USAID/OTI Uganda Quarterly Report
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October - December 2010 |
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Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched the Northern Uganda Transition Initiative in June 2008. The program supports the voluntary return of internally displaced Ugandans to their homes by increasing their confidence in the ability of the Government of Uganda (GOU) to deliver strategic services and strive for their welfare. To assist these efforts, OTI focuses on three objectives: (1) increasing access to information on peace, recovery, and development programs through media and strategic communications; (2) increasing the visibility of, and confidence in, the GOU through the delivery of strategic interventions; and (3) supporting truth and reconciliation initiatives.
Activities
The OTI program is primarily based in the Acholi region of northern Uganda. Program activities revolve around the following objectives:
Support to Government Infrastructure Renovations – OTI has worked through local government technical offices to renovate several schools, health clinics, and sub-county government offices in the Acholi sub-region. Government officials and citizens consider these types of infrastructure projects their highest priorities, especially in areas where internally displaced people are returning to their ancestral homes. The highlight this quarter was the opening of the first Community Justice Center, serving the region surrounding Pader and Otuke districts. Community Justice Centers will bring police offices, courts, and prosecutors together in one place so cases can be easily adjudicated, and the backlog of criminal cases can be addressed.
Increasing Access to Information on Peace, Recovery and Development – OTI has worked very closely with radio stations, the electoral commission, and government leaders to help disseminate correct and timely information in northern Uganda. A close partner has been the Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC). T he group has had an on-site production facility since 2008. Following this year's OTI-supported renovations, NUMEC now runs the first media resource center for the profession, allowing it to help keep citizens better informed on peace, recovery, and development issues.
Support for Reconciliation – OTI has worked to help communities heal from the wounds of war and promote activities that reinvigorate culture. A positive example is the New Dawn campaign, during which photography students traveled the north and captured images that depicted peace and development in the region. The activity helped to change false perceptions of northern Uganda as a dangerous place filled with war and sorrow. The photos are now on display at the Ugandan National Museum.
Country Situation
Presidential Aspirants Become Official – In October 2010, the Uganda Election Commission announced officially that eight presidential candidates are eligible to stand for election on February 18, 2011. President Yoweri Museveni will seek a fourth term. Other leading contenders are Dr. Kizze Besige from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Norbert Mao of the Democratic Party (DP), and Olarra Otunnu from the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC). Mao and Otunnu are Acholi from northern Uganda.
President Obama Submits an LRA Strategy to Congress – On November 24, 2010, President Barack Obama submitted to Congress the "Strategy to Support the Disarmament of the Lord's Resistance Army" as part of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009. The strategy guides U.S. support across the region to mitigate and eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability posed by the LRA. The strategy has four objectives in support of regional and multilateral efforts: (1) increase protection of civilians; (2) apprehend or remove from the battlefield Joseph Kony and senior commanders; (3) promote the defection, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of remaining LRA fighters; and (4) increase humanitarian access and provide continued relief to affected communities.
Continued Land Disputes Frustrate Peace in the North – While the LRA is out of northern Uganda, continued violence and strife revolving around the issue of land ownership still affects nearly every family in the region. Large "land wrangles" affected northern Uganda this past quarter, including fighting between Pader and Lira districts over clan ownership of certain tracks of land. Many conflict assessments have been done this past year. All point to the land wrangles as one of the most serious destabilizing issues for the region, especially as families return from IDP camps and find that their land is already being utilized by others.
First War Crimes Trial Still Pending – In May 2010, President Museveni passed the International Crimes Bill that domesticates many statues of the International Criminal Court and allows grave transgressions such as crimes against humanity and other war crimes to be tried in Uganda. Thomas Kwoyelo, a senior LRA commander, was captured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this year and, purportedly, will be the first person to be tried in the War Crimes Division of the High Court, which was established under the war crimes bill. The case is pending, but many parties interested in justice issues for the LRA issue are watching to see how this issue unfolds. The USAID/Uganda Mission and OTI have been heavily involved in supporting the GOU in establishing the War Crimes Division.
Grants Summary
Since the program started in June 2008, OTI has implemented 261 activities worth $14,500,000. During the October – December 2010 quarter, the program cleared 31 grants totaling $1,227,000. The table below details grant funding per objective for the quarter.
| Increase access to information on peace, recovery, and development issues |
8 |
$352,000 |
| Increase the visibility and functionality of government |
22 |
$815,000 |
| Support for truth and reconciliation issues |
1 |
$60,000 |
Upcoming Events
| February 18 |
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Presidential and Local Elections |
| May |
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OTI Northern Uganda Program Closeout |
Highlights
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| The new Patongo Courthouse and Directorate of Public Prosecutions. |
First Community Justice Center Inaugurated – This quarter, Justice Alice E. Mpagi-Bahigeine, Uganda's Deputy Chief Justice was the guest of honor at the opening of the first community justice center. The centers were created with 1207 transfer authority funding under the USAID/Uganda Mission's Community Law and Order Project. The Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission, Virginia Blaser, the USAID Mission Director David Eckerson, Richard Buteera, Director of Public Prosecution, Julius Odwee, Deputy Inspector of Police, and many other dignitaries and local government officials graced the occasion. OTI received 1207 funding from the U.S. Department of Defense in 2009 to support the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs' Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) with the creation of community justice centers where the courts, police, and prosecutors could all work together with the common goal increasing access to justice in post-conflict northern Uganda. In Pader district, OTI constructed four units of staff housing for the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the magistrates, and an office block for the DPP. In adjacent Agago district, OTI constructed a modern court house, a police post, and police staff housing to strengthen rule of law, protect life and property, prevent and detect crime, and provide for the effective investigation and prosecution of criminals. This first community justice center cost approximately $900,000. Two more community justice centers will be completed and inaugurated in the coming months.
Media Resource Center Opened – On December 14, the newly renovated media resource center of the Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC) opened its doors. NUMEC's patron, His Grace John Baptist Odama, urged media to be responsible and report the truth to promote justice, peace, and reconciliation in the region. The facility will be operated and managed by Ugandans and is part of USAID's overall goal of increasing journalist professionalism and integrity. USAID will encourage other donor programs working in northern Uganda to use this facility for their studio, production, and outreach needs. In partnership with the Gulu government, OTI rehabilitated office space given by the local government to NUMEC for a number of years to cut down on their operational costs. On top of office space and a conference center, USAID furnished and installed a state of the art production studio, making it the first production studio in northern Uganda open to the public. NUMEC can now better promote its mission of using media and communications to keep local communities informed about peace, recovery, development, reconciliation, and other efforts aimed at improving the lives of residents in post-conflict northern Uganda.
North Ugandan Perception Survey Findings – In November, the University of California Berkeley's Human Rights Center released the results of the OTI-supported perception survey in Kampala and Gulu: "Transitioning to Peace: A Report on Peace, Justice, and Reconstruction in Northern Uganda." Over 2,500 residents of northern Uganda were surveyed and offered their views on how the peace is affecting their lives, the role of government in the reconstruction effort, their views on transitional justice for the north, and their feelings about the LRA. Overall, the report was very positive, suggesting that the new-found peace has allowed people to start their lives afresh outside of life in IDP camps, despite a troubling statistic that 45 percent of residents feel that peace is only temporary and conflict is bound to return to the region.
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| Opening day at the Pader Directorate of Public Prosecutions. |
Coordination in Kitgum with U.S. Military – The education system in northern Uganda and its support services were greatly affected by the Lord's Resistance Army. In Kitgum, the High School cafeteria, with a capacity for 1,500 students, has now been renovated following a special intervention coordinated between USAID/OTI and the Combined Joint Task Force/Horn of Africa (CJTF/HOA) in Djibouti.
Gulu District Takes Lead in Aid Coordination – As many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wrap up operations in northern Uganda, Gulu District has taken up the lead role in co-ordination and strategy development efforts. To help the Gulu overcome basic communication challenges, OTI rehabilitated the District Government Headquarters. This office block includes a fully furnished computer lab with a high speed wireless Internet connection contributed by Orange Telecom, a Ugandan telecom service provider. The new, fully equipped computer lab will boost information sharing among district officials, central Government, and the development partners operating in the district. In the long run, the upgrades are expected to improve efficiency and effectiveness of district operations by centralizing information management functions.
Program Appraisal
The OTI program – NUTI – continues to be seen by local government in the Acholi sub-region as a successful model that is able to deliver. The activities implemented are extremely visible to local communities, and the term "NUTI" is known by many local residents in northern Uganda. In the latest Berkeley perceptions survey, over 60 percent of the residents knew and/or listened to the NUTI-supported radio soap operas aimed at increasing access to information on peace, recovery, and development. This visibility and positive response has allowed the program to continue to work with the GOU. OTI is known as a program that can deliver results quickly. This speaks well towards the ability to let citizens know that peace has arrived to the region, and that, with peace, development is inevitable.
This quarter saw OTI working even closer with grantees in Kampala. The northern Uganda promotion campaign helped to create a greater connection and understanding of issues outside the capitol. This is also exemplified by the continued outreach and coordination with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. It has proven beneficial to work with grantees outside of the north to ensure that Ugandans countrywide learn that the country's north is now peaceful and calm and that the Peace Recovery, and Development Plan (PRDP) is in full swing despite challenges with its full implementation.
OTI has finalized all program activities under the objective to support justice and reconciliation issues. The renovation of Kitgum Library into a LRA war archive and memorial will be complete by March 2011. The program's partnership with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will allow for the library to transform into a sustainable war archive, allowing communities to better understand, realize, and appreciate the brutality of the LRA war. The associated message for people is that lasting peace can be the only solution to progress.
In the coming months, OTI will double its efforts on monitoring, evaluating, and capturing lessons learned from this program so these can be shared with local governments, the U.S. Mission in Kampala, and USAID. In light of the recently released Quadrennial Development and Diplomacy Review (QDDR) by the Department of State and the soon-to-be-completed USAID Uganda Mission's five-year Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), there is much to learn from how OTI has worked in the northern region over the last 2.5 years, especially in the areas of risk-taking, coordination with government counterparts, quality oversight of infrastructure projects, and delivering results.
On January 28, 2011, OTI will cease approving of new grants. By April 15, 2011, 98 percent of all grants will be completed and Kitgum and Pader field offices will be closed. This crucial closeout phase will be used to ensure the positive legacy will continue after the program is completed.
Next Steps
OTI priorities for the next quarter include the following:
- End of grant approvals is January 31, 2011;
- Work to capture the legacy of the three-year OTI program; and
- Program closeout slated for May 15, 2011.
For further information, please contact the USAID Africa Bureau.
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