Aid on Spreadsheets

HIVOS Freedom of Expression Uganda - Freedom of Expression Uganda - new strategy

In recent years, Uganda has seen an increase in restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, expression and association. While civil society has become more active, and the number of CSOs working on rights issues has increased, legislation has tightened and many organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to work on Freedom of Expression and rights issues. Media houses are strongly driven by political and/or private interests, and self-censorship is common. The right to information is secured in the Access to Information Act, which is relatively progressive for the region, but in practice things are different. This law is also inhibited by other legislation in place to regulate digital information and terrorism. Meanwhile, awareness among the population about human rights is low, and there is growing apathy towards both the state and civil society. HIVOS (Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries) is a Dutch aid organisation that focuses on two areas: "The Open Domain" aims to promote open and democratic societies; and "The Green domain" promotes environmentally sustainable development. HIVOS operates in 26 countries through 700 partners, and has its headquarters in The Hague in the Netherlands. They have six regional offices around the world, including one in Nairobi for East Africa. HIVOS has a long experience of forwarding funds to, and building capacity and advocacy skills for its partners. HIVOS regional office for East Africa has submitted to the Embassy of the programme proposal "Connecting Voices of Citizens to Promote and Protect Civic Spaces in Uganda 2016 - 2019". The proposal is based on three thematic areas: a) the media, b) internet freedom and c) arts and culture incl. innovative media, and has four results areas: - Improved and sustained government responsiveness informed by Citizens; - Increased access to actionable quality information and data Citizen Engagement; - An inclusive creative industry as a viable sector to Promote Social Justice; - Protective Mechanisms in place for change agents at Risk (on-line and off-line). HIVOS has been operating in Uganda since 2007, but the new proposed programme is more ambitious. Its budget is estimated at MSEK 29 for the period 2015 - 2018. Sweden supports HIVOS already in other African countries, e g Zimbabwe and Tanzania. The Swedish strategy of Uganda has the aim to strengthen gender equality, democracy and respect for human rights, with a particular focus on increasing the capacity of civil society to promote human rights and citizens' opportunities to influence political processes and demand accountability. The Embassy’s operationalisation plan has identified "Access to Information and Means of Communication" as a focus area for addressing all four results areas of the Swedish strategy for Uganda. Traditional and new media are expected to highlight relevant issues and contribute to a vibrant debate on human rights, SRHR and gender equality. Increased access to information for citizens is seen as key for them to make informed decisions in their daily lives. HIVOS’s theory of change is that citizens’ engagement and initiatives are key to effective public institutions. A prerequisite for this is that citizens have access to relevant information. In this respect, new information technologies are crucial. HIVOS’s partners in Uganda represent: - Media houses and art institutions; - Individual journalists and artists; - Women's rights organisations; - Civil society organisations; - Individual "change agents" with innovative ideas but without institutional support; - ICT experts who will develop infrastructure and promote net freedoms. HIVOS will be the Embassy’s agreement partner and will in turn, to start with, have separate agreements with some 15 partner organisations. During the first three months (‘inception phase’), an elaborated results framework and an action plan will be developed in cooperation with pa

Civil society including Arts, Culture and Media become increasingly effective at expanding civic space, promoting gender equality and influencing Government on key policy issues.

Project ID

SE-0-SE-6-5118010002-UGA-15150

Activity status

2 - Implementation

Aid type

B03 - Contributions to specific-purpose programmes and funds managed by international organisations (multilateral, INGO)

% to Uganda

100.00

Organisations

Implementing

INTERNATIONAL NGO

Funding

Sweden

Extending

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

Accountable

STICHTING HIVOS

CRS code	%
Democratic participation and civil society (15150)	100.0