CO-Uganda Davos Week of Action 2018 As the notorious gathering of some of the richest and most powerful person in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum takes place, Oxfam, partners and CSOs across regions and countries are responding to the Fight Inequality Alliance#s call for a Week of Action from the 19th to 26th January to mobilize across the world to highlight the crisis of inequality and to demonstrate that people are already organizing to demand a more equal society. Inequality has become one of the biggest economic, social, and political challenges of our time.
The aim of this Week of Action is to show the global public that the answers to address this complex challenge do not only come from those elites; that instead the way to tackle inequality is through strengthening the power of ordinary people to organize for change.
A kaleidoscope of marches, outdoor music events, people#s assemblies, travelling sound trucks, and stunts, as well as personal stories of why inequality matters and why people are fighting it will be captured and told during this week.
In Uganda, despite recent initial reforms trying to tackle poverty and inequality, there is limited scrutiny, oversight and lack of politicalwill on collection, allocation and utilization of public resources which has negatively impacted on the quality of public service delivery outcomes leaving majority in abject poverty. Paradoxically, inequality has increased along with economic growth as Uganda has seen relatively few that have benefited from economic gains. Those at thebottom are on a downward poverty spiral while those at the top are on an upward trend. This situation is worsened by a fiscal system that is bent towards regressively rather than progressivity.
Evidence from more than 150 countries, rich and poor alike,spanning over 30 years, shows that, overall, investment in health, education and social protection tackles inequality. Additionally, research shows that public services are great equalizers, particularly for women. Oxfam in Uganda and partners are contributing to the Week of Action by organizing Ugandans to call on their leaders to increasing public spending on social services, and to address income inequality disparities arising from poor service delivery in the sectors such as agriculture, health, and social protection.
During the week Oxfam Uganda and partners will organize a caravan conducted in Teso-Serere district. The district has been selected as a hotspot showcasing poor public service delivery. The caravan will follow a route across which it will engage and gather people. The caravan involves a minibus van with a public-address system anddecked/branded with information, education and communication materials on the themes of inequality and it will be featuring on a Radio talk-show live with a reach of 2 Million citizens. The caravan will culminate into a community debate to be held at the districtheadquarters. This is a public space which is expected to host key district officials (political and technical); CSO representatives and citizens. Thedebate will be conducted through the people#s parliament with a panel discussion between the district officials and the citizen. It will focus on service delivery issues identified in the analysis and on with highlights on Oxfam#s inequality findings. Thesame meeting will also consider issues/concerns/ideas that arose from the meetings and were referred to the district for action. This is also aimed at influencing budget processes.