Evaluation of the Uganda Country Programme 2016-2018 Final Evaluation Report External Consultants have prepared this report. The views expressed herein are those of the Consultants and therefore do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of OHCHR. June 2019 Silva Ferretti and Joaquín De la Concha González 1 Composition of the evaluation team Evaluation Team ● Silva Ferretti, International consultant. ● Joaquín de la Concha González, international consultant. Evaluation Manager ● Mr Sabas Monroy, Evaluation Officer, OHCHR Reference Group OHCHR - Headquarters ● Ms. Sylta Georgiadis, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer; ● Ms. Birthe Ankenbrand, Desk Officer for Uganda; ● Mr. Nils Clotteau, Donor and External Relations Officer. OHCHR - Uganda ● Ms. Nicole Bjerler, Deputy Head of the Uganda Country Office; 2 Table of Contents Composition of the evaluation team ................................................................................................. 2 Evaluation Team .......................................................................................................................... 2 Evaluation Manager ...................................................................................................................... 2 Reference Group ......................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... 3 Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 2 Background ................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 14 Background ................................................................................................................................ 14 Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 19 Main findings .................................................................................................................................. 23 Relevance ................................................................................................................................... 24 Effectiveness ............................................................................................................................... 30 Efficiency .................................................................................................................................... 43 Impact orientation ...................................................................................................................... 50 Sustainability............................................................................................................................... 53 Gender ...................................................................................................................................... 56 Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................. 60 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 63 3 Acronyms To increase readability we tried to avoid, as much as possible, the use of acronyms. The following are acronyms often found in use in OHCHR documents. AWP Annual Work Plan PPTA Prevention and Prohibition of CAT Convention Against Torture Torture Act CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of RBM Results Based Management All Forms of Discrimination SIDA Swedish International Against Women Development Cooperation Agency CMI Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence SOP Standard Operating Procedures CN Country Note TJ Transitional Justice CO Country Office ToT Training of Trainers CRPD Convention on the Rights of UHRC Uganda Human Rights Commission Persons with Disabilities ULRC Uganda Law Reform Commission CSOs Civil Society Organizations UMWA Uganda Media Women Association DHoO Deputy Head of Office UN United Nations DPP Directorate of Public Prosecutions UNCT United Nations Country Team DSA Daily Subsistence Allowance UNDAF United Nations Development EOC Equal Opportunities Commission Assistance Framework EOY End-of-year report UNDG UN Development Group ESCR Economic, Social and Cultural UNDP UN Development Program Rights UNEG UN Evaluation Group FGD Focus Group Discussion UNESCO UN Educational, Scientific and FOTCD Field Operations and Technical Cultural Organization Cooperation Division UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund HQ Headquarters UPDF Uganda People’s Defence Force HR Human Rights UPF Ugandan Police Force HRBA Human Rights Based Approach UPR Universal Periodic Review HRDs Human Rights Defenders WHRDs Women Human Right Defenders HRV Human Rights Violations ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights IDP Internally Displaced People JLOS Justice, Law and Order Sector KAP Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices KII Key Informant Interview LGBTQ+ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer M&E Monitoring and evaluation MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs MOU Memorandum of Understanding NCD National Council on Disability NDP National Development Plan NEA National Expected Accomplishment NGO Non-Governmental Organization NHRAP National Human Rights Action Plan OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OMP Operational Management Plan PMS Performance Monitoring System PPMES Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Service 4 Executive Summary Background Programme Background For over two decades, northern Uganda suffered prolonged conflict, and after having experienced several humanitarian, political, and environmental crises over the years, Uganda is now a country “in transition” to full economic, social, and political development. The country is a party to the main international and regional human rights instruments, has an enhanced decentralised governmental system, and has undertaken several constitutional reforms in order to enforce the separation of powers and to restore peace across the country. In the regional context, Uganda ranks in the middle of the Great Lakes region countries according to main socio-economic and civil and political indicators, with distinguishing features in terms of young population demographics (the lowest median age of the region) and continuing low mobile phone and internet penetration in the country. Pursuant to the goals of the Uganda Vision 2040, the country has adopted several strategies and plans including the Poverty Eradication Action Plans and the National Development Plan. Efforts made so far have had a significant positive effect in key areas of development, thus contributing to the overall modernisation of economic sectors of the country. However, despite major advances, there are still a number of important challenges in the areas of political rights, civil liberties, and economic, social and cultural rights, which require attention. In 2005, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) established the Uganda Country Office (CO), pursuant to an invitation by the Ugandan Government. The initial mandate of the Office was to monitor the human rights situation in Northern Uganda and Karamoja. In 2009, the mandate of the OHCHR presence in Uganda (OHCHR-Uganda) was extended to cover the entire country. The Host Country Agreement was renewed again in 2011 and in 2014. In May 2017, the Government of Uganda and OHCHR signed a non-renewable Host Country Agreement for a period of two years (March 2017-March 2019). As part of this agreement, OHCHR committed to submitting an exit strategy to the Government of Uganda within six months, outlining activities to be completed by March 2019. Note: The field trip happened in November 2018 and the report captures the uncertain situation at the time. The OHCHR Country Office reported that the government had since indicated its readiness to accept a continued presence of OHCHR in Uganda. Since the establishment of its office in Uganda, the mandate and structure of the Office has greatly shifted from the initial conflict focus. OHCHR has contributed to improving the human rights situation in the country through a comprehensive strategy that includes: ● Monitoring human rights issues with a view to advising the authorities and other relevant actors on the formulation and implementation of policies, programmes and measures to promote and protect human rights; ● Providing technical cooperation to national authorities, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), and civil society organizations (CSOs) with a view to strengthening respect for human rights; ● Promoting human rights to the general public and disseminating information on international human rights and humanitarian law standards. 2 Currently, OHCHR has a head office in the capital city, Kampala, and two sub-regional offices in northern Uganda, in Acholi sub-region (Gulu) and in Karamoja sub-region (Moroto). Evaluation Background The objectives of this evaluation were