~ ~ uKaid from tile British peoplo Governance, Accountability, Participation and Performance (GAPP) Program The field A Collection of short stories on improved service delivery in Uganda through systems strengthening and increasing citizen participation in local governance November 2017 -------- - --- Table of Contents 1 Construction of Ramp Increases Dialogue Between Persons With Disabilities and Leaders in Kasambya Sub County ................................................. :................................... 5 2. Collaborating to Improve the Lives of Children With Disabilities to Benefit from Government Interventions ................................................................................................ 6 3. Construction of Staff Quarters to Enhance Timely Provision of Maternal Healthcare Services ............................................................................................................ 7 4. Tackling Food Security in Refugee Hosting Communities in West Nile ................... 8 5. Influencing Government Planning and Budgeting Processes to Improve Service Delivery .............................................................................................................................. 10 6. Increasing Opportunities to Retain Girls in School. .................................................. 12 7. Enhancing Tax Awareness Increases Local Revenue ............................................... 14 8. Empowering Communities to Demand for Accountability ...................................... 16 9. Engaging Meaningfully to Enhance Government lnitiatives .................................... 18 3 Acknowledgements The Governance, Accountability, Participation and Performance (GAPP) Program extends gratitude to all those who have, in one way or the other, enabled it to partake of the stories contained herein. Appreciation is extended to all participating grantees, the communities, institutions, and local governments that are contributing to positive change in service delivery. Gratitude is further extended to USAID and DFID for supporting the program and to RTI International for providing the opportunity for the GAPP Program to be implemented. Thank you, as well, to all the teams that were engaged in implementing, documenting, compiling, editing, and generally putting this piece of work together. With concerted effort it is possible to improve service delivery in Uganda from one level to a higher one. 4 1 Construction of Ramp Increases Dialogue Between Persons With Disabilities and Leaders in Kasambya Sub County Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) often miss out on a number of interventions that they would otherwise benefit from to better their lives. Working with different Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the Governance, Accountability, Participation and Performance (GAPP) program has supported avenues which bring the local government closer to PWDs to enable them to access services that improve on their lives. Kasambya Sub County in Mubende District had a ramp constlucted to enable persons with mobility difficulties to be able to access the office of the chairperson to deliberate on their issues. This followed a number of requests from the Mubende Disabled Women's Association (MUDIWA) to the councilors to build ramps that could increase accessibility of PWDs to their local leaders. Regular meetings between PWDs and their leader creates more chances for the leaders to have a better understanding of the needs of their people and together forge solutions to these problems. Regular discussions also reduce chances of conflict because both the people and their leaders are in constant consultations without having to use the aid of middlemen who may distort messages and . pieces of information. Today persons with disability in Kasambya Sub County and beyond who may want to see the chairperson can access his office easily. Besides increasing accessibility to local leaders like the chairperson, the council chambers where proceedings are conducted can now also be accessed by PWDs. This is very important because the representative for PWDs can actively deliberate during council meetings where strategic decisions for the people are made, as opposed to just being informed about proceedings because this representative couldn't access the chambers. In addition to making leaders more accessible, MUDIWA has held consultative sessions in form of trainings for newly elected councilors on the inclusion of issues affecting PWDs during council deliberations. A total of 74 local leaders participated in these sessions which were held between the period January - March 2017. The ramp leading to the Chairperson's office All these efforts are geared towards ensuring that PWDs and the council chambers Photo credit: MUD/WA are included in government plans, budgets and projects/ programs and that services do reach them. 5 2. Collaborating to Improve the Lives of Children With Disabilities to Benefit from Government Interventions The Governance, Accountability, Participation and Performance (GAPP) program works with the Kawule Disabled Persons and their Families Association (KADIPEFA) to extend services to Children and Persons With Disabilities (CWDs and PWDs). KADIPEFA, a civil society organization based in Kalungu district carries out a number of outreach activities targeting CWDs and their parents, some of who are PWDs. During one of their GAPP supported outreach door - to - door activities, KADIPEFA came across 3 year old [REDACTED son to [REDACTED] a resident of Bulawula in Kalungu Sub County. The little boy was suffering from tense cerebral palsy. The condition had caused him poor body balance, poor positioning especially during sleeping time, loss of body weight with time and contractures had begun developing. His parents did not know what to do, leaving him to his fate. · KADIPEFA discussed this poor health condition with the Kalungu District Councilor for Gender, [REDACTED] and the Community Development Officer of Kalungu Sub County, [REDACTED]. Working in collaboration with KADIPEFA, the councilors and the child's mother took the child to Wellspring Children Medical Centre (hospital) for medical examination and the doctors offered free physiotherapy treatment for the boy to recover his health. Interactions amongst KADIPEFA, the councilors, medical personnel and [REDACTED] mother continued. The mother was trained on how to conduct therapy for the boy while at home and taking him back to hospital for regular examinations. After four weeks of therapy, young [REDACTED] was able to regain his stamina and balance. [REDACTED], l1ealthier and happier Photo credit: KADIPEFA "We are happy that this condition was arrested in time, saving the bo rmrrgetting--penrnrrIE disabled" says [REDACTED] of Wellspring Children Medical Centre, Kamutuuza, Kalungu. "We are full of joy. I thought my son was going to be crippled for all his life. Now when I look at him, I am just too happy. I never thought that he could walk properly. We will enroll him in school next year when he makes 4" says [REDACTED], the mother. The joint effort of KADIPEFA , the local government officials, the hospital and the parents of [RE DACTED] resulted into a healthier child. Since then, KADIPEFA goes to schools, and within communities, raising awareness on the need to take children, especially those who seem to be developing a physical disability, for medical examination. 6 3. Construction of Staff Quarters to Enhance Timely Provision of Maternal Healthcare Services Busaana HCIII in Busaana Sub County is one of the health facilities targeted by the Governance, Accountability Participation and Performance (GAPP) program implemented by Communi!J Awareness and Response on AIDS (CARA) in Kayunga district. This, under the project entitled "Enhancing good governance, accountability and transparency for improved health services in Ka n a district". Before the interventions- by CARA with support from GAPP all the four health units in the Sub County were faced with the challenge of housing their staff who had to travel long distances to and from the health facilities. The long distance commuting affected the operations of the health facilities in that the medical personnel were often late, absent, worked for short periods and were not enthusiastic about their work. The Staff quarters at Busaana HC/11 One of the approaches that CARA uses to implement the still under construction project is the health facility dialogue meetings. During one Photo credit: CARA of these meetings health consumers bitterly complained about the chronic absenteeism by health workers. " ... Weare tired of them coming late or even not showing up ... " says [REDACTED], one of the health consumers. CARA organized an interface meeting with different duty bearers who included political leaders (Chairman LCV, the District Speaker, Secretary for Health, the In-charge of Busaana HCIII, the Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for Health Busaana Sub County, councilors and health consumers to lay strategies of how Busaana HCIII could get a staff quarter to minimize absenteeism. During the next Sub County council meeting, the secretary for health reported on the need for staff quarters at Busaana HCIII. Some money was allocated to the construction of these quarters and work commenced. "This staff quarter will help us so much to reduce on the time we spend traveling long distances. We shall also spend more time at the facility since we will be close by" said one of the health workers. HCIII are mandated