Skip to main content
Community Contribution

Collaboration, Technology, and Local Governance in Uganda

Sep 24, 2014
facebook sharing button
twitter sharing button
email sharing button

Localization, collaboration, systems strengthening, mapping, sustainability – buzzwords that we hear frequently in international development. Last week’s SID KM Workgroup Event, “Collaboration, Technology, and Local Governance: How USAID and UNICEF are working together to strengthen Uganda’s district-level governments” shed some light on what it means to employ these concepts on the ground.

Since 2010, USAID/Uganda’s Strengthening Decentralization for Sustainability (SDS) program has been working with leaders from 19 Ugandan focus districts through District Operational Plans, or DOPs, to improve coordination among USAID-funded programs via joint implementation, monitoring, and evaluation activities. Regular learning events with all DOP stakeholders have created a collaborative atmosphere and enthusiasm among district leadership. According to USAID’s Christine Gandomi, in just a few short years this commitment to building transparency and trust has changed the way USAID/Uganda works and the nature of their relationships.

Complementing this collaborative spirit is a data system that maps which USAID implementing partners are operating in which districts, and what they’re doing. Developed in partnership with UNICEF’s DevTrac website, real-time, visual information will help DOP leadership understand the landscape of USAID and other donor programming throughout Uganda and ultimately make connections and decisions at national, regional, and local levels. As Dr. Sharad Sapra from UNICEF illustrated, with approximately $1B of foreign investment in Uganda for 35M people, there’s a need to better coordinate for maximum impact.

Some would argue that underscoring the success of the DOP program is the Mission’s adoption of a collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approach, as defined in their Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). By explicitly naming CLA, the process has been easier to navigate. While there’s a common goal, the experience of creating honest and constructive dialogue and allowing for adaptation has led to what the SDS Chief of Party, Ella Hoxha, now sees: DOPs are promoting transparency and inclusivity, there’s more accountability and more efficient resource allocation.

In short, the event (and certainly the DOP program itself), as reflected upon by USAID’s Jeremiah Carew, has been a microcosm of themes that mirror where USAID is today, focused on:

  • increased evidence base
  • formal embrace of transparency
  • data systems
  • sustainability
  • and moving from idea to implementation to success through an open attitude of collaboration.

For more information on the District Operational Plans, including “What is a DOP?,” design objectives, process, and successes and challenges, click here to see the poster displayed during the SID event.

Related resources