Diakonia Uganda 2015-2019 Diakonia Uganda 2015-2019 - Diakonia Civil Society III new strategy Utrymmet för civila samhället att verka för fördjupad demokrati och ökad respekt för mänskliga rättigheter i Uganda är hotat. Samtidigt som civilsamhället blivit mer aktivt och antalet organisationer som driver rättighetsfrågor ökat har lagstiftning stramats åt och såväl direkt censur som själv-censur har bevittnats de senaste åren. För många organisationer har det blivit svårare arbeta med demokrati och rättighetsfrågor. Ett nytt lagförslag ligger för diskussion i parlamentet och som, om det antas ytterligare inskränker förenings- organisations- och yttrandefriheten i Uganda. Förslaget ger regeringen utökade möjligheter att stänga ner eller vidta åtgärder mot organisationer som man på relativt godtyckliga grunder anser vara uppviglande eller opassade. Förslaget innebär också omfattande registreringskrav med bla årlig omregistrering och krav på skriftliga överenskommelser med de lokala myndigheterna i de distrikt där man verkar.

Den svenska strategin för Uganda har uttalade mål om att stärka jämställdhet, demokrati och respekt för mänskliga rättigheter med särskilt fokus på att öka kapaciteten hos det civila samhället att att verka för respekten för medborgerliga och politiska rättigheter samt att främja medborgares förutsättningar att påverka politiska processer och utkräva ansvar. 

Diakonia är en svensk biståndsorganisation som fokuserar på att ge människor kunskap om sina rättigheter och möjlighet att arbeta tillsammans med andra för demokrati, mänskliga rättigheter, jämställdhet, rättvisa och fred. Diakonia arbetar i 30 länder runtom i världen. Kontoret i Uganda etablerades 2008 på initiativ av Ambassaden och Ambassaden har hittills finansierat två faser av programmet. Diakonia har nu inkommit med ett programförslag för en tredje fas "Civic Activism for Human Rights, Gender Justice and Social Accountability" 2015-2018 om 49 668 923 SEK. 

Programmets övergripande mål är: 1) Poor & marginalized citizens (girls, boys, men & women) in North Eastern & Northern Uganda access justice and enjoy their fundamental human rights by 2018 2) Poor and marginalised women and girls, men and boys are valued equally and have equal access to opportunities and resources for socio-cultural and economic wellbeing 3) Partner organisations are progressively becoming democratic, accountable, relevant and effective in the delivery of rights based programmes.

Programmets logik går ut på att genom ökad kunskap och stärkt påverkansarbete hos strategiska målgrupper samt riktat stöd till organisationsstärkning uppnå större grad av respekt för mänskliga rättigheter, ökad jämställdhet och bättre kapacitet hos civila samhället i Uganda.

Ambassaden har varit engagerad för stärkt demokrati och mänskliga rättigheter även under tidigare strategiperioder. Stödet har främst gått till civila samhället men även till statliga institutioner framför allt inom rättssektorn och FNs högkommissarie för mänskliga rättigheter.

Diakonia kommer att vara Ambassadens avtalspart och kommer i sin tur initialt ha avtal med ett 15-tal partnerorganisationer. Under programmets första sex månader kommer en baseline survey att genomföras och resultatramverket kommer att uppdateras baserat på utkomsten av den. Ambitionen är att ha utrymme att knyta till sig nya partners för att leverera på de områden som skalas upp och förstärks i denna tredje fas a programmet tex Womens Economic Empowerment och Male Involvement in Gender Equality. The space for civil society to push for greater democracy and respect for human rights in Uganda is threatened. While civil society has become more active and the number of organizations advocating for democracy and human rights has increased legislation has tightened and both direct censorship and self-censorship has been witnessed in recent years. For many organizations, it has become more difficult to work with democracy and rights issues. A new bill is discussed in Parliament that, if passed further will restrict the freedom of association and expression in Uganda. The bill gives extensive powers to government via the NGO board to shut down organisations that are considered "subversive" or "prejudical to the interests of Uganda". The bill also require organisations to register annually and agree on a MoU with local government in the districts of operation.

The Swedish strategy of Uganda has a clera aim to strengthen gender equality, democracy, respect for human rights, with particular focus on increasing the capacity of civil society to promote respect for civil and political rights and to promote citizens' opportunities to influence political processes and accountability.

Diakonia is a Swedish faith-based development organization, its vision, mission and goal are based on theological reflection and the universality of human rights. Diakonia works together with local partner organizations for sustainable change for the most vulnerable people in the world. The office in Uganda was established in 2008 on the initiative of the Embassy of Sweden and the Embassy has been supporting it since then in two phases. Diakonia has submitted a program proposal for a third phase "Civic Activism for Human Rights, Gender Justice and Social Accountability" 2015-2018 of 49 668 923 SEK. 

The global objectives are: 1) Poor and marginalized Citizens (girls, boys, men & women) in North Eastern & Northern Uganda access justice and enjoy Their fundamental human rights by 2018 2) Poor and marginalized women and girls, men and boys are valued equally and have equal access to opportunities and resources for socio-cultural and economic wellbeing 3) Partner organization are progressively Becoming democratic, accountable, relevant and Effective in the delivery of rights based Programmes.

The program logic is based on the assumption that increased knowledge and strong advocacy of strategic target audiences and targeted support to the organizational strengthening will achieve a greater degree of respect for human rights, gender equality and better capacity of civil society in Uganda.

The embassy has been committed to strengthening democracy and human rights also in previous strategy periods. The assistance has gone to civil society but also to state institutions, above all in the justice sector and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Diakonia will be the agreement partner of the Embassy and will in turn initially to have agreements with some 15 partner organizations. During the first six months, a baseline survey to be carried out and the results frame work will be updated based on the outcome of it. The ambition is to have space to tie up new partners to deliver on the areas that are scaled up and strengthened in this third phase of a program such as Women's Economic Empowerment and Male Involvement in Gender Equality. The program results framework contains three so-called ultimate outcomes;
1. Human Rights and Democratic Governance:Poor & marginalized citizens (girls, boys, men & women) in North Eastern & Northern Uganda access justice and enjoy their fundamental human rights by 2019.
2. Gender Equality:Poor and marginalized women and girls, men and boys are valued equally and have equal access to opportunities and resources for socio-cultural and economic well-being.
3. Civil society organisations' systems, practises and programs promote a culture of learning, accountability and development.
Further, the progamme's key priorities were to enhance human rights defence; combat GBV; promote economic empowerment of women, girls and youth; work with men and boys for gender equality; increase access to age appropriate, gender-sensitive sexual and reproductive health services to youth; and promote sustainable development and climate justice and disaster risk reduction/community resilience.
The Diakonia programme 2015-2019 covered four regions (Karamoja, Acholi, Lango and Teso) and had in total 19 implementing partners, whereof 13 located in the Northern and North-Eastern part of the country, and 6 operating at national level. After a mid-term review the number of program partners was drastically cut, to enable an improved follow-up. During the last extension period (2019), the program had 7 partner organisations (IPs); Gulu Women Economic Development & Globalization (GWED-G), Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU), African Youth Development Link (AYDL), Chapter 4, Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA), Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), Action for Development (ACFODE).