INTRODUCTION
Call for Ugandans (CFU) is a program framework developed by a group of five people. This initiative seeks to reduce poverty and promote basic human rights by working directly to strengthen the well fare of the Ugandans. MISSION STATEMENT
To equip the poor and marginalised groups with a voice and ensure that they enter decision-making processes and influence policy making; in order to
make lasting solutions to poverty and promote basic human rights in Uganda. OUR VISION
Our vision is to have a vibrant civil society rooted in local interests, which can be a dynamic player in the social, political and economic development processes of the entire society. A civil society which dynamically fuels development and change by contributing with solutions and visions for the future. A Call for Ugandans will contribute to this civil society by creating platforms or entry points for communities and vulnerable groups to enter into the civil society arena. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAMME
The objective of the CFU programme as is to contribute towards poverty reduction in the country of operation and improve the quality of life for poor and vulnerable people. By ‘quality of life’ it is meant that the economic, social and political conditions of vulnerable groups are improved; that they have both economic and social capital to be active agents of their own change and they are able to express their interests in a society where human rights are respected and adhered to. By this it is expected that an increased number of households are food secure and accessing quality education services. To achieve these goals the CFU programme will work with and through civil society organisations that are locally, nationally and internationally based/rooted. The main focus is on strengthening locally rooted civil society actors who are able to positively influence development processes on different levels by building their organizational capacity and support them in accessing platforms through which they can voice and express their interests and rights. The programme will – as mentioned – be implemented in in the district with different partner organisations, and this will bring several opportunities to capitalise on the individual programme experiences, share lessons, and work in collaboration to achieve the overall goal.
1. CFU Country Programme This section outlines the operations of the specific programme including problem analysis, target groups, immediate objectives and outputs and activities as well as the organization of the programme
2. Our strategic framework
3. Strategic Approach to strengthening Civil Society
CFU Country Programme
A call for Ugandan programme will operate in Wakiso and Sembabule district with the same long term goals and thus the same overall strategic framework and change theory. This framework is described in the following. For each individual country programme this framework is contextualised and operationalized within focus - and thematic areas.
1. Civil Society Taking point of departure in the national context, problem analysis, and the respective countries’ civil societies CFU seeks to improve social and economic conditions for poor populations within the thematic areas of food security, education and reproductive health in Wakiso, and Sembabule district, through strengthening CS and CSOs. In the following it will be outlined how the program understands the concept of civil society and what strategic methods will be applied to strengthen it. The Framework
Through the programme and its activities a Call for Ugandans will provide opportunities for vulnerable groups and communities to participate in civil society and enter into decision-making processes by enabling them to speak up for themselves and represent their own interests. In the target areas for example Wakiso and Sembabule, there is a weak civil society, high impact of poverty, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy and food insecurity implies that there is a great need for a program focusing on these problems but it also leaves potential risks that such a programme has to consider in both the planning and implementation. These potential risks and the identification and mitigation of them are presented and discussed in the following strategic framework as well as in the operations, where the risks and opportunities is identified within the specific country context. 2.1.2 Definition of Civil Society.
• A Call for Ugandans (CFU) adheres to define civil society as an umbrella term for a broad and complex myriad of groups, organisations and networks positioned between the state and the market and their primary mandate is to represent and express group interests.
• Civil Society (CS) constitutes a crucial link between the state and the public. Its identity is determined by the public’s relationship with authorities, political parties, the press, donors, own support base and the general public. Civil society is distinct from society in general in that it involves citizens acting collectively in a public sphere to express their interests, passions, and ideas, exchange information, achieve mutual goals, make demands on the state and hold state officials accountable. It is difficult for poor and marginalised groups to enter decision-making processes and influence policy making and demand action from the state.
• Strengthening civil society groups ensures that these groups have opportunity to participate and means to assert their voice specifically through the groups and the local and national media platforms. Thus, the groups and the media become platforms for democratic debate where popular participation is promoted and the poor and marginalised get a voice.
• As it is stated in DANIDA’s Democratisation and human rights for the benefit of people strategy: While civil society represents the interests of the citizens and as such stands in opposition to the state it is not necessarily in an antagonistic fashion. Often the interests of civil society groups correlates with or supplement the interests of the state or market, and it is often in the interaction between these three sectors that change is initiated. Strategic Approach to strengthening Civil Society
CFU can provide valid input to state actors and hence the informal political processes of civil society are formalised. i.e. 2.1.3 Civil Society Actors Civil society as understood by CFU includes different types of formal and informal structures through which people organise themselves. This includes all from organisations with clearly defined agendas such as faith based organisations, human rights organisations and trade unions to informal associations and informal groups such as self-help groups, traditional associations and local women’s groups.
