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Ugandan Communities Gain Autonomy
FrontLines - November 2009
By Sven Lindholm
Odek is a small hamlet in
northern Uganda named after a
quiet river. Yet it is known more
as the home of Joseph Kony,
the leader of the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA).
Devastated during the long
rebellion, Odek is slowly showing
signs of recovery.
In July 2009, the primary
school in Odek that Kony
attended reopened—a politically
and historically significant
event. Its renovation—the
school is now attended by 900
pupils—included classrooms,
teacher housing, a kitchen,
and latrines. The reopening is
designed to ease the burden of
families returning to Odek from
camps for internally displaced
persons.
USAID has been working in
post-conflict northern Uganda
since May 2008 to help increase
the visibility of, and confidence
in, all levels of government.
The greatest focus has been at
the sub-county level, where
decisions are made on the
ground and ownership rests with
local communities.
This approach mirrors that of
the Ugandan government, where
local governments have strong
powers to address their development
needs.
“Rather than spreading grants
too thin through a vast geographic
area, work is targeted to
sub-counties by using a series
of criteria such as return rates,
the effectiveness of sub-county
leaders, a local development
plan, the existence of other
USAID and donor activities,
and the ability of the sub-county
government to take the lead in
the actual implementation,” said
John Gattorn, USAID’s Office
of Transition Initiatives (OTI)
deputy country representative.
For other sub-counties in
northern Uganda, including
Agoro, Alero, Kitgum,
Matidi, Pabbo and Purongo,
a similar coordinated effort is
taking place to show that life
is going back to normal and
to build confidence in the
government.
Now that the LRA insurgency
is over, governance rests
with local leaders.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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