Strengthening Civic Engagement, Voice, Service Delivery, and Climate Justice for Improved Accountability in Uganda

Updated on: 2024-10-17 10:06:30

The project aims to strengthen civic engagement, voice, service delivery, and climate justice for improved accountability in Uganda.

This is a 4-year project that aims to strengthen civic engagement, voice, service delivery, and climate justice for improved accountability in Uganda. The project will thus enhance citizens’ participation in monitoring public expenditure and service delivery, strengthen policy, regulatory, and institutional capacity for climate justice, address concerns about climate most affected vulnerable communities, and empower youth, women, and other marginalized groups to meaningfully participate in decision-making processes.

Uganda’s socio-economic and political landscape presents a complex reality of progress and deficit in service delivery, accountability, and environmental management. While Uganda has registered an average annual growth of over 6% in the last 30 years, this progress is undermined by poor service delivery, poor public accountability, weak governance structures, and high poverty levels, with 21.4% of the population living below the poverty line. According to Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perception Index, Uganda scored 26 on a scale of 0-100, where 0 indicates a highly corrupt public sector and 100 a clean system, and is ranked 141 out of 180 countries globally.

As a natural resources-dependent country, Uganda’s vulnerability is further exacerbated by increased climate change shocks, ranked 14th most vulnerable country to climate change according to the ND-GAIN Index country rankings. West Nile and Karamoja regions are the most at risk, with vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and refugees being the hardest hit.

Despite introducing several policy reforms, the country still grapples with weak local government structures, limited public participation in key decision-making structures, limited civic engagement and accountability, and waning political commitment to decentralization and environmental stewardship. State actors have limited capacity to respond to service delivery concerns effectively, and the citizens do not have the civic competence to hold their leaders accountable.

Strengthening Capacities for Effective Women Economic Empowerment and Care Work Interventions in Uganda

Updated on: 2023-09-25 12:11:10

The project is designed to support national policy processes and actions, including research uptake by policymakers, to enhance Women Economic Empowerment and tackle unpaid care work in Uganda.

Strengthening capacity for effective women economic empowerment (WEE) and care work interventions in Uganda is an 18-month collaborative project implemented by a consortium comprising Oxfam in Uganda and ACODE. Anchored on a wider spectrum of the Growth and Equal Opportunities for Women (GrOW) East Africa Initiative to spur gender transformation through advancing gender equality in the world of work with a focus on gender segregation, unpaid care, and women’s collective agency.

The project is designed to support national policy processes and actions, including research uptake by policymakers, to enhance WEE and tackle unpaid care work in Uganda. The Project is expected to increase the effectiveness of WEE and care work policies and programmes by 2025; improve the design of the early childhood development policy; and support the implementation of the National Gender Policy and the Family Policy.

Oil Governance and Environmental Sustainability

Updated on: 2023-09-13 13:23:30

The project aims to limit the negative impacts of oil and gas development on nature, people and climate in Uganda.

Fair Share Natural Resource and Accountability

Updated on: 2023-09-13 13:23:30

Domestic Revenue Mobilization through Transparent, Accountable and Equitable Management of Extractives in Uganda

Updated on: 2023-09-13 13:20:57

The goal is to enhance transparency, accountability, and equity in the management of the extractive sector (mining, oil, and gas) for increased domestic revenue mobilization.

This project is a 24-month activity designed to contribute to component three of USAID/UGANDA – Domestic Revenue Mobilization for Development (DRM4D) Activity - Enhancing public-private dialogue - which focuses on advocacy in areas of interest to boost domestic revenue mobilization for Uganda to attain self-reliance including engagement on oil and gas. It is a collaborative effort to strengthen policy and legal frameworks that will ensure more transparent and accountable management of Uganda’s petroleum and mineral revenues to increase domestic revenue mobilization using specific interventions along the entire extractives industry value chain. The project will also facilitate dialogue and review relevant legal frameworks and administrative procedures to generate recommendations for key actors on transparency in licensing, compliance, revenue collection, and expenditure.

Illicit Financial Flows and Domestic Resource Mobilization

Updated on: 2023-09-13 13:20:57

The goal is to promote financial transparency in Uganda by mitigating Illicit Financial Flows and increase domestic resource mobilization for development

The Illicit Financial Flows and Domestic Resource Mobilization project is an international initiative to promote financial transparency being implemented in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Belize, and Colombia. The project seeks to address the critical issue of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) to increase domestic resource mobilization. Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another. According to the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), this movement is classified as an illicit flow when funds are illegally earned, transferred, and/or utilized across an international border. IFFs, driven by illicit financial activities, tax evasion, and corruption, undermine the economic stability and development potential of a nation.

Illicit financial flows result in a loss of tax revenues often desperately needed to fund public projects or critical public investments. Collectively, for developing countries, this often represents millions of dollars in lost or foregone tax revenues that could have otherwise been collected and used to support sustainable economic growth and job creation, reduce inequality and poverty, and address climate change, among other priorities. With billions of dollars estimated to be illicitly leaving developing countries including Uganda every year, this drain of public resources undermines the efforts of countries to mobilize more domestic resources to meet their development agendas.

Local Government Councils Scorecard Initiative

Updated on: 2023-09-13 12:32:39

The overall goal is to promote political accountability and effective service delivery in Uganda.

The Local Government Councils’ Scorecard Initiative (LGCSCI) is a social accountability initiative that seeks to deepen local governance by strengthening the political accountability of elected local leaders and citizens’ demand for excellence in the provision of service delivery by their local governments. LGCSCI was first launched in 2009 in 10 districts and now being implemented in 35 districts across Uganda. Through our partnership with Uganda Local Governments Association (ULGA), Urban Authorities Association (UAAU), and Ministry of Local Government, ACODE can reach out and disseminate research findings and policy recommendations to all local governments.