Browsing by Author "Mncwabe, Nokukhanya"
Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item 2016 General Elections: Vote 4 Education, Vote 4 Health(2015) Nabwowe, Angella; Mncwabe, Nokukhanya70 Year old Zaina Bakanansa, resident of Kyetume-Bukasa village, Nakisunga Sub- County Mukono District believes elections are just a waste of time. “ No Member of Parliament or Local Council Chairperson has made a difference in my life”, she says. Bakanansa’s need is to have a health facility in her village “ I am weak and sickly and unfortunately I cannot access a health facility. The private clinic close to my house is too expensive for me”. The Mukono Health centre IV or Nazigo health centre III which are public health facilities are quite a distance from her house, several kilometres away. Her only hope would be in voting leaders with a manifesto that addresses her concerns but she has been disappointed many times. “I have participated in national elections but I don’t see the benefits. When I have health needs , I call on a Non- Governmental Organisation to get help and they are always responsive.” The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda gives citizens like Zaina Bakanansa power, to elect the political leaders of the country every after five years. Very soon, Ugandans shall elect political leaders – from the local level to the President.Item 2021 General Elections: Voting for Quality Service Delivery(Economic and Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA), 2020) Namusobya, Salima; Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaThe focus of this 12th issue of the Economic and Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA) Brief, produced by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), has as its theme: 2021 General Elections: Voting for Quality Service Delivery. The publication of this ESRA Brief is timely, given that the current term of office for Uganda’s elected leaders expires on the 12th of May 2021. As has become customary, those contesting for different offices/positions will, over the next few months, be laser-focused on ensuring that they campaign successfully and get elected at the next polls scheduled from 10th January to 8th February 2021.1 This edition implicitly asks Ugandans to refrain from getting caught up in the frenetic energy of political campaigning and to critically assess the extent to which incumbent politicians and parties have delivered on the promises made in previous manifestos; whether and to what extent they have been held accountable for failing to deliver on their mandates; it asks citizens to consider the ways in which they may be complicit in entrenching an electoral system that prioritizes short-term patronage over long-term service delivery; and the electoral system itself is critiqued, in the light of the constraints Uganda faces within a global political and economic order, which has budgetary and policy implications for its ability to practically achieve the economic and social rights to which its citizens are entitled.Item Beyond Statistics: How can we achieve universal basic education of acceptable quality in Uganda?(2014) Nabwowe, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaThe Right to Education is guaranteed under article 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda; the country is, moreover party to International Conventions that guarantee this right, including the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC). Uganda has been praised for introducing free Universal Primary Education (UPE), and the scheme has indeed registered some successes over the years – including an increase in school enrolment rates countrywide, with girls and children from poor families benefiting in particular. Notwithstanding these successes, however, basic primary education is not without its challenges, which have the potential to undermine the quality of education offered and to erode the gains attained if remedial action is not prioritized. The deteriorating quality of education has been documented in several studies, such as UWEZO (2014), and the Ministry of Education and Sports, together with the Stromme Foundation, Save the Children, UNICEF, and UNHCR (2014).Item Economic and Social Rights in Uganda: The Status Quo(Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), 2013) Nabwowe, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaThe Economic and Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA) Brief is a biannual publication of the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER). The Brief is intended to create awareness, encourage and stimulate national debate around economic and social rights, as well as act as a knowledge exchange platform for stakeholders and the broader Ugandan populace. The ESRA Brief provides an opportunity to interrogate the status of economic and social rights primarily, in Uganda and key lessons and challenges from the greater East African Community. The Brief provides insight into the debates, issues and steps being taken/ road maps being developed with respect to the full realization of social, economic and cultural rights, and it examines the civil society partnerships cultivated to monitor the implementation and accountability of these rights.Item Ensuring Respect and Protection of Economic and Social Rights During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic(Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), 2020) Mncwabe, Nokukhanya; Nsubuga, Moses A.This edition of the Economic & Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA) Brief, which has as its theme, “The Protection and Respect for Economic and Social Rights During and Post the COVID-19 Pandemic,” is timely, motivated as it is by the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has intensified focus on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs) – not only in Uganda but throughout the world. Uganda confirmed its first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 21, 2020, spurring the government to adopt various measures in a bid to contain the spread of the virus. This included the introduction of a national lockdown, which suspended all non-essential economic and social activity, effectively subjecting the entire population to temporary home confinement, with public excursions and the use of public and private vehicles prohibited save for limited exceptions (which in the case of transportation required pre-authorization by a government official).Item Getting it Right: Uganda’s Proposed National Health Insurance Scheme(2015) Nabwowe, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaGlobally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been pushing for universal health coverage. According to WHO, the goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship by having to incur out of pocket expenses to pay for said services. Looking at the post 2015 health agenda, WHO notes that universal health coverage is a way of ensuring continued progress towards the current health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while also helping countries address the growing threat of non-communicable diseases, mental illness and injuries. The Ugandan Ministry of Health is currently awaiting a certificate of financial implication from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in order to proceed with the proposed National Health Insurance Bill 2012, which once adopted, will operationalise the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). This is a commendable step towards the realization of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in the country. However, as the process unfolds, the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) deemed it fit to speak to a number of stakeholders to ensure representation of their priorities and concerns.Item Reclaiming public health services in Uganda(Economic and Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA), 2021) Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaThe Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of strong public health services to deliver equitable healthcare. The countries that most successfully navigated the pandemic tended, overwhelmingly, to have entrenched and resilient public health systems. The clarion call for “health for all” – regardless of ability to pay - is thus unsurprising. The global pandemic has seriously underscored the need for strong public health systems and strong government stewardship of healthcare-related infrastructure, human resources and financing. Calls to address this need were prevalent at the 73rd World Health Assembly, which was characterized by heated debates on healthcare access and health as a global public good, which were particularly animated during the drafting of a Covid-19 resolution. Discussions centred on a just, post Covid-19 economic recovery also reignited public debate about the chronic underfinancing of public health; with increasing pressure exerted on governments to “build back better,” by, among other things, reclaiming public services to make them not only the first, but more importantly, the most responsive health system, especially for poor and vulnerable persons.Item Social accountability as a tool for realization of economic and social rights(Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), 2016) Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaSocial Accountability can be defined as citizens’ capacity to hold the state and service providers to account in order to make them more responsive to the needs of citizens and beneficiaries. Examples of social accountability mechanisms in Uganda include informal mechanisms, for example citizen scorecards, public media campaigns/debates, performance agreements for top district officers, client charters and community meetings on accountability (“Barazas”) and the enforcement of commitments emanating therefrom; as well as mechanisms embedded in legal or policy instruments, for example School Management Committees (SMCs), Water User Committees (WUCs) and Health Unit Management Committees (HUMCs) and the like. Participation in public processes is entrenched as a legal right in Uganda’s legal framework. Article 38 of the Constitution states that every Ugandan has the right to participate in the affairs of government and to influence government policy. Article 41 guarantees the right of access to information, which is a key prerequisite for participation. Additionally, the Local Government Act provides for democratic participation in, and control of, decision-making by the people.Item Social and Economic Rights in Uganda: Has the National Development Plan II (2015/16-2019/20) lived up to its Expectations?(Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), 2019) Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaUganda’s Second National Development Plan (NDP II) 2015/16-2019/20 has as its theme ‘Strengthening Uganda’s Competitiveness for Sustainable Wealth Creation, Employment and Inclusive Growth.” The NDP II is the second in a series of six five-year Plans aimed at achieving Uganda Vision 2040, which envisions ‘A Transformed Ugandan Society from a Peasant to a Modern and Prosperous Country within 30 years.’ The NDP II has as its goal the attainment of middle-income status by 2020, pursuant of which the government implemented development strategies to strengthen Uganda’s competitiveness for sustainable wealth creation, employment and inclusive growth. To this end the Plan set itself four key objectives: (i) increasing sustainable production, productivity and value addition in key growth opportunities; (ii) increasing the stock and quality of strategic infrastructure to accelerate the country’s competitiveness; (iii) enhancing human capital development; and (iv) strengthening mechanisms for quality, effective and efficient service delivery. There was also a commitment to adopt a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to implement the NDP II. The NDP II was expected to achieve results including: increasing GDP and per capita income; reducing poverty and inequality; reducing by at least 20% the number of young people not in education, employment or training; increasing urban and rural access to electricity and safe water; reducing the Infant Mortality Rate and the Maternal Mortality Ratio as well as child stunting in children under-5yrs, and; increasing the rate of primary to secondary school transition and Net Secondary Completion.Item The State obligation to respect, protect and fulfill economic, social and cultural rights in the context of business activities(Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), 2017) Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, NokukhanyaUganda has embarked on an ambitious programme to become an upper middle-income country by 2020.1 In line with this agenda, the National Development Plan (NDP II) prioritizes private sector led economic growth — particularly in the agricultural, tourism and, most notably, extractive sectors, (since the discovery of oil in western Uganda is expected to have a huge impact on the economy).