policy brief sample - Ministry of Local Government brief compressed.pdfachievements in local development and decentralisation made by the Government of Uganda and the development partners

1.0 BACKGROUND

The Inclusive and Sustainable new Communities Project aims to build on the local-level achievements in local development and decentralisation made by the Government of Uganda and the development partners. The project is funded by the Republic of Korea through the Korea International Development Agency (KOICA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Uganda.

Promoting community based local development through the Saemaul undong model; the project seeks to create national and policy level linkages of the community level results. The SMU (New Village Movement) model, adopted from the Republic of Korea, is based on 3 operating principles of Diligence, Self-help and Cooperation towards transformed communities with a long-term shared vision of a better life for all through small-scale self-help projects.

ISNC Supports the 3 Districts of Luuka, Kabarole and Maracha with a funding of US$ 1 Million, running from 1st July 2015 to 31st December, 2017. The project strives to take a 2-3-5 approach to structure resources for the project i.e 20 percent from OVERSEAS Development Assistance (ODA) matching with 30 percent from Government cost-sharing and 50 percent in-kind forms of community mobilization of local materials, labour and services. In most cases communities have surpassed the 50% mark.

2.0 PROJECT VIRTUES

COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT BRIEF - AUGUST 2017 I 1

Participating communities are encouraged to help themselves first starting with changing their living conditions as part of the mind-set change strategy. Communities are encouraged to identify their local needs and find solutions using locally available resources.

Self Help Cooperation

This aims at building social relationships among households, groups and villages through sharing knowledge, sharing the available local resources and pooling labour for wider community improvement projects.

Diligence

Diligence is having the right things done at the right time, for the right people and in the right way. Local Council Committees, Parish Development Committees (PDCs), Parish Chiefs, the Community Development Officers and the communities are constantly reminded to uphold their roles, responsibilities and obligations.

“The inclusive and sustainable new communities project has changed my way of life, this is the end of my poverty.” says Eyotre Pontius, the LC3 Chairman of Oluffe sub-county, Maracha district. Eyotre is one of the many voices representing the humble beginnings of the ISNC project. In the next pages of this brief we take you through the now glowing and blossoming journey of the ISNC project.

The ISNC Districts operate against Second Five-year Local Development Plans 2015 which are aligned to the Second National Development Plan and Uganda’s which both of which run up to 2020. In turn, the planning frameworks are anchored in Uganda’s Vision 2040:

2.1 PROJECT OUTPUTS

3.0 DISTRICT CONTEXT AND RELEVANCE

2 I COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT BRIEF - AUGUST 2017

Output

1

Output

5

Output

2

Strengthened institutional system of local development systems through planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring, with focus on sub-county, parish, village development committee to address the dependency syndrome on central government and Development Partners (DPs);

Strengthened institutional system of local development systems through planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring, with focus on sub-county, parish, village development committee to address the dependency syndrome on central government and Development Partners (DPs);

Enhanced cohesiveness and inclusiveness of community development at local level, increasing participation and engaging women, youth, poorest, disadvantaged and marginalized population and reducing fragmentation of community based associations;

Scale up of proven sustainability innovations including ICT, environment friendly technologies, social enterprises through standardization, certification, dissemination and incentives;

Generated knowledge is documented and disseminated nationally and globally through South-South cooperation mechanisms, linkage with academia is reinforced.

Output

3

Output

4

A Transformed Ugandan Society from a Peasant to a Modern and Prosperous Country within 30 years


Among other things, the Local Development Plans focus on: improving the functionality of the Local Governments for effective service delivery; promoting and fully implement the Local Economic Development [LED] programme; and improving community mobilization for development. The community strategies generated through engagement of the people in the ISNC supported Sub Counties, will largely make a contribution towards improving community mobilization and actual investments towards the full implementation of the local economic development programme.

The ISNC strategic development planning process has re-awakened the spirits of cooperation, diligence and self-help amongst communities. Hitherto were the foundations of development in Uganda, communities had taken a back seat at the wake of vertical development programmes and commercialized of participation. The ISNC has helped to bridge the gaps in development planning for Local Governments and provided platforms through which public private partnerships for development will be achieved.

The community driven ISNC process has acted as an eye opener to communities regarding the limitless possibilities that surround them and therefore, the potential for growth.

Importantly, this initiative is poised to fast track Uganda’s effort towards a Lower Medium Income Country by the year 2020 based on the proven model of improved household income.

4.0 EARLY SUCCESS STORIES AND VOICES


PROGRESS SUMMARY

Baseline study carried out by Makerere University - results were disseminated to Kabarole, Luuka and Maracha districts.

Developed modular designs for infrastructure and income generating projects as reference materials to guide future identification, planning and budgeting of community projects.

40 community members and Local Government staff (Kabarole: 8, Luuka: 21 and Maracha: 11) were trained in monitoring and evaluation using the ISNC M&E framework and participatory planning.

47 participants (18 female; 29 male) were trained on SMU principles, nationalism, leadership and mind-set change. The curriculum used during the training will be shared with SMU actors for adoption across the country. Partnerships were established with National Farmers Leadership Centre – Kampiringisa and the Uganda SMU Centre.

National development progress review dialogue convened by Ministry of Local Government, comprising Ministries, Departments, Agencies, community members, district leaders, CSOs, private sector and development partners.

A benchmarking and Cataloguing study was conducted to assess functionality of community savings and credit initiatives in the three districts and identify potential for financial organisation.

Trained 170 community members (57 female; 113 male) from Maracha and 103 community members (32 females; 71 male) from Luuka of the ISNC villages on SMU principles, community procurement, financial managements, and managements of the prioritized projects – poultry, piggery and goat rearing.

A Community Support and Monitoring Tool developed and applied to all participating communities – revealing very significant results

203 community access roads with a length of 341.1kms have been opened and maintained routinely under the self-help approach. This is at an estimated monetary cost of UGX 162 m, if a kilometer is maintained at an average cost of UGX 800,000/- (USD 222) per month.

184 sites of water sources were constructed and maintained at an estimated labour cost of Ugx 30,000 (USD 8.3) per site, per month

2,581 households have embraced the smart home concept with over 192 smart homes patterns/zones.

Budget Overview

2015BudgetUSD 37,569




4,806 households have latrines with hand washing facilities

2,178 households participating in the project are working hard to improve the quality of their kitchens.

3,584 out of 11,079 (30%) households in the project area have so far engaged in commercial agricultural production.

251 Village Savings and Credit groups (VSLAs) are registered at sub-county level and actively serving their communities. 172 savings groups have portfolios exceeding 1million (approximately US$ 300) - At least 70% of membership on average is women.

107 groups already have Bank Accounts and Business Plans in all the three districts.

A Mid-Term Review conducted for the ISNC project revealing good progression Supported documentation, promotional materials and research activities throughout project implementation which increased visibility of the project and SMU principles, values and virtues at the national level.

George Kalali the chairperson of the Kyosiga Kyokungula SMU group that is running a piggery project in Buwologoma Luuka district


4.1 COMMUNITY COHESIVENESS AND CONTRIBUTION TO LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

The SMU model has created good working relations among individuals and community groups through communal gardening, opening roads and cleaning water sources. This is early evidence of progress towards mind-set change. As a

result of this social cohesiveness, communities have come up with gender

specific initiatives such as Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), handicraft making and clustering around

common value chain commodities.


4.2 PARISH DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

Communities have come up with innovative development strategies including setting up vocational skills training centres and irrigation schemes to curb the rampant drought.

All parishes have well documented Parish Development Plans. The plans have been integrated in the Sub county and District Development Plans. This is a step towards the attainment of one of the ISNC goals - “a strengthened institutional system of Local development”.

Planning and sensitization meetings - Rutoma Nteza [KabaroleDistrict]and Buwologoma [Luuka ddistrict], August 2015 & February 2016 resp.

An SMU group meeting in Bunyangabu district; meetings like these enable the group members stay committed to the SMU principles.

ISNC has seen the revival of the Parish Development Committee (PDC), a quasi-government institution charged with planning at the Parish levels. Community planning entails the identification of local needs and challenges, and finding solutions to address such needs.

a strengthened institutional system of Local development


Improving Livelihoods through self - help - transformed habitats in Kabarole and Luuka

Verification sites visited in Kibiito Kabarole (a crater Lake with fishing potential in Kaina)

ISNC rice growers group in Ndhoya community that was visited

4.3 IMPROVING COMMUNITY ACCESS TO PRIMARY SERVICES

A total of

community access roads with a length of

203341.1kms

have been opened and maintained

routinely under the self-help approach,

This is at an estimated

monetary cost of

if a kilometer is maintained at an average cost of

per month.

UGX162 m(USD 45,OOO)

UGX 800,000/-( USD 222)

A total of

per site, per month

UGX 30,000(USD 8.3)

sites of water sources were constructed and maintained at an estimated labour cost of

A community in Kabarole district opening up an access road, the ISNC project is promoting cooperation to carry out such initiatives


4.4 HYGIENE AND SANITATION

A total of 2581 households have embraced the smart home concept with over 192 smart homes patterns/zones. A total of 4806 households have latrines with hand washing facilities, 2178 households participating in the project are working hard to improve the quality of their kitchens.

There is a positive impact of SMU is where elderly and women headed families are obtain-ing assistance with hard labour and specialized skills (Latrine and Kitch-en construction).

From the above figures, Communi-ties are already putting in place basic household level sanitation and hygiene facilities such as latrines, bathrooms, kitchens, hand washing facilities and clean compounds using SMU principle. This applies to homes, markets, towns and health centres. The Smart Home concept has simplified the understanding of the basic parameters for improved households.

A smart Utentil Rack in Nothern Uganda

4.5 INCOME GENERATION AND COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION

Individuals and community groups have identified income generating activities where they have a competitive and comparative advantage over their neighbours. These include dairy, poultry, piggery, goat rearing, horticulture, maize, sesame seed and banana growing. This has improved the household incomes of the members and also created employment for the women, men and young people.

A total of 3584 out of 11079 (30%) households in the project area have so far engaged in commercial agricultural production.

3,584OUT OF

have so far engaged in commercial agricultural

Sarah Kahunde, a farmer in the Namugoro Kyatwa SMU in her tomatoe garden

Shakira Nakhanda, a passion fruit farmer Luuka district shows off her harvest

4.6 SAVINGS, CREDIT AND INVESTMENT

A total of 107 groups already have Bank Accounts and Business Plans in all the three districts.

A total of 251 Village Savings and Credit groups (VSLAs) are registered at sub-county level and actively serving their communities. VSLAs are enabling communities to access credit to address immediate household concerns than travelling long distances to banks, and also find them more flexible. There is no formal bank in the whole of Maracha district; hence communities have to travel about 45 Kilometres to Arua District. Communities find it easier to access credit facilities from VSLAs, because they require no collateral and have a turn around time of less than 6 hours for a given loan. The defaulting rates are very minimal for VSLAs.

172 savings groups have portfolios exceeding 1million (approximately US$ 300 and the borrowers were using money for commercial purpose and other small business enterprises in all the three districts. At least 70% of membership on average is women. The youth are not very active in the VSLAs.

4.7 ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES

The ISNC emphasizes environmental conservation through tree planting and eco friendly technologies. There is a reduced dependency on firewood for heating through the use of energy cooking stoves in Luuka and briquettes in Kabarole. Communities are practicing tree planting around individual homes, on all SMU opened roads and around water sources.

Green it and bin it efforts in Northern Uganda

Reducing Firewood Dependency - Briquettes in Kabarole District

Jan

Apr

May

Aug

Jul

Oct

2016 At a Glance

Joint project monitoring to 3

districts

President of the Republic of Korea visits Uganda and launches National

Farmer’s Leadership Centre

cultivating SMU champions (H.E.

President of Uganda and UN RC/RR present)

Joint project monitoring to 3

districts

SMU Korea President

visits UNDP Uganda

2016 Global Project Community of Practice & Board Meeting in Bolivia

ISNC project placed under

the new institutional

effectiveness unit of UNDP

Uganda participates in the 2016 Global South-South Development Expo in Dubai. Harnesses potential partnerships with Thai Government

National Development Progress Review Dialogue

Training on SMU principles, nationalism, leadership and mindset change of district staff, ministry officials and SMU champions at the National Farmers’ Leadership Centre.

2016 Project Board Meeting

Dec

PROGRESS

ISNC receives high level government recognition

Government recognizes the revitalizing effort of the ISNC

Visit created the national SMU platform

ISNC leveraging on other SMU efforts on the country

Commences long standing institutional relationship with ISNC and Government of Uganda

Better visibility for ISNC

Choice of Uganda as the host of the next community of practice and global board meeting

ISNC positions as a global development

solution

2017 At a Glance

Dec Oct

Aug

Jul

May

AprFeb

2017 Project Board

Meeting

Q1 Joint project monitoring to 3 districts – Q1 Progress Report

ISNC Mid-Term Review

SDGs Local governance diagnostic executive snapshot

Community Support & Assesment Tool launched


2017 Global Project Board Meeting in Uganda11-13 SeptProject Close:

Terminal Evaluation and Annual Progress Report

Project Scale-up preparation

2017 2nd Project Board Meeting


CONSOLIDATING RESULTS

Benchmark tool for ISNC Revelation of statistical reference for ISNC results

Documenting and disseminating lessons

Broader geographical scope

Select economic infrastructure

Greater government involvement

Cooperatives as an entry point

5.0 CONCLUSION

The ISNC and particularly the Sameaul Undong model has been well embraced and espoused in the supported districts and communities. To illustrate this, ISNC has been adopted into local names e.g. Ssalongo (the father of twins or the big one) and ; Eisini Lyobwabwavu (dealing away with the scum of poverty”) and Kaaro Karungi (Beautiful Village) in Maracha, Luuka and Kabarole respectively. The model is being promoted through the use of social media – notably-Whatsapp and Facebook.

ISNC has enlisted the buy-in of the political leadership in the supported districts hence serving as a strategic as confluence between elected and appointed officials that is critical in the successful implementation of the project and overall development. The project has revealed key lessons that i) Mindset change is a process and ii) development must start from the known!

ISNC project has demonstrated itself as a low-cost model yet with being catalytic and transformational. It has positioned itself as a good entry point for domesticating the SDGs - especially, Goals 1,2,3, 5, 6,8 and 16.

The ISNC access criteria and its successful application have been leveraged for other government programmes. There is an overwhelming demand for the ISNC model in the communities outside the project area.

Integrating Environment and Development - 50% of the project budget was dedicated for household income generation and poverty reduction. Broadening HH income creates alternatives and keeps away communities from environmental degradation activities. The project promotes environmental and ecofriendly technologies including stoves and biogas.

Gender Equality for the Project - a Goal in Itself- At least 48% representation in all groups is female. This percentage stretches to 70, in the Village Savings and Loans Associations. Women attest to immediate improvements in their quality of lives.

Concept and Model Adoption

Affordability and Transformational Virtues

The Locus for Cross-Cutting Issues

“Cleanliness has brought unbelievable results…Our men now come back earlier and stay home longer,” one member in Luuka District intimated to an arousing chorus!

Kamashanyu in Kabarole says, “As a woman, my voice is also heard during the meetings and my other friends, the women have been encouraged to participate in public meetings”.

Empowered lives.Resilient nations.

Korea InternationalCooperation Agency

COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT BRIEF

AUGUST 2017

Inclusive and Sustainable

New CommunitiesLeveraging development through community inclusion

Documents

policy brief sample - Ministry of Local Government brief compressed.pdfachievements in local development and decentralisation made by the Government of Uganda and the development partners