Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Ms. Peniana from Sodnet demonstrating how the HUDUMA platform works
I have worked with civil society in Uganda for
a while and engaged with different development partners on topical issues of
poverty resource monitoring, but to be sincere it was all about paper work i.e.
get a printed tool, go to the field, collect data and analyze, write a report
and disseminate. Imagine all the time spent while processing data would have been saved on my time sheet.
Waiting for a miracle to happen, I was introduced to HUDUMA when I attended a
workshop organized by CEWIT in Kampala.
As you might guess, I was amazed by what HUDUMA meant on this planet earth. To
save my time on cracking my head, I was introduced to HUDUMA on Thursday 17th
May, 2012, by Ms. Peninah from Sodnet-
Kenya This lady just said HUDUMA was a
Swahili word meaning ‘service delivery’ and that Sodnet had development a
platform to engage leaders with the citizenry to monitor service delivery and
report on the platform. HUDUMA is a multi-media platform- using Facebook,
Twitter, blogs, flicker, skype, emails
and the phone. For which CEW-IT had secured a code -6030.
Mr. Emma Oluka, demonstrating HUDUMA on the smart phone
What
made me more interested in this HUDUMA word was that even my phone can be used
to report. Look, go to the shop, ask for a smart phone and pay and business begins. Now what about those with
Kabiriti? I asked Mr. Oluka CEW-IT ICT Officer who had introduce the
participant to ICT based monitoring tools. My dear, with Kabirit, you can only
send your message to 6030, but with a smart phone, he said, he would install
the tools, your work will be only to fill in the template while in the field,
send the filled template and a report would
be generated instantly. Look how much time would
I have saved by using a smart phone in poverty resource
monitoring. Adopting to ICT is the way to go in order to save on time and get
instant reports that have feedback from the service providers. HUDUMA will move
CEWIT to the next steps in getting updated information that is reliable,
specific and timely compared to the paper work that I had previously used
without back of the locations.
Mr. Eddie Kayinda (Standing) facilitating at the CEW-IT workshop ( 17-19, May, 2012
My
experience did not end with HUDUMA, the workshop had other packages of
Participatory Expenditure Tracking Surveys that were delivered by Mr. Eddie
Kayinda and Mr. Henery Muguzi of Governance Associates. These guys made the
link between PETS and the Local Government planning processes which I had
formally not bothered to explore. It was interesting when the facilitator Mr.
Muguzi introduced us to the overview of
the Budget Formulation and Implementation where he emphasized that one of the
mechanisms of monitoring social accountability is to build strong networks in
the Country and building internal capacity of CSOs in understanding how
government operates at different levels. CSO therefore, have to acquaint
themselves with the tools of social service delivery, and also know the
different social service delivery programs so that advocacy is on an informed
perspective rather than rumors. It was interesting to learn what a budget is,
how it is formulated and the Local Government processes. Also important to note
was that one has to clearly understand the social goals of service delivery,
the roots of service delivery problems, social services provision framework,
and the mechanisms in budget and service delivery monitoring if advocacy is to
be effective.
Ms. Lucy Den Teuling (right) and Mr. James Mwirima (left) addressing the participants
On another note, Lucy Den Teuling a representative from Oxfam Novib mentioned CEWIT was a special CSO that was integrating
ICT within its work. That ICT can not work alone without the other aspects of
development. She urged the participants to
utilize the knowledge gained and apply the skills from the training.
Who
was who in the workshop:
1. Rwenzori Consortium for Civic Competence
(RWECO) with its members from Karambi Action for Life Improvement, Good Hope
foundation for Rural Development, Rwenzori Information Centers Network and Integrated
Women’s Development Program (RIDE-AFRICA)
2. ACORD- GULU with its partners from Northern Uganda
3. CEFORD- with its partners from West Nile
4. PAC-Uganda from Teso Region, and FHRI from Central Uganda. A team of 55 participants were present
and fully engaged for three days at Eastern Route Hotel, Kireka.
My take from the workshop on ICT based poverty
resource monitoring was that HUDUMA and the smart phones if used properly will
enable the citizens to interact with their leaders since the HUDUMA planform
will be linked to the service providers in the Local Governments and the line Ministries
in Uganda.
CEW-IT is a consortium of RWECO, CEFORD, ACORD, PAC-Uganda and DENIVA/FHRI
By
Sheila K
RWECO
RWECO
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