Namayingo District Development Programme for fishing Communities (NDDP-FC)

Background

Namayingo District was selected to be supported under the Iceland-Uganda Development Cooperation under the existing bilateral cooperation between the two governments.

The district was assessed by the Embassy of Iceland using the objective criteria that included a multi-poverty index. It was selected and endorsed by the partners (GoU and GoI) as the most deserving district among the five districts that required support during the consultations with the Ministry of Local Government.  

The situation analysis studies were conducted focusing on basic Education, WASH and District Local Government capacity Assessment from October to December 2019.  The studies established deficiencies in public services delivery, coupled with wide capacity gaps that contribute to the rampant poverty in fishing communities.

A consensus was reached on the shared vision and strategic framework aimed to transform the fishing communities during a two-day highly participatory strategic development planning meeting.

The Iceland support to Namayingo district ought to be directed to address the development challenges in the fishing communities beginning with sectors where the comprehensive situation analysis studies had been undertaken and evidence-based strategic development plans formulated as hereunder;

·  Basic Education – Covering primary education, lower secondary education, and vocational and technical training: support was required for capital investment in school infrastructure and facilities; capacity building for education sector management, school governing bodies, and school leadership and teachers; sensitization of parents and community members; provision of books and other teaching and learning materials; and targeted support to selected service delivery operations like school inspection, and assessment and monitoring of learning outcomes.

•  Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene – WASH: Support was required for capital investments in water infrastructure and facilities, and sanitation and hygiene facilities for the population in rural growth centres and institutions (schools, health facilities, and administrative facilities); capacity development for WASH; and community mobilization and sensitization; and targeted support to start-up operation and maintenance of WASH facilities in the initial years.

·   District Local Government general Capacity Support: Support was required to provide working tools and equipment to service delivery line departments and management support departments; capacity development to enhance professional development and generic skills for technical staff and politicians; and support to selected institutional development interventions including building partnerships.

·   Cross-cutting Issues: Support was required to develop the capacity of the district to mainstream human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainability, and other significant local cross-cutting issues like HIV/AIDs in all development interventions.

·  Future Development Support: Future support may be required for Local Economic Development (LED) interventions with demonstrated or promising impacts on promoting youth employment and women empowerment and taking advantage of the district growth opportunities in fisheries and trade 

Pre-program Support

The district has received pre-program support in institutional and human capacity-building activities to address critical capacity gaps, which were identified during the district capacity assessment study. This was necessary to enhance the district preparedness to manage the implementation of the Iceland support in due course

• Human capacity building support covered training in critical skills in,
• Administration and human resource management
• Planning, budgeting, and financial management
• Governance and accountability
• Procurement and contract management
• Gender and Human Rights
• Sustainable Environmental Management.

On Institutional capacity support, the district has received an assortment of equipment and tools for line departments and support departments. They include; 20 computers, furniture, photocopiers, camera, printers, filing cabinets, eight motorcycles, three vehicles (two double cabins and staff van) two fiberglass boats with engines. The district is expecting an office Block for the education department and a vehicle (Pickup truck) for inspection.

The Partnership Agreement and MoU

The Government of Iceland approved support to NDDP-FC with funding of Eight (8) Million Us Dollars for a period of three (3) years from 2021 – 2023, aligned to the timeframe for current Iceland’s Policy for International Development Cooperation 20119 – 2023.

The Government of Iceland through a series of engagement meetings with the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, officially signed a Partnership Agreement for NDDP – FC.

As Namayingo District, we are extremely grateful for the support provided by the Government of Iceland, we want to pledge our total commitment to ensuring that the program implementation is smooth.

We commend the Government of Uganda for offering the district a chance to partner with the Iceland Government in this development framework that will see improvements in areas of Education, WASH, and Capacity Development.