Fowodenewsletter 2013

FOWODE E-NEWS, P.O. BOX 7176, Kampala Uganda | Plot 15 Vubya Close, Ntinda Nakawa Rd. Email: [email protected] www.fowode.org. Facebook: http://facebook.com/FowodeUganda 1

FOWODENEWSLETTER JANUARY - MARCH

2013, ISSUE 6

Inside this Issue1. FOWODE gets a new Board of Directors2. Affirmative Action In Uganda3. Celebrating International Women’s Day 4. Performance of Agriculture Sector in Uganda

Fowodenewsletter.indd 1 4/19/13 1:03 PM

FOWODE E-NEWS, P.O. BOX 7176, Kampala Uganda | Plot 15 Vubya Close, Ntinda Nakawa Rd. Email: [email protected] www.fowode.org. Facebook: http://facebook.com/FowodeUganda2

Each year, International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 around the world. Countries use this day to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. The theme this year was, “The Gender Agenda Gaining Momentum”.

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, Forum for Women in Democracy as a leading organisation advocating for increased numbers and effectiveness of women in politics began conversations on the relevance of affirmative action in the political sphere today.

Key questions were asked on whether Affirmative Action has helped or hurt the cause of Ugandan women’s political representation? Should Affirmative Action be revised to address its shortcomings and encourage women to compete ably with their male colleagues? Given the gender injustices that continue to characterise Ugandan life, should affirmative action be expanded from its current spheres of politics and education in order to include issues of access and representation in healthcare, agriculture and other areas which have a big impact on women’s lives? A position paper was developed on the effects of Affirmative Action for political representation of Ugandan women. This formed the basis for advocacy and also informed our discussions in the communities and via media. Additionally, FOWODE organised community Dialogues in Luwero, Kabale, Kibaale, Masindi, Mityana, Gulu, Napak, Amuru, Amuria, Rukungiri, Lyantonde, Kibuku, Busia and Wakiso and a Debate on Radio and a National Television was held to examine the relevance of affirmative action in Uganda. In this edition, FOWODE presents the position paper on Affirmative Action and an Interview with FOWODE’s Executive Director Patricia Munabi Babiiha.

With Affirmative action, some people think women are asking for too much. As women, there is already a large percent in political leadership seats, top government positions and top management levels in the different institutions; shouldn’t women refocus what they want?

This sentiment is based on a misconception. In no area of Ugandan political life do women hold the larger percentage of representation. Women occupy 35 percent of the seats in parliament, 2 out of the 6 Supreme Court and High Court judges are women, and only in the lower levels of public service, which does not benefit from affirmative action, do women make up the 35% of positions constitutionally mandated. Considering that women make 51% of the population, I would not say that this is “asking for too much”

This question also speaks to the widely-held sentiment, that Ugandan women are given space at decision making tables as a favour. Ugandan women as much as men have the right to participate in the processes that govern their lives. Affirmative action quotas are not a favour but a temporary measure intended to address the structural barriers, like culture, lack of education, and others, that prevent women from being elected to power at the same rates as men.

What has the rural woman benefited from the 33% women representation?

Rural women have gained representation from local councils to parliament as a result of the provisions in the Constitution and the

local Government Act. It has enabled them to voice issues of concern to them and their communities. As their awareness and skills and knowledge are being built they have contributed to the visilblity of critical women’s issues and demanded for accountability. A lot more can be done but the women have begun to make inroads, we are not where we were 20 years ago. The presence of women has helped to deepen discussions around poverty and the meaning of development. As more women like former Vice President Specioza Wandera Kazibwe and the Rt Hon. Speaker Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga gain visibility and success in the public spheres, so is the increase in the number of young women getting inspired to join leadership, and opportunities for more women to be elected and better represent their constituency, women.

Should a woman MP stay in a seat for more than three terms, where is the evidence that they have transformed their female voters, if none of them takes up the same seat? Doesn’t it look like one-woman emancipation and not all?

There is a benefit to women staying in a seat for at least two terms as usually the first term is for navigation of the space and understanding the workings of the legislature. We believe that each woman MP should groom other women so that when the time comes to give up her seat, there is a wealth of empowered, pro-poor, gender-sensitive and transformative women candidates with the potential to replace her. However the emancipation of poor Ugandans is not the responsibility of only women MPs, it is the responsibility of all policy makers who have been elected to that

We believe that each woman MP should groom other women so that when the time comes to give up her seat, there is a wealth of empowered, pro-poor, gender-sensitive and trans-formative women candi-dates with the potential to replace her

”Patricia Munabi Babiiha

The Gender Agenda Gaining Momentum



position on the mandate of improving the lives of ordinary Ugandans.

When will women activists focus their energies on maternal and infant mortality?

There are a number of activist organisations and individuals who deal directly with the issues of maternal and infant mortality. TERREWODE (The Association for the Reorientation and Rehabilitation for Women in Development) sensitises women about the dangers of obstetric fistula. The White Ribbon campaign is an alliance of actors including civil society, government partners and the private sector for safe motherhood. FOWODE itself has published research on financing for family planning and maternal health. The statistic that 16 women die daily from preventable pregnancy-related complications has been a rallying cry for demands from citizenry and civil society, that government does more for the health of Ugandan women and children. Advocacy by FOWODE and other civil society actors led to an increase in allocation to the health budget in the last financial year. So it is not a question of when women activists will focus their energies on maternal and infant mortality, but when will we see significant results in response to our advocacy.

What recommendations would you make, to see affirmative action be a more effective mechanism for the empowerment of Ugandan women?

Affirmative action needs to be maintained and strengthened. This includes a critical review on how to translate physical presence of women into strategic engagement. Women politicians need capacity building so that when they are elected, they are able to participate effectively and represent the concerns of their constituents. As it is many of the sub-county and district women councillors have such low levels of education that they are not engaging on equal footing with their male counterparts in council.

Districts are often made up of two or three counties and so while both Women MPs and Constituency MPs share equal votes in parliament, Women MPs represent a much larger area. Women MPs receive similar allowances for travel to their constituencies, and similar amounts for their Constituency

Development Fund for a much larger constituency than their male counterparts. Many Ugandans do not know that a Woman MP represents a whole district, leading to misconceptions about the effectiveness of Woman MPs. This is an issue that must be addressed.Affirmative action for women within political parties needs to be enforced. Major parties e.g. NRM and FDC have provisions for 40% women in leadership positions which have remained on paper. Women achieving equal status in the political spheres means more than always deputising them. As we go about reforming our electoral system, we need to consider the system of Proportional Representation, which guarantees representation for minorities, even without affirmative action.

There should be a deliberate effort to support women to contest mainstream seats, not only to expand the opportunities for women generally, but also to get the voting population to engage with their own prejudices particularly the preference of male candidates. Even when women do not win in great numbers, the very point of competing on the mainstream seats gets society to engage, thereby pushing the boundaries for women’s political participation. Research especially by the School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University indicates that prejudices against women are slowly being dented. In 2006 the Monitor newspaper of March 8, reported a 62% success rate for women who contested mainstream seats. This particular election indicated that there was more willingness to vote women candidates especially on the basis that they held a promise for more pro-poor development.

The quest for gender diversity on mainstream seats should not be confused with the idea of competing with men or being ‘as good as men’. Men cannot be the yardstick of something they have dominated simply on the basis of male privilege. The quest should rather be about the right for women to occupy that space that men have monopolized for a long time.

The Gender Agenda Gaining Momentum cont’d

Commemorating the International Women’s Day in Nakasongola

A VBC member explaining the VBC model to one of the Women Leaders from Butaleja District who visited the FOWODE Stall

A VBC member explaining the VBC model to one of the Women Leaders from Butaleja District who visited the FOWODE Stall

To commemorate the International Women’s Day 2013, FOWODE participated in the national level celebrations that were held in Nakasongola District. FOWODE mobilized the village budget club members of Luwero district who held an exhibition and shared information on our work in Luweero District.

It was an enlightening moment for many of the women that FOWODE supported to attend the celebrations as often times, majority stay home and as Justine explains, for many it was the first time to participate in marking the women’s day “I feel, as a farmer, FOWODE has exposed me to participate in national activities that I had not participated in before.

This participation has empowered me to get confidence in articulating women’s concerns and our work in monitoring service delivery to visitors at the FOWODE stall” said Justine Kivumbi a VBC member from Kasaala Village-Kasaala Parish-in Luweero Sub County. FOWODE also facilitated other grassroots women in all 17 districts where we operate to participate in district level celebrations.

Affirmative action for women within political parties needs to be enforced. Major parties e.g. NRM and FDC have provisions for 40% women in leadership positions which have remained on paper.



FOWODE gets a new Board of DirectorsForum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) in January this year elected a new Board of Directors. The new board will serve for 3 years and their term expires in 2015. The new Board members bring diverse, inspiring perspectives and wide-ranging experiences, as well as significant

achievements in their fields of expertise. We believe each of these highly qualified gallant women will uniquely contribute to strengthening FOWODE’s ability to achieve it mission and goals as their commitment to the cause of women’s’ empowerment remains unquestionable.

Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe the Board Chairperson is a Feminist Activist, She was elected back into this position having been elected chair in 2009. Solome who holds a Masters degree in Development Studies and a Bachelors degree in Social Sciences, previously worked as the Executive Director for Akina Mama Wa Africa (AMWA) and Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) among others. She served on different boards including that of the Uganda National APRM Governance Council, District Service Commissions of Mityana and Mubende Districts; Transparency International and the Independent Media Council. Solome also carries with her experience working with Lower Local governments

Lina Zedriga Waru the Vice Chairperson possesses knowledge of the global and national women’s movement and has a track record of working on women’s issues. A lawyer by profession, Lina holds 2 Masters Degrees of Arts in Peace and Conflict studies and Human Rights, and a Bachelors Degree in Laws. She is the Director for Women Peace and Security, Regional Associates for Community Initiatives; the Secretary Board of Trustees for Trust for Africa’s Orphans Uganda and has previously served as a Vice Chair of Center for Domestic Violence (CEDOVIP).Lina is also a peace and security advocate and a trainer for Gender equity and diversity

Sylvia Namabidde Ssinabulya the Finance Secretary was elected back into this position having been elected in the same position in 2009. Sylvia who holds a Masters Degree in Public Health Leadership and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management is the Woman Member of Parliament for Mityana district. Sylvia has served as Chairperson of the Network of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians Uganda Chapter. She is the current chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Sports and an active Member of the social services and government assurance committees in Parliament.

Beth Mwebaze Juna a Board member is one of the longest serving members of FOWODE. She holds a diploma in Social Work and a Certificate in Public Administration. Beth is the current LC IV Woman Councilor, Ruharo ward in Mbarara. She is also the Director for Ruharo Infant School while at the same time serving as, Vice Chair for Mbarara Women’s Development Association; Board Member Mbarara High school and Secretary for Finance in Mbarara Municipality. She is also a trainer on gender and women’s empowerment.

Tezira Jamwa a Board member is one of the founder members of FOWODE. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the Gender working group of the CA. Tezira has a Masters in Public service, an Undergraduate Degree in Social Work & Social Administration and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management. She bounced back on the FOWODE board having briefly served as Chairperson of FOWODE in 2002. Tezira is a former Resident District Commissioner and a Member of Parliament. She is also an experienced trainer on gender and women’s empowerment.



Affirmative Action for Women in Uganda: Navigating through Muddy Waters and Pushing on!

Interesting patterns on the world scale are that Rwanda (56.3%) ranks number one, Sweden (42.7%) comes fourth together with Senegal, and Tanzania comes 20th just above Uganda. UK (22%) and USA (16.85) come 54 and 78th respectively. No doubt, these numbers in politics and other areas such as higher education in Uganda today, are a cause for celebration. However, from these figures, it is very clear that we may not easily make clear connections between the level of regime democratization in a specific country and women’s presence in the legislature. Neither can we easily discern the impact of the women’s presence in the decision making structures. So then what should we think and say about affirmative action for women as we stand today?

In Uganda, anxieties about women’s physical presence in political decision making structures abound. On the part of the women’s movement there is anxiety about the pace of change. Accordingly Uganda has achieved the critical mass widely regarded as sufficient for women to have direct impact, for example, towards gender sensitive legislation and policies that positively impact on women’s lives, in all their diversity. Within the wider society there is a more reactionary anxiety which classifies those women who come to decision making spaces via affirmative action as less deserving, as well as concerns on whether it benefits the elite women to the disadvantage of the grassroots woman.

There is a whole discussion of the need for term limits such that affirmative action seats are structured as training grounds so that senior women politicians are able to move into mainstream seats to create space for their juniors to compete on affirmative seats. The bottom line that should guide all dialogues, including anxieties and misgivings is to say that affirmative action should not be seen as a favour but rather a compensation for structural barriers that women meet in the electoral process. The direct as well as hidden societal barriers that prevent women from being selected as candidates and getting their fair share of political influence are well known.

In other words, through quotas, society is only correcting what was wrong from the very beginning. Through quotas society is trying to clean up its own mess, and allows that women should not have to bear the burden of tearing down structural barriers on their own. Indeed the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda is clear. The National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution stipulates that the state shall ensure gender balance and fair representation of marginalized groups on all constitutional and

other bodies. Specifically, Article 32 provides for affirmative action. It states that, the state shall take affirmative action in favour of groups marginalised on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reason created by history, tradition or custom, for the purpose of redressing imbalances that exist against them. Article 33 (5) of the same Constitution provides that “Without prejudice to Article 32. Women shall have the right to affirmative action for the purpose of redressing the imbalances created by history, tradition or custom.” Hence the Constitution puts the burden on the state to correct historical imbalances as opposed to “helping’” women. That said, however, there is a tacit social contract between the women’s representatives and the broader womenfolk, a sense in which the women in political leadership should be accountable to women in general. The relevance of this social contract becomes even more relevant in the specific case of Uganda, where affirmative action was a result of mobilisation politics and some level of women’s activism, particularly, in the 1980s and 1990s to demand space at the decision making table.

To this extent then, women in Uganda are faced with the question of beyond numbers and how to achieve the desired quality of result and impact. At the general level, we need to acknowledge that presence and action of women has expanded and relatively deepened public concerns. Both at the national and local levels, the relative presence of women has brought new questions on the political agenda. Without doubt the robust debates around equal access to health, education and water, gender based violence can be partly attributed to women’s presence in the legislature and other key spaces. Accordingly presence of women has helped to deepen discussions around poverty and the meaning of development. The experience of the constitution making process in 1994 and the resultant 1995 constitution indicate that the numerical presence of women in the Constituent Assembly had a lot to contribute to the gendered contestations and outcomes. The outlook of decision making bodies has changed ideologically to relatively accommodate the construction of a leader as male and female.

Furthermore the increased presence as engineered by affirmative action has given space for the women to demonstrate their ability to govern. The former Vice President Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe once said in an interview that, “if there was no affirmative action, nobody would have seen that she had the potential to be a leader”. We can argue without doubt that Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga the current speaker of Parliament demonstrates a direct link where measures to bring women into decision making spaces

With 35% of women in parliament, Uganda ranked above the regional average of 17% in the 1990s. Today Uganda is 21st in the world rankings, with 35%. With the minimum 30% at local government level, Uganda beats the world average of 19%.

Affirmative action should not be seen as a favour but rather a compensation for structural barriers that women meet in the electoral process.

continued to page 8...



PICTORIAL

Patricia Munabi, FOWODE ED distributing Black Monday Flyers, January 2013

Women activists during a courtesy visit to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, January 2013

FOWODE members casting their votes for the new board

Bishop Zac Niringiye addressing FOWODE Members on the gender dimensions in corruption, January 2013.

FOWODE Village Budget Clubs during a meeting at study tour in one of the areas of operation for Uganda Debt Network’s, March 2013

Hon. Sylivia Ssinabulya honouring Hon. Benigna Mukiibi as ab outgoing FOWODE member.



Kibuku VBC presenting a song during the district Women’s day Celebration, at Tirinyi primary school grounds 22nd March 2013

Women Councilors in Wakiso during an Effective Legislative Engagement Training

Lomuno VBC members during field visit

Wakiso VBC with other partners cleaning Kira town council in preparation of the women’s day 8th march 2013.

FOWODE staff wearing black as a sign of solidarity for the Black Monday movement



may, in practical and ideological terms demonstrate their ability to govern. A number of women have also performed exceptionally well in various capacities, in parliament and political party structures within the ruling party as well as in the opposition parties

Yet, there is a tendency to individualise women’s strengths and collectivise their failures. For example, women MPs are more liable to being looked at as a collective, where the failings of some of the women are easily attributable to the entire collective, yet the strength of a number of women does not work to create a positive collective identity for them as a group. Men on the other hand tend to be viewed more as individuals than as a collective. Failings of individual men are less likely to be attributed to the entire group. This is also partly the reason why there tends to be anxiety around the performance of women politicians.

The other level of anxiety stems from the reality. This is the reality of stagnation and backlash. There seems to be a wave that threatens to roll back the gains that Ugandan women have made over the years. The wave threatens to turn women once again into subjects to only support that which, the powers that are comfortable with. Again the women in the spotlight are those occupying spaces of decision making, which inadvertently brings the question of affirmative action into play.

How do we push on through these muddy waters? And how do we address the daunting question of quality of result? The demand for greater women’s representation in its broadest formulation should not attempt to predetermine the ways in which women politicians should represent their constituency. The issue is rather one of access to arenas of public decision making so that various interests of women can be debated and acted upon. Framed this way, the question then alerts us to the fact that it takes more than women politicians for the complexities of gender inequalities to be fully addressed in policy terms. Presence is the basic starting point. The leap from this very basic starting point should involve broader social mobilisation and transformation.

In this way the quality of women’s participation becomes a function of several factors, without question starting with the numbers and the social base of the women politicians but much more importantly including the level of activism of women and their organisations to demand accountability and push for a democratic culture. To borrow from the Ann Marie Goetz, a renowned feminist political scientist, we ought to look at the extent to which women’s access to parliament is translatable results in a shift in systems

that enables previously excluded groups to influence decision making in a tangible way. On with Affirmative Action, should the policy be reviewed in view of the new realities?

Whatever the answer to this question is, women should prepare to control the terms of the discourse of this review rather than leave it to be driven by the conservative and reactionary imperatives. The terms should be as follows:

• The Women’s movement should occupy the driver’s seat in channelling the different anxieties around affirmative action for women. Affirmative action needs to be strengthened but on the terms firmly defined and streamlined by the women’s movement. This includes a critical review on how to translate physical presence of women into strategic engagement. This cannot be left to the women standing on affirmative action seats to figure out as individuals.

• Affirmative action should be maintained and strengthened. The picture worldwide is that without quotas in the several countries, women’s representation would still be meagre.

• Term limits for women on affirmative action should not be entertained as a point of debate as long as all other seats are not subjected to this limit. Indeed why should women be subjected to different standards from men? Limiting terms of women legislators will only work to accentuate their secondary citizenship status as that group which needs to be constantly corrected and tamed. This debate should also be preceded by a critical study of the attrition rate which in any case limits the accumulation of a critical mass of seasoned female legislators and councillors.

• Affirmative action for women within political parties needs to be enforced. Major parties e.g. NRM and FDC have provisions for 40% women in leadership positions which have remained on paper. The deputising syndrome seems to be taking root as the norm. Enforcement of affirmative action for women within party structures will create more opportunities for their greater political influence.

• Affirmative action should be expanded to other critical areas such as public service employment and corporate governance. In very specific ways affirmative action is required in areas where policies are implemented and monitored. Once women’s strategic presence in such areas is enhanced, the totality of the

women’s efforts to change systems will be felt and positive impact realised. On corporate governance, lessons can be drawn from the Scandinavian countries like Norway where companies are required by law to ensure that no sex occupies more than 60%, a policy originally focused at a minimum of 40% women.

• There should be a deliberate effort to support women to contest mainstream seats, not only to expand the opportunities for women generally, but also to get the voting population to engage with their own prejudices particularly the preference male candidates. Even when women do not win in great numbers, the very point of competing on the mainstream seats gets society to engage, thereby pushing the boundaries for women’s political participation. Research especially by the School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University indicate that prejudices against women are slowly being dented. In 2006 the Monitor newspaper of March 8, reported a 62% success rate for women who contested mainstream seats. This particular election indicated that there was more willingness to vote women candidates especially on the basis that they held a promise for more pro-poor development. This optimism needs to be further nurtured rather than taken for granted. The quest for diversifying mainstream seats should not be allowed to be confused with the idea of competing with men or being ‘as good as men’. Men cannot be the yardstick of something they have monopolised simply on the basis of male privilege. The quest should rather be about the right for women to occupy that space that men have tended to monopolise.

• Women need to move from the status of the exception to the norm in the leadership arena. This requires a process of continuously developing a critical mass of purposeful women leaders. In the short term women need to be encouraged to join leadership positions while in the long run, young girls need to be nurtured to ensure that in the future they will be willing to seek political office and other leadership roles.

• The East African community should be utilised as a space to streamline and strengthen affirmative action and women’s presence in decision making in the region. Connecting the national questions to the regional level will improve the quality of the dialogue and in turn may have the potential to address the limitations within the national contexts.

...continued from page 8



FOWODE enters new Strategic Period 2013-2017

Focus areas of FOWODE strategic Plan

FOWODE will strengthen women’s voice and promote gender

justice.

Build the leadership of young people to advance women’s rights as well as foster accountable institutions.

Influence economic policy from a women’s rights perspective.

Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe the FOWODE Chairperson, Winnie Byanyima a FOWODE Founder and Patricia Munabi the FOWODE Executive Director at the launch of the FOWODE strategic plan.

In March, FOWODE launched her new strategic plan 2013-2017. The five-year Plan was launched by Winnie Byanyima who is also one of the founder members of FOWODE.The new Strategic Plan builds on the past successes and will facilitate FOWODE to scale up and deepen her work of ensuring women’s voices are more audible and their capacity to access and control resources is enhanced. FOWODE will move towards ensuring that there is increased accountability towards women centered economic and political processes.

Describing it as a blueprint for growth and improvement, Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe the FOWODE Chairperson, pointed out that although the previous strategic plan did a lot to transform the lives of women in the public sphere, the new plan focuses on working with unthreatened men to support women in their private and public lives, working with communities and families to travel the gender equality journey and engaging on social accountability.

The FOWODE Executive Director, Patricia Munabi stated that with this new plan, FOWODE will focus on key areas of strengthening ‘women’s voice and participation in the political, economic and social arenas; improving women’s knowledge of their rights and enhancing their capacities to seek gender accountability; supporting women to engage effectively in economic processes as a foundation for their participation and as well as enhancing FOWODE’s capacity

to effectively deliver on the new strategy.Speaking to the audience, the Chief Guest Winnie Byanyima reiterated the need for fair representation and participation of Women in governance as a prerequisite of democracy. Stating that having a critical mass of women in leadership is crucial for human development in all countries developed or not developed. She urged different actors to commit to work towards increasing numbers and impact of women in decision-making processes.

She urged FOWODE to focus on some of the emerging trends including volatility in the economy, scarcity and the geopolitics which have critical implications for women’s rights and gender equality. The FOWODE chair pledged to provide prudence governance, which will implore FOWODE to travel this journey of change. She called on members to partner with FOWODE in this new phase as partners, donors, and friends and as people that want to see an organization that has come of age move to another level.

Present at the launch were FOWODE founder members, partners as well as FOWODE friends. FOWODE also celebrated Winnie Byanyima’s appointment as the CEO of Oxfam International, making her the first woman and first African to occupy such a position she will her to provide strategic direction and coordination of the world wide confederation of OXFAM affiliates.



Donor support to agriculture needs re-tweaking - CSBAG report

The bulk of donor funds in agriculture are on-budget. For example, during FY 2010/2011, the sector received $58million on budget and $16 million off budget. The study focused on donor funds that are on-budget.

The donor funding is aimed at complimenting Government efforts in areas such as: improving control and mitigation capacity of crop pests and livestock diseases; deepening access to markets; capacity for research and generating new technologies etc

In 2003 African Union (AU) Maputo Declaration directed all AU member countries to increase investment in the agriculture sector to at least 10 per cent of the national budget by 2008. To date just about 10 or so countries have achieved that and Uganda is not among them.

Government reliance on donor support to transform agriculture from subsistence to commercial farming is not bearing enough ripe fruits as originally presumed. This is despite millions of dollars being made available to finance almost all the large scale projects meant to promote commercial agriculture.

A report commissioned by the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) to examine the country’s performance of the agricultural sector indicates that the donor budget support in agriculture has actually done more harm than good.The Financial year 2011/2012 performance of the donor funds contribution attests to the CSBAG study.

In that financial year (2011/2012), about 74 per cent of the total donor funds equivalent to $341million was not disbursed. This, according to policy analysts sums up what has since become the norm (the performance of donor financing in agriculture) over the years—slow disbursement of donor funds.

“Of concern, however is the slow disbursement of donor funds in the sector which has led to slow implementation of donor funded projects,” reads part of the civil society commissioned report.Slow disbursement coupled with the minimal allocation of the national budget, currently at less than five per cent, partly explains why agriculture seems to be retarding as service sector progresses. According to the report, some of the justifications for the poor performance in agriculture stems from the f slow disbursement and the fact that most funds are disbursed as small discrete projects.

This affects slow implementation of donor projects. The report observed that the Farm Income Enhancement Project- Irrigation Component (FIEFCO) was badly implemented because of slowed funds disbursement.

Though the project was intended to end in 2010, the Project was later extended to end in 2012.

An ADB supervision mission conducted in 2011 found that no work had been done by Ministry of Agriculture and it recommended cancellation of the project if trends of slow implementation were not rectified.

“In financial year 2011/2012, about 74 per cent of the total donor funds equiva-lent to $341million was not disbursed”.

Project Period 2008 - 2012, supported by IFAD loan, BIDCO, Government of Uganda Project cost USD 156 Million

The Project implemented in Kalangala district achieved a sizeable number of its targets, despite the delayed start to implementation which affected disbursement, and led to escalated project costs from the original USD 60 million to USD 156million. Although the project was approved in 1997 implementation commenced in 2005. Project was extended 4 times. Expenditure was at 88% reflecting a fairly good absorption capacity.

Women beneficiaries constituted 31% though many tended to get involved as small scale beneficiaries and helpers to their husbands. Widows hardly participated as they lacked land.

Lessons and recommendations 1) Implementation modalities: Delays in implementing projects can have gross cost implications and organizational problems that negatively impact on project implementation. For large complex projects/PPPs, sufficient time should be allocated to the planning process before project approval and all the key stakeholders should be adequately sensitized and involved in the project design and planning processes.

2) Funds absorption: The VODP exhibited a fairly good absorption capacity of the earmarked funds, indicative of proper budgeting and identification of priority expenditure items, functional financial management systems and adequate capacity building within the implementing agencies.

3) Mainstreaming gender: although gender issues were integrated in the VODP, not much attention was paid to this aspect as implementation progressed. Gender planning should be part and parcel of the project design, planning, implementation and monitoring process.

Vegetable Oil Development Project



This FIEFOC case illustrates that some donor-funded projects fail because of poor implementation and institutional capacity of the government departments involved in co-managing the external funded schemes.

“…Although funds absorption for this (FIEFOC irrigation project) was high, it was for the wrong reasons, with 87 per cent of the resources being spent on general operating expenses without any tangible outcome,” reads the report in part.

The report also cites the creation of the Trypanesomiasis and Tsetse Areas as the other project whose fruits did not measure up to the required standard. The objective of this project was to control tsetse flies infestation and trypanesomiasis, but a year before completion, the project was behind in addressing the key. “A Physical verification by the Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit in 2012 indicated that there was no physical presence of this project in any other district to be targeted other than Kalangala district.” Reads the report.

quite quantified because of the mixed result it generated was the improved rice production funded by the Japanese and Ugandan government. According to the report, the project was meant to improve rice varieties but its results turned out to be quite disappointing. “The Government of Japan and FAO took lead in the implementation of the Agriculture improved Rice Production project which led to distribution of poor quality inputs with the bulk of funds being used in recurrent (unproductive) expenditures,” reads one of the reports findings. In response to the report, the Agriculture Ministry Principal

Information Scientist, Consolata Acayo, argued that unlike what the study unearthed, all is well between the donors financing agriculture and the Ministry. In an interview, she said: “Civil society is entitled to their views, but as far as we are concerned, there are so many donor funded projects that have done so well.” She mentions the Mobuku irrigation project which she stressed is due for commissioning, adding that the Agoro irrigation project and another in Tororo are all underway. This is

in addition to what she described as the success of the banana wilt project and the Influenza project that saw constructions of laboratories to diagonise diseases for both humans and animals.

However, she did concur that most delays in such huge projects emanate

from laborious and bureaucratic procedures that must be followed.

She said: “It takes time to carefully examine what is contained in this project and that explains most of the delays that are being talked about.”

According to the study, agriculture sector attracts less than 10 per cent of the donor assistance. In FY 2011/2012 alone the sector attracted 8 per cent of the donor assistance while external assistance flows to Uganda have averaged about $760 million annually over the years.

The funds are normally channeled to the development budget and another substantial part of the external support goes to the sector in form of “Technical Assistance and institutional development” yet the agriculture Ministry continues to lack sufficient implementation competence.

Save for Vegetable Oil Development Project (VODP), the report seems

Project Period: 2008 – 2010, implemented by MAAIF in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and with funding from the Government of Japan.

This was a successor to a previous project known as “Dissemination of NERICA and Improved Rice production Systems to Reduce Poverty and Food Deficit in Uganda” implemented in Amolotar, Amuru, Apac, Dokolo, Gulu, Kitgum, Lira, Oyam and Pader during 2006 to 2008 and was estimated to cost US$ 1,239,983. The project benefited 72 farmer groups with a total of 2,150 farmers, majority of whom were women.

This project met its set objectives of increasing rice production and income within Northern Uganda. All the donor funds were absorbed by the end of the project. However, some of the inputs that were provided to the farmers were poor quality and inappropriate. A year after the end of the project, rice production had ceased for some of the groups that had been targeted indicating low sustainability of the intervention. Lessons for Agricultural Improved Rice Production

1) Planning and implementation modalities:

The approach of the donors taking lead in planning and implementation led to less involvement and follow up by Government entities including Ministry of Agriculture. Insufficient inputs were delivered and the sustenance of the project and its impacts was low. It is critical that donor funded projects use the approach of Government taking the lead in planning and implementation to enhance supervision of the interventions and long term impacts.

Agricultural Improved Rice Production

Donor support to agriculture needs re-tweaking - CSBAG report cont’d



to further emphasize that all other donor funded project in agriculture have largely been let down. And this is because the donor takes lead in planning and project design which leads to low ownership of interventions by the beneficiaries, explaining why the impact of the projects in several instances is almost negligible.

For that the reports recommends that budget allocation to the agricultural sector should be stepped up to at least 10 per cent of the national budgetary resources while at the same time calling for a review of donor funded to enhance reach, impact and sustainability.

Rather than soliciting for small discrete projects that have limited impact, the report recommends that Government should focus on encouraging donor funded projects that are larger and impactful with wide geographical reach.There should also be some level of flexibility and minimal conditions imposed by donors for projects as the government improves its procurement and accountability systems to win the donors trust.

The Government should take lead in the planning, designing and implementation of donor funded projects to allow ownership.And while doing so it should bear in mind gender equity that should go beyond just seeking involvement of women and other marginalized groups to confronting issues related to equal access of agricultural services. This is

because women are the most ardent players in the sector, yet there are often not funded or considered a priority.The District and Sub-county officials of the respective Local Governments that are to be involved in implementation of a donor funded project should be involved early in the project design, planning and execution of the project. In an interview with Mr. Julius Mukunda, Senior Program Director, Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) and Coordinator for CSBAG, it became apparent that the major challenge lies with the Ministry of Agriculture rather than the donors.

He said: “Donor funding to agriculture has been reducing because the parent ministry is dysfunctional (it lacks a clear vision of what it wants to do), explaining why up to now they have failed to show the results of their work.”

He continued: “Government still needs donor funding for agriculture because donors have been supporting most of the development budget for agriculture and with their reduced funding it will affect agricultural growth significantly.” He further argues that donor funds should be directly invested in boosting production of agricultural inputs, among them, fertilizers, and easily accessible hybrids, and importantly perhaps, the funds should be investing in agricultural research.

2) Funds utilization and disbursement modalities:

Donor funds were budgeted for and disbursed to beneficiaries from the donor offices. Ministry of Agriculture was not involved in guiding expenditure and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness of the project. The donor records indicated the bulk of funds were used for recurrent expenses which is indicative of poor allocative efficiency. Future projects should allow for the Government agency to have a more active role in budgeting and utilization of the funds.

3) Project design:

Providing a small input package to a few farmers in every geographical locality does not generate meaningful impacts in terms of enhancing agricultural production and household incomes. Future projects should be designed to cover larger project area, target a significant number of farmers and provide adequate inputs for economic viability and sustainable impact

Agricultural Improved Rice Production cont’d



Creation of Tsetse & Trypanosomiasis Free Areas (STATFA)._________________________Implementation period was indicated as April 2006 to 2011, however project is still ongoing. Funded by the African Development Fund (ADF) and GoU.

Farm Income Enhancement Project – Irrigation Component_________________________Implementation period was indicated as April 2006 to Implementation period was 2005-2010. However, a mid-term review in April 2009 recommended an extension to December 2012 to complete unfinished activities. Funded by the African Development Fund (ADF) and GoU.

The total loan amount is UA 6,550,000 and Grant Amount UA 240,000. Project is being implemented in Masaka, Rakai, Lyanyonde, Kalangala, Mpigi, Sembabule, Wakso, Kampala, Mukono, Kayunga, Kaliro, Jinja, Mayuge, Iganga, Bugiri, Tororo, Butaleja, and Pallisa.

Only 15% of the total project funds had been disbursed over the four year period. About 85% of the funds remained undisbursed, one year to the originally scheduled project closure date and most objectives of the project had not been achieved. Hence the project was given an extension of additional five years to complete the pending activities and is still ongoing.

Lessons and recommendations from the Creation of Tsetse & Trypanosomiasis Free Areas project:________________________________________

1. Prior conditions and bureaucracies: the ADB loans had stringent prior conditions and lengthy bureaucratic procedures that affected the pace of project implementation. It is critical that the prior conditions in future donor funded projects are well negotiated at planning stage to ensure that they are flexible and implementable by the Government. Delays in project implementation can be avoided if the donors trust and use the Government procurement systems rather than imposing their own systems or allowing for parallel procurement channels.

2. Low counterpart funding: the unavailability of sufficient counterpart funding from GoU grossly affected the pace of project. The Government should only accept projects for which it has assured counterpart funding; this should be disbursed in a timely manner in adequate amounts for triggering project implementation.

3. Limited outreach and project sustainability: this project distributed limited traps to 3 parishes in Kalangala district. The beneficiaries had no skills and materials for replacing the traps implying low reach sustainability of the project. Future projects should provide adequate equipment and inputs that cover a larger geographical area and also train the beneficiaries in replacing worn out equipment to ensure reasonable project impact and sustainability.

The total project cost for the five-year period (2005-2010) is estimated at US51.15m funded by ADB/ADF and GoU. In 2009, the project was restructured to focus on four irrigation schemes. The overall objective of the project is to induce a commercially sustainable agriculture for improved income level for the community and help in poverty alleviation.

Lessons and recommendations: 1. Institutional and Implementation capacity: Ministry of Agriculture lacked sufficient capacity to

supervise construction and implementation of irrigation schemes. The abrupt change in project design without analyzing the capacity of the ministry to implement 4 large irrigation schemes was a major constraint. Ministry of Agriculture had only one resident Engineer at project start who could not supervise such a large project single handedly. Other Engineers were co-opted from other ministries but they were still inadequate. Future projects that are largely of a civil works nature require recruitment of adequate engineers and other requisite skills before project start to ensure smooth implementation.

2. Allocative efficiency: For the period when the project was under Ministry of Agriculture, it exhibited poor allocative efficiency as over 80% of the funds were being spent on operational expenses without any tangible output. Absorption was high but for less critical expenditures. For future projects, entities should only be allowed to spend after establishing that they have adequate capacity to manage and spend funds efficiently and effectively. Value for money should be promoted in donor funded projects

3. Decentralised planning and execution: The relevant district officials (District Engineer, District Water Officer and District Community Development Officer) were brought late in the implementation process and yet they were expected constantly supervise the project. The Local Governments should be brought on board at project inception stage to help in implementation and setting up management to ensure project sustainability. Decentralized planning and execution should be encouraged as the districts are the final beneficiaries of the project; they should own it right from planning and execution phase.



NEWS BRIEFS

Forming University Governance and Leadership Clubs

To increase advocacy on the integration of the Women’s Agenda in Government plans and budgets, FOWODE formed Gender and Leadership Clubs in Makerere, Kyambogo, Nkumba, Nkozi and Uganda Christian Universi-ties

The clubs which comprise of 125 female students are a platform for students to interrogate, dialogue and debate key pertinent issues with duty bearers. Each club has its own leadership committee and they have specific ac-tion plans which will guide their advocacy on critical issues as outlined in the Uganda Women’s Agenda by 2016.

Training Young Leaders in transformative and leadership building

Enhancing Women councilors’ capacities

In March 2013, FOWODE trained 30 young women 16 of whom were Karamajong and 1 PWD in Alterna-tive and Transformative leadership. This camp pro-vided special slots for Karamoja young girls who are often times less likely to benefit from such trainings. Many signed up to join a cadre of young leaders un-der the Fowode Young Leaders’ Alumni Association to continue engaging on leadership and governance issues.

As Akello below shares her personal opinions on the camp, many girls perceived it as a very enlightening training that challenged them to get to the forefront of

transforming their own communities.

“ through the camp, I now know that development in my community is dependent on me and thus I must promote women empowerment so as to contribute to the development of our region, Karamoja- Akello Caroline, Abim district

The young leaders developed action plans that will be funded to support them put into action some of the new knowledge and skill gained in this training. An additional 30 girls will be selected to benefit from the same training this year.

Lyantonde, Wakiso, Masindi and Busia were trained to enhance their capacities in effective legislative en-gagement. The women formed sub county caucuses in each and developed action plans to strengthen their voice for gender equality and women specific issue.

The training which has benefited more than 1,000 women councilors at both district and sub county level since their election in 2011, aims at making women more effective in council and improves their lobbying and advocacy for women specific issues.

In the districts where women councilors have previ-ously been trained, FOWODE has started realizing change and to attest to it even other leaders work-ing with women councilors are attesting to it. The Chief Administrative Officer, Wakiso in a recent in-terview acknowledged the increased levels of confi-dence and quality of issues articulated by the trained women.

“There is a difference in the way women councilors raise issues… in their argument… in the way they articulate issues. They quote some laws something the used not to do before. They lobby for consid-eration of gender specific issues during budget pro-cesses and they also follow up on implementation”, stated the CAO wakiso

One of the most significant change stories comes from Amuru district when Hon. Atim Josephine a District Woman Councilor LC V representing Atiak Sub-county requested the Speaker to suspend the passing of the Amuru District budget for financial year 2012/13 until the report of the District Public Ac-count Committees enquiry was released. This would have been the second time that the District passed the budget without declaring the District PAC report. The passing of the District budget was brought to a halt by the speaker and a later date was proposed to allow the PAC report to be released.



Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) is a non-partisan national women’s organization.

Vision: A just and fair society where women and men equally

participate in and benefit from decision-making processes.

Mission: To promote gender equality in all areas of

decision-making through capacity development, community empowerment, policy engagement

and strategic partnerships


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The FOWODE resource center is a ONE STOP CENTER, where you can access over 1000 infor-mation materials relevant to the FOWODE The-matic areas of Gender, Governance, Democracy, and Human rights. You can also access internet, photocopying and printing services. Please visit the FOWODE website, www.fowode.org or the FOWODE resource center at our offices in Ntinda.

The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) chaired by FOWODE in 2012 commissioned a study using case studies of four donor funded projects -the Vegetable Oil Development Project, Agricultural Improved Rice, Produc-tion Creation of Tsetse and Trypanomiasis Free Areas, Farm Income Enhancement Project – Irrigation Component. The study provides an in-depth assessment of how agricultural loans have been applied in Uganda to improve agricultural performance. It further analyzes the spending patterns and service delivery within agriculture and brings out the salient issues for action.

Forum for Women in Democracy in 2012 commissioned a study in Gulu and Luwero districts to measure citizens’ satis-faction with Family Planning (FP) services using a Citizens’ Report Card (CRC). This report card has provided valuable feedback to improve Family Planning services and provides important information to guide policy makers and other key stakeholder to consider when addressing the key challenges:


Fowodenewsletter 2013

Technology

Transcript of Fowodenewsletter 2013