Browsing by Author "Nabwowe Kasule, Angella"

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    2021 General Elections: Voting for Quality Service Delivery
    (Economic and Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA), 2020) Namusobya, Salima; Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, Nokukhanya
    The 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.
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    Reclaiming public health services in Uganda
    (Economic and Social Rights Advocacy (ESRA), 2021) Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, Nokukhanya
    The 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.
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    Social accountability as a tool for realization of economic and social rights
    (Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), 2016) Nabwowe Kasule, Angella; Mncwabe, Nokukhanya
    Social 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.
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    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, Nokukhanya
    Uganda’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.
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    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, Nokukhanya
    Uganda 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).