CAPACITY STRENGTHENING FOR EQUITY PROMOTION

Uganda’s Institutional and Development Framework;

• The government has been implementing the PEAP since 1997 with a long-term goal of reducing mass poverty to 10% by 2017;
• Details of interventions in the PEAP are contained in Sector Plans;
• Social exclusion threatens to undermine implementation of the PEAP;
• In particular, women, children, unemployed youth, persons with disabilities, the elderly and ethnic minorities are often excluded from government programmes;
• The concerns of these vulnerable groups fall directly under the mandate of the Social Development Sector;

The Social Development Sector

• The SDS promotes equity, equality and social protection;
• The MGLSD is the lead agency in the SDS with the mandate to promote effective participation of the vulnerable groups in the development process;
• In order to enhance coordination in the SDS and to improve service delivery, the Ministry has developed the SDIP with technical and financial support from dev’t partners including UNDP;

Progress in implementing SDIP

• The SDIP provides the planning framework for the MGLSD and SDS;
• Based on the SDIP the MGLSD has formulated the following policies:

1. The National Orphans and other Vulnerable Children’s Policy
2. The National Gender Policy (reviewed)
3. Community Mobilization and Empowerment strategy;

• Other policies are being developed

Capacity for Equity Promotion

Equity is a state of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities in society to ensure that all have the means to meet basic needs and that all are entitled to basic rights;

• Effective promotion of equity requires strengthening the capacity of MGLSD, affiliated institutions and service providers;
• Other key agencies for equity promotion include Local Governments, Line Ministries, Development Partners, NGOs, CSOs, CBOs

Identified Capacity Gaps

lThe MGLSD has carried out a capacity needs identification exercise with the support of UNDP Good Governance Programme;
Approach and methodology:

• Development and pre-testing of instruments for the field mission;
• Field mission to 8 districts and 5 peri-urban areas;
• Data analysis, literature review and report writing;

Capacity gaps identified include:

• Lack of knowledge and skills to plan with a gender and equity perspective;
• Lack of awareness of organisations existing in the vicinity of vulnerable groups and the support they give;
• Low level of community participation in the development process;
• Inadequate capacity of the vulnerable groups to participate in the planning process;
• Understaffing and inadequate funding for training.
• Lack of access to information on equity promotion interventions by vulnerable groups
• Inadequate community capacity to demand for public accountability;
• Absence of inter and intra local government equity promotion monitoring and evaluation mechanism;
• Lack of an effective SDS Management information and M&E system;
• Low level of collaboration and networking among partners implementing equity promotion initiatives     

Capacity Strengthening Plan

• This CNI Report received input from the MGLSD Internal validation workshop which took place at Fairway Hotel, Kampala;
• A Draft Capacity Strengthening Plan has been developed to address the gaps identified in the CNI Report;
• The Plan will be finalised after receiving input from the National Validation Workshop;