both women and men skills and opportunities to enhance their livelihoods and rights. Literacy plays a significant role in the lives of both the literate and non-literate fisherfolk; this was revealed in the training programme of instructors for the FAL for BMUs (fisheries sector-specific literacy programme for Beach Management Units ― fisheries co-management at local level). More than reading and writing per se, participants emphasised that numeracy was central to their operations, both as BMU members and also more specifically to their operations as fisherfolk. The content of the training is as follows: Business Skills for Fisheries; Need for Fisheries Management; BMU and Introduction to Fish Handling and Personal Hygiene Practices. The BMU structure supports and implements government policy on gender balance and where a BMU is not immediately able to attain 30% representation by women, the programme will actively aim towards achieving this in future years.