In Uganda, where socio-economic challenges persist, organizations such as MUCOBADI play a pivotal role in promoting human rights and fostering accountability within communities.
By addressing pressing issues such as poverty, education, healthcare, and gender inequality, MUCOBADI strives to create positive and sustainable change.
Right and accountability programming serves as the backbone of effective non-profit work. By integrating a human rights-based approach, organizations can ensure that their interventions prioritize the protection and fulfillment of individuals’ rights.
This approach empowers marginalized communities, strengthens their agency, and enables them to demand accountability from duty bearers.
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Empowering Girls to Lead: The Success Story of Habene Betty
Bugiri District, Uganda — In a society where gender norms dictated that girls should be seen and not heard, 22-year-old Habene Betty, a resident of Bugiri District, had experienced firsthand the challenges of growing up as a girl in a rural setting. Betty’s journey, filled with discrimination, limited opportunities, and social constraints, took a transformative
July 20, 2023
Our Impact
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637 civil and criminal cases were reported and handled by MUCOBADI through District Action Centers Eastern Uganda.
5,660 parents and guardians trained on positive parenting skills thereby, contributing to reduction of violence against children.
19,229 School-age children received early life skills development trainings and are currently role models for behaviour change
Since 2004 service delivery failures and poor development outcomes have been increasingly seen as consequences of weak governance and accountability failures resulting into increasing demand for interaction between citizens and service providers to improve accountability.
There is increasing weak governance and accountability failures and often too much pressure to meet short term social and health sector output targets (especially where human development indicators are very poor) which lead to poor service delivery.
Supply side interventions to improve accessibility and quality of services are very common. However, increasing inputs into a system where there is insufficient accountability for their use may provide more opportunity for misuse of resources and further weaken the service delivery system
Serious challenges such as vulnerability, orphan-hood, violence, early marriage and teenage pregnancy and harmful traditional practices affect the majority of Uganda’s children on a daily basis. If children are not safe, their health, development, learning and participation suffers. In Uganda’s communities, poverty is a leading cause of child vulnerability manifested in violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and child marriages.
The high rates in adolescent and teenage pregnancies is linked to the low levels of progression to secondary education and negative cultural practices such as early marriage. Women and young girls are more susceptible to HIV due to gender inequality, discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence which originates from institutionalized male dominance in society.
MUCOBADI will apply a human rights based approach to its work, involving respect for four core principles; Participation, Equality, Empowerment and Accountability. We believe that the lives of women, girls and children change sustainably through community led approaches that ensure that they are represented and manage their own agenda.
MUCOBADI will implement interventions that address the underlying causes of inequality and rights abuse and develop and implement evidence-based approaches that demonstrate positive change.
MUCOBADI will partner with International and National partners, lower Local Governments, Community Based Organisations, community structures and families to support interventions to prevent and respond to inequality, exploitation, social-economic and health rights abuse.
Demand side social accountability approaches will be employed to influence short term outputs while empowering citizens to engage in decisions affecting their own development and enhancing prospects for sustainable, accountable and responsive service delivery in the long term.
To strengthen capacity of community structures to protect and respond to rights abuse, exploitation and violence against children and women.
Strategic Actions
- Partner, collaborate, improve knowledge and empower community structures to undertake legal and policy advocacy on issues that undermine children and women rights
- Adapt and implement approaches that challenge communities’ behaviors and social norms that perpetuate rights abuse
- Research and generation of relevant data for evidence based programming towards child protection and women empowerment
To improve access to safe environments that promote learner retention, child safety, well-being and development.
Strategic Actions
- Strengthen parenting practices through positive parenting skills building, psychosocial support and reproductive health services
- Improve access to education and health outcomes for children and their families through early childhood development services
- Promote safe learning environments in primary schools through engagement with stakeholders
To empower ordinary citizens to undertake policy analysis and social accountability for equitable, accessible and accountable services.
Strategic Actions
- Increase citizens’ knowledge on health rights and responsibilities, applicable policies and evidence based empowerment to enable citizens to directly voice their concerns
- Support communities to influence relevant planning and budgeting processes and measure progress on health and other services indicators.
- Support people centred advocacy strategies that address key policies and barriers in the service sector
