Search

Amid a rise of misinformation worldwide, this paper examines digital misinformation literacy as it relates to COVID-19 news in East Africa. The study is grounded in inoculation theory and contributes to the body of scholarship examining misinformation literacy beyond the Western world. Data came from a comparative, cross-national survey in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (N = 3,203), making this the largest known empirical investigation into digital misinformation literacy in the region within the context of a pandemic. Paper surveys were distributed throughout all three countries in 2021. The data revealed differences in actual and perceived misinformation literacy levels. Kenyans and Rwandans were better at detecting false COVID-19 statements in the media, whereas Ugandans were better at detecting true messages. Similarly, Kenyans' and Rwandans' perceived levels of digital misinformation literacy were higher than Ugandans'. Regarding perceived exposure to COVID-19 information, Kenyans felt they were exposed to fake COVID-19 news online more often than Ugandans, who felt more exposed than Rwandans. This research contributes to the growing literature on digital misinformation literacy, an area which isn't significantly studied in many world regions, especially in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Foundations for All (FFA) project as a frame for broader discussions of minimal computing, this paper expores education for displaced populations in Uganda and the role technology has in that education. FFA (2018–2022) was a collaboration designed to develop and implement a blended bridging programme for refugee students to participate in universities in Uganda. This paper explores the role that digital technologies had to play in this project in imagining educational futures predicated on minimalism and the judicious use and non-use of technology. When used, the emphasis on available technology was dominant, as was a pedagogical emphasis on psychosocial support and social justice. Technology seen in this approach is best imagined as facilitating opportunities for contact and care, rather than as the driver of the educational enterprise. Such an approach runs counter to many of the discourses around digital development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the potential of a paper diary for strengthening accountability in public agricultural extension services. Therefore a paper diary called 'Diary for Agricultural Extension Officers' was developed and tested in Uganda. A qualitative case study research approach was applied for the development and assessment of the diary. Data were collected using focus group discussions and individual face-to-face interviews. Data analysis was conducted using the content analysis method. Paper diaries can strengthen accountability in public agricultural extension services by enabling alignment of the extension activities of the field agents to the goals of the extension service and to the needs of the beneficiaries, in addition to mitigating information asymmetry about the extension activities. However, the implementation of paper diaries requires sensitization of the beneficiaries on the need for verification and feedback. This study is centred around addressing a practical problem of field agents' accountability and results have the potential to improve management of public services such as agricultural extension. Moreover, the findings could also be relevant for all types of organizations and service delivery methods. This study expanded the boundaries of the principal-agent theory by applying it to the accountability of agricultural extension services using paper diaries, which have hitherto not been widely applied. This study advances the debates of accountability and coordination of agricultural extension services by assessing the potential of a paper diary as the literature has to date assessed the potential of electronic diaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, the President of Uganda suspended the "Democratic Governance Facility" (DGF), which is a European basket fund aimed at providing financial support in areas such as democracy, human rights, and rule of law. Paradoxically, the DGF had explicitly adopted a new "politically smart framework", which is a development approach that promises to deliver aid more effectively and sustainably in contentious environments. This raises the question: what went wrong? Informed by post-development theoretical arguments and through a discursive analysis of the DGF's implementation of this new aid framework, this paper argues that this framework itself does not allow proper understanding of what makes aid "political"; in casu that it does not allow appreciation of local viewpoints of democracy, representation, and ownership. Then, rather than improving the status quo, this paper argues in favour of making aid "political" through a fundamental reconsideration of the very substance and infrastructure of aid itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uganda is home to 1.5 million refugees from DRC, Burundi, South Sudan and other countries. The Uganda political framework is one of the most progressive and inclusive toward refugees. Only a fraction of the refugees is likely to revert to their home countries. The papers collected in this special issue assess Uganda's progressive refugee policy with reference to how it functioned in the era of COVID-19 using a unique panel data collected between 2017 and 2021. The findings of the special issue stress that the support to refugees and hosts is helping to manage daily challenges but not to ultimately get them out of poverty. Further, this support was insufficient to provide a comprehensive response to COVID-19. For the long-term sustainable integration and development, new policy approaches are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty and economic insecurity are driving forces in entering sex work among women in low resource areas. This increases their risk for HIV by influencing the decision-making process for high-risk behaviors. Few studies have examined the financial behaviors and capacities of women engaged in sex work (WESW). This paper describes the methodology used in a financial diary study aimed at characterizing women's spending patterns within a larger prevention intervention trial among WESW in Uganda. From June 2019 to March 2020, a subsample of 150 women randomized to the combination HIV prevention and economic empowerment treatment was asked to complete financial diaries to monitor daily expenditures in real time. Two hundred and forty financial diaries were distributed to study participants during the financial literacy sessions at eight sites. A total of 26,919 expense entries were recorded over 6 months. Sex-work-related expenses comprised approximately 20.01% of the total. The process of obtaining quality and consistent data was challenging due to the transient and stigmatized nature of sex work coupled with women's varying levels of education. Frequent check-ins, using peer support, code word or visuals, and a shorter time frame would allow for a more accurate collection of high-frequency data. Moreover, the ability of women to complete the financial diaries despite numerous challenges speaks to their potential value as a data collection tool, and also as an organizing tool for finances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to small firm sizes and inter-linkages between household and business finances, small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries are inherently vulnerable to temporary and permanent income shortfalls, and hence household poverty. While the International Labour Organisation (ILO) generally defines self-employment without employees as vulnerable employment, little empirical research has been done on the extent to which the self-employed are indeed vulnerable. This paper makes two main contributions: first, it operationalises the concept of vulnerability in the context of self-employment in developing countries by defining vulnerability as the risk of having business income below a living wage threshold. Secondly, it investigates the extent and correlates of vulnerability. Using a six-year balanced entrepreneur panel dataset from Kampala, Uganda, it is shown that the self-employed are heterogeneous with respect to vulnerability and observed earnings: 58–74% of the samples are classified as vulnerable in a given year and mostly earn incomes below the living wage threshold. Vulnerable entrepreneurs are shown to be significantly different from non-vulnerable entrepreneurs in several dimensions, including those that do not directly predict income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several purchasing arrangements coexist in Uganda, creating opportunities for synergy but also leading to conflicting incentives and inefficiencies in resource allocation and purchasing functions. This paper analyzes the key health care purchasing functions in Uganda and the implications of the various purchasing arrangements for universal health coverage (UHC). The data for this paper were collected through a document review and stakeholder dialogue. The analysis was guided by the Strategic Health Purchasing Progress Tracking Framework created by the Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC) and its technical partners. Uganda has a minimum health care package that targets the main causes of morbidity and mortality as well as specific vulnerable groups. However, provision of the package is patchy, largely due to inadequate domestic financing and duplication of services funded by development partners. There is selective contracting with private-sector providers. Facilities receive direct funding from both the government budget and development partners. Unlike government-budget funding, payment from output-based donor-funded projects and performance-based financing (PBF) projects is linked to service quality and has specified conditions for use. Specification of UHC targets is still nascent and evolving in Uganda. Expansion of service coverage in Uganda can be achieved through enhanced resource pooling and harmonization of government and donor priorities. Greater provider autonomy, better work planning, direct facility funding, and provision of flexible funds to service providers are essential elements in the delivery of high-quality services that meet local needs and Uganda's UHC aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses poverty dynamics and checks for the existence of poverty traps among refugee and host communities living close to each other in Uganda. Although some non-linearities emerge in asset dynamics, there is convergence towards one stable equilibrium for the whole sample that suggests the existence of a structural poverty trap. However, households are quite heterogeneous: when analysing refugees and hosts separately, refugees converge to a lower own-group equilibrium than hosts. The household size and education are asset growth enablers for both communities. Noticeably, access to land, past history and social cohesion are also significant correlates of refugees' asset dynamics. From a policy perspective, structural poverty traps are bad news, because standard anti-poverty interventions would not unlock the trap. Our results stress the need of more structural approaches aimed at promoting economic growth in the whole area where refugee and host communities live, targeting both communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial policy is enjoying a resurgence. Though the revival of industrial policies has been generally associated with the prioritisation of increasing exports, several African countries have introduced domestically oriented industrial policies. Despite their increased adoption, domestically oriented industrial policies have had limited success. This paper deepens our understanding of contemporary constraints to industrialization by analysing Uganda's failed attempts at banning used clothes and using public procurement to promote domestic consumption of locally produced goods. Despite acknowledgment of the political constraints of industrial policy in academic and policy circles, the Ugandan government has replicated domestically oriented industrial policies implemented elsewhere, without adapting them to local political realities. This has resulted in significant resistance to industrial policies, which showcase the salience of the legacies of past policies. In particular, the paper highlights how resistance exists within government (from powerful budgetary ministries) and through the competing interests of industrial firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the appeal of advertisements or adverts derives from a capacity to satisfy a primordial wish for pleasurable looking. An advert essentially sets out to impress on its audience a sign with easily readable mythic meaning. The unconscious of society, however, structures materiality of adverts in such a way that recognition could quite easily be overlaid with misrecognition. This paper uses semiotics to discover where and how the visual presence of adverts works against their intended hegemonic positions. Drawing upon a poststructuralist theoretical framework, the paper's findings depart from claims to comprehensiveness and instead show a deferral of meaning. They also embrace plurality whilst questioning the validity of authorial authority. Results indicate that the alienated subject – MTN Uganda's TV adverts – gave rise to other identification tags because its target audience knowingly and willingly wanted to have agency over their stories. The counternarrative that this paper unearths in part owes its existence to social media's calling card, social endorsements or affordances, which trigger several decision heuristics. The poststructuralist situated knowledges in this case open themselves for new, unthought-of, and, perhaps, unexpected forms of knowledge production, unfolding from interrelated material-semiotic nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to address the scarcity of research on alcohol marketing exposure and underage drinking in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examines perceptions of alcohol advertisements and perceived peer, adult, and parental attitudes regarding alcohol use and intentions to drink among vulnerable youth. The Kampala Youth Survey is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2014 with service-seeking youth (ages 12–18 years) living in the slums of Kampala (n = 1,134) who were participating in Uganda Youth Development Link drop-in centers. Survey measures assessed perceptions of alcohol ads, social norms regarding alcohol use, and intentions to drink alcohol. Chi-square tests and structural equation modeling analyses were computed. Among participants, 32% reported intentions to drink alcohol. In fully adjusted multivariable models, current drinking status (AdjOR = 5.13; 95%CI:3.93, 6.72) and perceived attractive alcohol ads (AdjOR = 3.71; 95%CI:2.88, 4.78) were most strongly associated with the intention to drink. Analyses examining social norms as a moderator between perceptions of alcohol ads and intention to drink found that peer networks that disapproved of drinking were protective against intent to drink. Perceived alcohol advertisement effectiveness and peer networks supportive of alcohol use were associated with intentions to drink among both boys and girls in Kampala and were not buffered by parental disapproval of drinking. Reducing exposure to alcohol marketing and developing prevention programs that strengthen peer networks disapproving of underage alcohol use and reduce exposure to alcohol marketing may be promising strategies among these vulnerable youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil is linked to mobilities both as a substance that fuels movement and as a resource that is highly sought by mobility performances. Crude oil pipelines are not just physical and technological constituents of the commodity's value chain, they are geometries of power that determine not just the manner and direction of the resource's movement but also what other socio-material elements become (im)mobilized in the process of their making. In this paper, we examine the practice of governing (im)mobilities in the early stages of the process of establishing Uganda's East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). We particularly interrogate the creation of the pipeline's path--known as Right-of-Way (ROW)--as a process of making oil movement possible from Uganda to the international market via the port of Tanga in Tanzania. With the Right-of-Way as an empirical example, we revisit the concept of 'governmobility' by posing practical questions that we believe bring new insights into the practice, the art and the underlying rationale of governing (im)mobilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assessed the technical and economic viability of biodiesel production from Second-generation feedstocks native to East Africa, which included Castor, Croton, and Jatropha. Their oils were converted to biodiesel by transesterification and characterizations of B100 and B10 done following ASTM D6751. ASPEN Plus V11 was used in process simulation and profitability analysis. Oil yields obtained ranged from 29.5% to 35.6%. B100 and B10 properties conformed to ASTM D6751. The negative Net Present Values obtained render B100 and B10 production uneconomical unless incentivized. Sensitivity analyses showed that NPV varied with feedstock cost and biodiesel selling prices. This assessment established that though a B10 policy based on second-generation feedstocks is technically viable, interventions are needed to make it profitable in Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uganda's 'early exit' language policy positions African languages ambiguously in public education provision. Runyoro-Rutooro and Runyankore-Rukiga are spoken in Western Uganda in public spaces where translanguaging happens as a matter of course. These languages are heard at pre-primary and lower primary levels but are superseded by English from primary grade 4. Teachers speak Rutooro, Rukiga and English to varying degrees but must negotiate the different priorities stipulated by the policy within this linguistic landscape as they teach reading to multilingual children. In so doing teachers create linguistic synergies and disjunctures between home, community and school. This exerts a toll both on teachers and on students' capabilities to become proficient in spoken and written local language and English in both the dynamic present, and in the imagined future. This paper reports from a small-scale qualitative cross-sectional study of synergies and disjunctures in language use as children learn to read in local language and English across home, Early Childhood Education and primary school in two sites in Western Uganda. Findings suggest that mitigation of such cognitive wastage in young children by a 'late-exit' policy would support reading proficiency and encourage translanguaging practic es, creating synergies with the wider, public use of Ugandan languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can journalist groups and media organizations use legal strategies to defend media freedom in semi-authoritarian contexts? Whereas a sizeable social science literature has explored the structural determinants of media freedom, this paper studies how social movement actors can mobilize to protect media freedoms. Through a case study of recent struggles for media freedom in Uganda, we analyse how journalist groups and media organizations have used legal strategies to defend their freedom to report against a semi-authoritarian regime that increasingly clamps down on independent media. Drawing on numerous interviews with key actors, our analysis suggests that Uganda's so-called media fraternity has sometimes been able to push back state repression or advance the institutional framework for media freedom. Specifically, legal mobilization has been successful when the media fraternity has been able to mobilize broad and rapid support and organize sustained public advocacy, and when the journalist or media outlet in question has public credibility. By providing a better account of when and why the media freedom movement has been able to successfully challenge government repression, this paper also contributes a better understanding of legal mobilization by journalist and media organizations that should be relevant beyond the case of Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the complex relation between protracted donor interventions and the production of customary authority. More specifically, the paper analyses the impact of post-conflict donor interventions (and their withdrawal) on the position of customary chiefs in the Acholi region in northern Uganda. As important brokers between international aid agencies, the Ugandan government and Acholi communities, customary chiefs became key actors in post-conflict peacebuilding programmes. Using the concepts of extraversion and development brokerage, the paper demonstrates how dwindling access to external donor funds has strongly affected Acholi customary authority. To secure their authority and legitimacy, customary chiefs re-shifted from an 'outward' to an 'inward' orientation, a process that we call 'introversion' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a customary land dispute within the context of rising land commoditisation in the Teso region of eastern Uganda. I analyse a statutory court-led mediation hearing of the land dispute, which I observed in October of 2015 in Teso. My analysis of the hearing focuses on how key aspects of the dispute should be understood within the broader context of customary land commoditisation and agrarian change in Teso, exemplifying what Chimhowu calls the '"new" customary tenure' in Africa. In support of an historical approach to understanding land tenure change, I underline the spatial and temporal dynamics of land commoditisation in the region. While the commoditisation of customary land is a trend widely observed across rural Africa, it is less clear how land dispute resolution policies will adapt to this structural shift in customary land tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2019, Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was declared a public health emergency of international concern and neighbouring countries were put on high alert. This paper examines the intersections of gender, caregiving, and livelihood practices in Uganda's border districts that emerged as key factors to consider in preparedness and response. This paper is based on an anthropological study of the Ebola context among Bantu cultures. We report on data from focus group discussions and key informant interviews with various sectors of the community. The study identified intersecting themes reported here: (1) women as primary caregivers in this context; and (2) women as providers, often in occupations that increase vulnerability to Ebola. Findings demonstrate the role that women play inside and outside the home as caregivers of the sick and during burials, and intersections with livelihood-seeking strategies. Because women's caregiving is largely unpaid, women face a double burden of work as they seek other livelihood strategies that sometimes increase vulnerability to Ebola. Epidemic response should address these intersections and the context-specific vulnerabilities of caregivers; it should also be localised and community-centred and able to attend to the cultural as well as the economic needs of a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how engagement with the Ugandan Baakisimba folk dance tradition enables cultural resilience and identity continuity for members of the Ugandan diaspora community in Trondheim, Norway. Through an immersive seven-month ethnographic study involving participant observation and interviews, the findings reveal baakisimba's versatility as a vehicle for intergenerational transmission of intangible heritage, as a tool for strengthening social cohesion, and providing a conduit for productively processing nostalgic sentiments. Analysis of a baakisimba performance during a baptism ceremony demonstrates the dance form's effectiveness in shaping communal belonging and sparking continuity with Ugandan cultural roots despite migration's ruptures. The research underscores embodied artistic practices' considerable capacity to mediate complex relocations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares BAT's business environment in Kenya and Uganda in light of the World Health Organization's (WHO) tobacco control initiative. It also illustrates the use of tobacco tax by Sub-Saharan African countries to address tobacco related conundrums. The comparison revealed elements of government ambivalence towards tobacco business and a possible recourse to tobacco tax to mollify global pressure against big tobacco. The paper uses the partial correlations between tobacco tax and basic economic development indicators across Sub-Saharan Africa and previous World Bank data as indicative of tobacco tax efficacy in controlling consumption in the region. It suggests that Sub-Saharan Africa may find regionally designed tax-based policy guidelines a palatable strategic alternative to global firms (such as BAT) that face a hostile global business environment. A united policy front that fits within the region's institutions can reduce complexity and create efficiencies through lower administrative costs across the region. Such action will make the region relatively more attractive (than it is currently) to foreign investors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Violent conflict is inflicting immense damage on the societies and economies of the developing world. This paper introduces the UNU-WIDER special issue of The Round Table on‘Conflict and Peace Building: Interactions between Politics and Economics’. The issue assesses experiences in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Uganda, as well as the potential for Africa's regional organizations to contribute to peace building and the role of constitution writing in conflict resolution across the world. The issue has five main messages, namely: 1) good economics is broadly good politics; 2) getting the economic and political dimensions of peace building to work together is harder than governments and donors think; 3) an over-simplistic view of how economies respond to ceasefires can undermine otherwise promising political settlements; 4) foreign aid is valuable but only if carefully used; and 5) the process of constitution writing and the ways in which regional organizations work matter greatly to the chances of sustaining peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uganda has one of Africa's fastest urban growth rates, compounding urban challenges, including urban sprawl, the proliferation of informal settlements, decrepit housing, and the privatization of urban development without providing public open space and transport connectivity. In response, this paper tests generic models of urbanization that could be applied in Uganda. This evaluation is conducted through a suitability analysis, informed through Co-Design activities, of the city of Gulu in Northern Uganda. The paper concludes that a corridor model is most responsive to existing environmental, transportation and land-use conditions and residents' aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on Bududa and Bunambutye as case studies to investigate how the songs women sing after the occurrence of landslides and the subsequent resettlement of survivors offer significant knowledge that can be harnessed by authorities to mitigate these disasters in Uganda. I specifically examine the lyrics of two women's songs and discuss how they contain valuable information that can offer psycho-social support to victims, besides articulating how government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can reconstruct livelihoods destroyed by this catastrophe. I argue that by examining the texts of women's landslide songs composed and performed during the aftermath of landslides, one can acquire substantial knowledge about the gendered mitigation of landslides. As such, the government and NGOs need to take into consideration the gender perspective if they seek to provide a holistic approach to landslide mitigation and internally displaced people- migrants in Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine how oil-related activities in the Albertine region have the potential to influence conflicts of different forms and intensity in Uganda, a new African oil producer in the making. We view this through the lens of the future, for which we propose the 'in-the-making' perspective. Through this approach we identify three geographies of conflict, framed around three local narratives on mobility, namely: the peripatetic tradition of a social group commonly known as 'Balaalo', speculative labour mobility and ensuing narratives about oil-induced pressure on fishing, and the link between elephant mobility and community grievances. With this paper we seek to contribute to the growing body of empirical research on Uganda's oilscape, and add a case to the existing work on the interface between oil exploitation and social practices across various oil-producing world regions. We conclude that in Uganda's pre-oil situation, the emergence of complex local narratives, resulting from a combination of lack-or inadequacy-of information, pre-existing but low-lying ethnic sentiments, and institutional challenges, are important indicators of how materialities of the future frame relationships within societies today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article combines insights on colonial monetary policies and daily practices of money use, to discuss the impact of international monetary developments on the local usage of money during the rupee crisis in East Africa (1919–1923). To do so, the paper will follow two related lines of investigation. On one hand, it will analyse the protests against the depreciation of East African cents. Even if Africans were excluded from decision-making processes connected to currency, this organized protests offer an example of how Africans could make their voices heard in the official arena in which currency matters were discussed. On the other hand, the article will investigate individual acts of appropriation and rejection of colonial currencies that African societies developed during and after the rupee crisis. These acts partly altered the boundaries of subordination imposed by the colonial regime and made the process of colonial monetization a prolonged and negotiated transition that was, in part, shaped by monetary practices on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative study on conceptualizations of the poorly understood nodding syndrome (NS) in Uganda and Tanzania. NS has been constructed as a biomedical category to serve global health discourse as well as national contexts of managing the condition. The paper looks into the shifting meanings and conceptualizations of NS in the affected areas of Kitgum (UG) and Mahenge (TZ) district. The perceived universality of biomedical classifications is problematized as conflicting with the specific contexts of lucluc and kifafa cha kusinzia. Reconciliation proves to be challenging, poignantly evoking the cultural construction as such of any medical condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notions of 'participation' in sexuality education has gained considerable traction in recent years - with participation being regarded as a fundamental right and a critical means to empower young people. However, the notion has increasingly been subject of debate, with critics problematising the manner in which participation is operationalised, and questioning the assumed impact of participation in relation to sexuality education goals. This paper contributes to these debates by examining the under-researched gendered dimensions of participation of young people in sexuality education. It utilises data from a qualitative study conducted in 2015 on young women and men's (10-15 years old) perceptions of their participation in the dance4life programme, an in-school sexuality education programme in Jinja district in eastern Uganda. The paper highlights subtle but important differences between young men and women's participation in the programme, which are arguably reflective of existing gendered hierarchies. We conclude by providing recommendations on how to address gender differences in participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates the wounds inflicted by the representation of the war between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda. The paper presents Kanyo, Love and Gang Kikome and Other Things We Left Behind, artistic works within the exhibition When We Return, as a staging ground to interrogate symbolic repair. Gang Kikome and Other Things We Left Behind is an artwork-as-archive of items that were used by the inhabitants of settlement camps during the war between the LRA and the GoU but that were left behind once the camps were disbanded. The objects are a materiality of humanitarian aid; the artwork presents these objects of assistance as cultural artefacts. Kanyo, Love is an artwork about the aftermath of war through an exploration of the courtship gifts received by former wives of the LRA. The work critiques the silencing of affect in the frozen-in-time narrative of forced marriage and abduction that are superimposed onto the women. Curating the work as a knowledge register adds artistic and curatorial knowledge to existing research, reporting and archives on the war. It inserts artwork in the voids within the heritagisation of Uganda's conflict past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprises a case study illustrating ethical and practical challenges for a Ugandan hospital-based social worker early in the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a commentary. The hospital was under-resourced, with staff and patients experiencing lack of information and panic. The social worker, Denis Adia, recounts his responses to new and ethically challenging situations, including persuading Muslim patients to stop fasting for the good of their health; deciding to keep a baby in hospital with parents although this was against the rules; and supporting a stigmatised former patient in the face of intimidation by colleagues. He reflects on the importance of recognising each person's unique needs and circumstances, seeing this as a vital role for social workers. The case is followed by a commentary from a UK academic (Sarah Banks), who notes the cognitive and emotional effort ('ethics work') undertaken by the social worker to: see the ethical aspects of particular situations; take account of patients' specific needs; ensure they are treated with respect; promote their well-being; and perform as a good social worker. Banks draws attention to the key role of the virtue of courage in pandemic conditions, which involves working with new risks and facing fears with confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a conspicuous silence about the role of religion and spirituality in social work in Uganda, yet they are critical components in the lives of social workers and their clients. The authors' collective experience of social work education in Uganda, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and Australia affirmed to an absence of content on religion and spirituality in social work education. Most universities in Uganda incorporate little content on spirituality resulting in graduates ill-equipped to handle spiritually-related issues with their clients and communities. Authors conducted a content analysis of the narratives in their PhD theses to explore the inextricable connection between spirituality and social work practice in Uganda. From the common findings, the authors conceptualise an African Spiritually Sensitive Practice-Theory and a reflective tool for social workers in education and practice. The paper draws on lessons from research arguing for the incorporation of indigenous knowledge and African spirituality to inform the social work curriculum in Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To strengthen medicines management capacity, including supply chain management, at public sector health facilities in Uganda, the Ministry of Health introduced a multipronged supervision, performance assessment, and recognition strategy (SPARS). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of SPARS on improving supply chain management. A series of four papers on SPARS described the SPARS concept, its impact on overall and domain practices and appropriate medicines use, and now in the fourth paper describing the effect on supply chain management. Methods: District-based health workers trained as supervisors build facility-level capacity in medicines management using an indicator-based performance assessment followed by targeted supervisory visits. From 2010 to 2013, 1222 SPARS visits were implemented, and the SPARS performance indicator scores determined. This article assesses impact on 13 indicators in three of the five SPARS domains—stock management, storage management, and ordering and reporting quality—using a pre–post design. We also explored factors that may have influenced these outcomes. Results: Between the first and last visit within one year of SPARS implementation, we found an average improvement of 16 percentage points (p < 0.001) in supply chain management measures across all levels of care. The improvement in scores for stock management, storage management, and ordering and reporting was 22 (ns), 16 (p < 0.001), and 11 (p = 0.032) percentage points, respectively. The study identified the key predictors of positive change as a low initial indicator score, frequent supervisory visits, and engagement of the district health officer. Conclusions: The multipronged SPARS approach was effective in building supply chain management capacity in lower-level health care facilities with statistically significant improvements in supply chain management overall and in almost all stock and storage- management and ordering and reporting measures after one year of implementation. We recommend broad dissemination of the SPARS approach as an effective strategy to strengthen supply chain management in low-income countries. Trial registration: The study did not involve or use human participants or identifiable personal data, human tissue, or animals and thus did not require ethical approval or a waiver. It is a study implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and does not require trial registration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed largely by Affect theory (2004), this paper takes up ‘reflexivities of discomfort’ to reflexively engage with my affective struggles as a Christian, heterosexual, mother, educator, undertaking a study on homosexuality, which is a thorny issue in Uganda. It a methodological prologue, reflecting my thoughts and struggles before I undertake the study. My purpose is not to find solutions, but to lay bare some anxieties and ambivalences, also suggesting the limits of reflexivity. The paper begins with an autobiographical narrative about school in relation to (homo)sexuality. This is followed by an exposition of Uganda’s Anti-homosexuality Bill; my use of reflexivity and affect to inform my affective struggles; my background as it relates to sexuality, providing insights into my researcher positionality. I then engage with moments imbued with high affective/emotive intensity in my preparation to undertake the study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Personality characteristics and non-cognitive skills are key determinants of decision-making and economic outcomes. While personality is commonly believed to be stable after age 30, evidence suggests that significant changes in occupational or social roles, or exposure to family or health shocks, can have effects on personality traits. In this paper, we study the short-term effects of two kinds of shocks on measured personality traits among young adults from ultra-poor households in Uganda. In particular, we examine the short-term impacts of (i) a randomized anti-poverty program and (ii) environmental changes—exposure to drought, high temperatures, and wind—on personality traits. We find significant differences in measured personality traits across these factors, in particular among food insecure individuals. These results suggest that economic shocks and environmental factors may have an effect on the non-cognitive skills among young ultra-poor adults. On the other hand, our results also suggest that caution is warranted when using these tools used to measure personality traits in such rural, low-income settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the 2030 Agenda, much effort has been exerted in comparing multidimensional child poverty measures both technically and conceptually. Yet, few countries have adopted and used any of these measures in policymaking. This paper explores the reasons for this absence from a political economy perspective. It develops an innovative political economy framework for poverty measurement and a hypothesis whereby a country will only produce and use reliable and sustainable multidimensional child poverty (MDCP) measures if and only if three conditions coalesce: consensus, capacity and polity. We explore this framework with two relevant case studies, Mexico and Uganda. Both countries satisfy the capacity condition required to measure MDCP but only Mexico satisfies the other two conditions. Our proposed political economy framework is normatively relevant because it identifies the conditions that need to change across multiple contexts before the effective adoption and use of an MDCP measure becomes more likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the impact of the COVID-19 public health response on families of children with disabilities in Central Uganda we conducted phone interviews with parents and children during the first 5 months of the outbreak (March - July 2020). Most parents and children were well informed about COVID-19 and were keen to adhere to government prevention measures. The majority said lock-down measures had a negative effect on their mental and physical health, social life, finances, education and food security. Access to medical services and medication for chronic illness had been limited or absent due to restrictions in travel, some facilities restricting access, and limited financial resources. The majority of parents reported loss of work which resulted in difficulties in finding enough food and paying rent. Parents worried about children missing education and friends. We suggest greater attention to children with disabilities and their families when implementing mitigating and long-term responses. This paper reports a study with families of children with disabilities in Uganda during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, known as COVID-19. Families of children with disabilities in Uganda are well informed about COVID-19 and try to follow prevention measures. Families of children with disabilities have difficulties meeting daily basic needs as they were unable to work and had no income during the COVID-19 related lock down. The COVID-19 response affects access to health and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities in Uganda. Parents of children with disabilities struggle with home education and learning due to lack of access to accessible learning materials and learning support in Uganda. The COVID-19 response affects the peer support networks and social support for parents of children with disabilities in Uganda. Children with disabilities and their families should be involved and considered in the development and implementation of the COVID-19 response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child mobility is a significant phenomenon all over the world and is especially prominent in developing countries, where it is made worse by income conditions in rural households. The aim of this paper is to advance a step forward in the quantitative investigation of factors driving rural households' decisions to send children away from home. Using Ugandan panel data to account for household unobserved heterogeneity, we find that the age of the household head as well as the presence of a female household head, the number of children, marital status, and the circumstance of mother not living in the household affect the likelihood of sending away children. On the other hand, other factors such as education and mobile phone ownership do not seem to play a role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economically vulnerable women engaged in sex work (WESW) comprise one of the key populations with higher prevalence of HIV globally. In Uganda, HIV prevalence among WESW is estimated at 37% and accounts for 18% of all new infections in the country. This paper describes the strategies by which we have engaged community stakeholders in a randomised clinical trial aimed at evaluating the efficacy of adding economic empowerment components to traditional HIV risk reduction to reduce the incidence of STIs and HIV among WESW in Uganda. We demonstrate that stakeholder engagement, including the engagement of WESW themselves, plays a critical role in the adaptation, implementation, uptake, and potential sustainability of evidence-based interventions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to utilise stakeholder engagement involving WESW in Uganda. Researchers working with hard-to-reach populations, such as WESW, are encouraged to invest time and resources to engage key stakeholders through a full range of collaborative activities; and ensure that research is culturally appropriate and meets the needs of all stakeholders involved. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03583541. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young women in Uganda are at risk of negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes, in part because of sex with older men. Theoretically grounded in the concept of liminality, this paper examines perceived markers of adolescent girls' suitability for sexual activity. In 2014, we conducted 19 focus group discussions and 44 in-depth interviews in two communities in Uganda. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured tool, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interviews examined markers of transition between childhood, adolescence and adulthood and how these were seen as relating to girls' perceived readiness for sex. Analysis was thematic. Pre-liminal status was most often accorded to childhood. Sex with a child was strongly condemned. Physical changes during puberty and children's increasing responsibility, autonomy and awakening sexuality reflected a liminal stage during which girls and young women were not necessarily seen as children and were increasingly described as suitable for sex. Being over 18, leaving home, and occupying 'adult' spaces reflected post-liminal status and perceived appropriateness for sexual activity including for girls under the age of 18. Interventions that seek to prevent early sexual debut and sexual activity with older men have the potential to reduce sexual and reproductive health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human trafficking violates fundamental rights and undermines lifelong well-being for survivors. There is an urgent need for evidence-based interventions for women and girls who have been trafficked, including those that can be implemented in low-resource settings. In this paper, we describe the purpose, structure, and preliminary results from a promising new approach, Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT) Yoga, developed and piloted in Kampala, Uganda. HaRT Yoga is a twelve-week psycho-social intervention for women and girls who have experienced human trafficking. It aims to create a nurturing environment where participants can strengthen their inner resilience, build a supportive community, and overcome the psychological effects of trauma. The group-based programme involves weekly sessions that integrate yoga poses alongside breathwork, visualizations, mindfulness practices, and theme-based discussions. Overall results from an initial pilot (2017) were promising; participants experienced reductions in depression symptoms and improvements in self-rated emotional and physical health. Further, we found the programme was acceptable and feasible to implement in a shelter-based setting. Findings underscore the potential promise of this low cost, somatic approach to social work practice with trauma survivors, suggesting that a more rigorous evaluation of impact is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Critical African Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) poses a serious threat to livelihoods and food security for millions of households in Africa. Despite considerable investments in Uganda by the Government and other national and international stakeholders, the disease persists in the country after periods of significant resurgence. Building on the Agricultural Innovation Systems framework, this paper reviews the role of the major stakeholders involved in controlling the disease in Uganda. Next, using household survey data, it analyzes economic costs and benefits of adopting an integrated BXW control package for the Ugandan smallholder farmers. After 2015, there has been a significant reduction in both public and private investments in BXW management, which may contribute to future disease resurgence. Our analysis reveals a high level of partial adoption of BXW recommended practices, and just a third of farmers adopting a full control package. This means significant economic losses for non-adopters, as indicated by our findings that households adopting the full package registered a net balance of US$65 per acre higher than non-adopters. We find that disproportionally large costs need to be borne at the beginning of the process, while the benefits are distributed over time, which may present a barrier to adoption by resource-poor smallholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual and reproductive health is an important part of general health globally recognised in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3. Access to sexual and reproductive health services such as contraception provides young people with the opportunity to make informed choices regarding reproductive health. However, poor sexual and reproductive health is evident in numerous forms including sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion. In this paper, we examine the experiences of contraceptive use among young women living in pastoral communities. Findings derive from a qualitative contextual analysis of adolescent sexual and reproductive health conducted in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with married young women aged 15–19. Audio recordings and field notes were taken during interviews. Thematic data analysis was conducted aided by Atlas.ti software. Findings reveal that young women living in pastoralist communities experience challenges which deter their use of contraception. Contraceptive use experiences, socio-cultural values and practices, the attitudes of service providers, and livelihood necessities of pastoralism cause low uptake of contraception. Adequate understanding of the experiences and associated values encountered by such vulnerable and marginalised groups in the use of contraception is critical in addressing the challenge to achieving SDG targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Party defections have increasingly become a major trend of Ugandan multiparty politics, not only for individual elites at the national level and in the parties’ leadership but at the grassroots level by local party members too. These shifts of allegiance are now systematically part of the staging and imagery of President Museveni’s electoral campaigns. A common explanation of this phenomenon points at the inconsistency of partisan loyalties and ideologies. It is often taken for granted that defections are expressions of clientelism, political opportunism and above all democratic immaturity and a misunderstanding of multipartyism. This paper argues on the contrary that mass defections reflect the social technology of the National Resistance Movement hegemonic rule at the local level, and the constraints for opposition parties whose structures it co-opts. They are part of the monopolisation of organisational initiatives at the grassroots level by the regime. Defections are not simply a symbol of electoral opportunism but part of a routine economic posture in a context of straddling lines between the economic and political spheres. Following up the trajectories of two specific groups of defectors from Teso over several years, this paper seeks to give precise insights on the local presence and rooting of political parties, their modes of mobilisation, recruitment, their repertoires of action, and more generally on the transformation of identities, partisan practices and political activism but also on the hegemonic ruling party’s mode of governance at the local level. This micro-sociologic approach opens windows on how hegemony is built in a dialogic way with local political entrepreneurs and vote brokers. Hegemonic rule therefore also contains its own limits as it requires a permanent renegotiation with individual actors embedded in a set of local power relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents findings from the third stage of a longitudinal, qualitative study involving nine female participants from a class cohort in a secondary school in rural Uganda. Since 2004–05, this study has tracked the progress of these young women's lives, and the present aspect of the study explores the ways in which they have found that post-primary education has impacted their adult lives, particularly with respect to employment-related factors. I draw upon the conceptual construct of Amartya Sen'scapabilities approach(1999) to interpret and present data. Findings considered in this paper indicate that post-primary education has been crucial to the capabilities development and socioeconomic well-being of the participants’ lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of the fight against gender discrimination in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Uganda in particular, gender disparities in labor markets persist. This paper provides a new empirical evidence of the gender wage gap in the Uganda labor market. Results show that men continue to enjoy a wage premium over women at the mean and across the wage distribution. Findings further indicate that the gender wage gap is wider at the lower tail of the distribution thereby revealing the existence of a sticky-floor phenomenon in the Ugandan urban labor market. Despite the actions and strategies put in place in Uganda to reduce the gender gap in education and training in the country, human capital variables still have a strong mitigating effect through returns to endowments (discrimination). These results imply that highly feminized jobs should be upgraded given the low representativeness of women in valuable jobs compared to men. Innovative strategies to promote the human capital development of women are also necessary in eliminating gender-based disparities in labor market. Specific public policies are suggested in conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of Call Detail Record (CDR) data sets generated by mobile telephony networks has generated much interest in recent years, particularly as an easily accessed source of large volumes of data capable of reflecting the dynamic behavior of humans across a range of temporal and spatial scales. This paper presents a study focused on examining human social and economic behavioral patterns in Uganda through the analysis of a CDR data set generated in a Ugandan mobile telephone network in 2010. By examining the response of subscribers to a service incentivizing higher mobile phone call rates through the offering of discounts, economically motivated differences in subscriber behavior in poorer versus wealthier regions of the country are identified. The paper also presents an analysis which suggests a high degree of social insularity within the regions of Uganda which is most likely related to regionally economic development levels in addition to the high levels of ethnic homogeneity within those regions. A methodology for identifying centers of economic activity using the data set alone is also presented and the accuracy and implications of the resultant regional patterns are discussed. Finally, measures of human mobility, and its relationship with economic and social regional characteristics, are examined through the use of graph theoretic based analysis techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the concept of literary activism by reflecting on a co-productive creative writing project run by the University of Bristol (United Kingdom) and the Center for African Cultural Excellence (Uganda). It considers how the space of the creative writing workshop opens platforms for decolonial knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tactical concessions represent a critical juncture in the process of human rights change; depending on how they are used by autocrats or the opposition, they can either thwart or enable further improvements in human rights. This article argues that some truth commissions, traditionally examined with a transitional justice lens, should instead be considered as tactical concessions. In many ways, the two sets of theorised causal processes overlap significantly. By examining in detail Idi Amin's 1974 Commission of Inquiry into Disappearances in Uganda – the world's first (and mostly forgotten) truth commission – this paper explores the features of truth commissions which make thempotential tactical concessions: sites of active contestation between those who wish to advance human rights and those who do not,both domestically and internationally. The Amin caseprovides compelling evidence for both sets of causal processesand offers additional insights into the roles of information control and institutional norms in the spiral model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines judicial politics in Uganda after the 2011 elections, when a number of election petitions were filed against incumbent parliamentarians alleging electoral fraud and malpractice. The paper argues that Uganda has the structures and procedures in place to enable election petitions to allow for redress when election malpractice has occurred, but this is more likely to occur in the High Court than the Supreme Court. By briefly examining the 2001 and 2006 presidential and parliamentary election petitions, the paper shows that the Supreme Court, which hears presidential election petitions, acknowledged voting irregularities, yet was unwilling to rule against the president. In parliamentary election petitions held before the High Court during the same period, judges were not immune to annulling the election results. Following the 2011 elections, no presidential election petitions were made, but over 100 parliamentary election petitions were filed. Many of the High Court judgements on the 2011 election petitions gave a degree of optimism that due process is being followed since a number of petitions were upheld and MPs removed from their seats. These included some high-profile politicians. However, as the Court of Appeal begins to overturn some of these High Court decisions, perhaps this optimism will be short-lived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]