Transparency International Uganda has put in place the first of its kind a Toll Free Call Center in Northern Uganda. A system that enables health users, community volunteers, local leaders, health workers and any other stakeholder to report challenges at their respective health centers. We recommend that for any person who wishes to use the number 0800200188 does visit the health center and identify key challenges from the particular health center, call and report accordingly. Once the calls are received and challenges reported, verification visits are conducted to verify and follow up what are on the ground. During the verification visits we also ensure that relevant authorities at the health centers and sub counties take up action towards solving identified challenges.
Author: juliet
Northern Uganda Health centers are not fenced
Transparency International Uganda
(ICT for health service Delivery)
Health centers not fenced in Northern Uganda.This health center has one of the highest patients’ turnover, majority of these patients are always women and children from neighboring villages and sub counties, over 100 patients are attended to on a daily basis excluding HIV ADIS patients who report to the facility for counseling and accessibility to ARV drugs.- Most of the facilities in Northern Uganda are not fenced, as a challenge the health facilities have lost items like mosquito nets, drugs, blankets and furniture because there is easy escape from these facilities. The work of the watchmen is made more difficult considering that there is no specific check point that can be put in place. Information form most health centers in-charges indicates that each year the district health offices have always given priority of fencing some of the health centers but nothing has yet been done.
- Transparency International Uganda have been tasked to follow up on at district level to task top leadership to take up actions in regards to these facilities need for fencing which has always been promised but nothing practical is seen on the ground
ICT for Health Service Delivery
Patients at Ogur health Center IV (Northern Uganda
These were just a cross section of patients at Ogur health center IV where health centers open up late (10:00am), high number of patients becomes much more difficult to handle because most health facilities do not work on patients has they come but do wait for patients to turn up in large numbers. Has a solution to this challenge, Transparency International Uganda field staffs have been holding advocacy and management meetings that seek to empower the health workers, informing and involving heath management in taking up key responsibilities in health management.- During these meetings, health workers were found to be opening the facilities late because they say patients do report late at the health centers; even if they opened early enough they would have no one to work on, others were found to be attending to their personal businesses and also having negative attitude towards their work, an attitude derived from need for more payments; In response to late arrival/opening of health centers, the health workers were made to understand that they are under contract to open the health facility latest by 8:00am, whether the patients are there or not, the health center should be opened and staffs ready to work, opening and arrival time shouldn’t be dependent on availability of health users. Health workers have also been encouraged to love their job no matter how little the payments may be, conditions may be hard but the work that health workers do is more humanitarian and God given.
We call upon all health workers and health users to take part in health service delivery monitoring at their respective health center, for its all our duty to ensure that people are held socially accountable and health sector is free from corruption. Call Transparency International Uganda for free on 0800200188 and report health challenges at your respective health centers in Northern Uganda.
New Partner: Toro Development Network (ToroDev)
The ICT4Democracy in East Africa network is pleased to announce that a new organisation has joined efforts with us in leveraging on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to promote good governance and democratic processes.
Toro Development Network (ToroDev) is spearheading a project to promote public accountability for improved service delivery in Rwenzori region, western Uganda. The project will see the use of a local FM radio broadcasting station as a “hub” for the convergence of information and knowledge provided by internet and mobile technology tools.
Transparency International Uganda Acquires a Toll Free Line
Transparency International (TI) Uganda has completed the installation of a toll free call centre at its Lira field office. By calling 0800 200 188 toll free from any local mobile phone service provider, citizens can report on corruption and poor service delivery in the health sector in Northern Uganda.
Through the call centre and as part of its ICT4Health Service Delivery project, TI Uganda aims to reduce the rates of health worker absenteeism, increase community participation in monitoring the functionality of health centres and advocate for polices to improve health service delivery in the post conflict region.
Kenyan Human Rights Networks Deploy ICT Platforms in their ICT4Democracy Work
Two Human Rights Networks (HURINETS) working with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) to improve grass roots based organisations’ and their memberships’ understanding of the commitment to building a human rights society have deployed a crowd map, blogs and social media tools to promote their work.
Laikipia HURINET located in Laikipia in the South Rift Region of Kenya works to empower the Laikipia County Community through promotion of human rights, free information dissemination, training, and networking. The HURINET, also known as the Vision Facilitators Network (VIFANET) in June launched https://laikipiacivicaction.crowdmap.com/.
Meanwhile, Kwale HURINET is documenting its work on child rights at www.genesisforhumanrights.wordpress.com. Kwale HURINET is located in Kwale on South Coast of Kenya. Their work focuses on civic education on the implementation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 with special emphasis on the Bill of Rights, devolution, leadership and integrity among other constitutional provisions; para-legal services on child rights and labour; security, equality and justice.
Read the full report here.
East African Region New Media and Human Rights Institute workshop
In collaboration with the African Human Rights Consortium, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) conducted a four-day new media, research and advocacy workshop aimed at scaling-up the use of ICTs in human rights and democracy within East Africa. The workshop attracted 14 participants drawn from civil society and media in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Burundi. During the workshop, KHRC took the opportunity to share information on the activities of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa network attracting a lot of interest from participants. Emphasis was placed on the importance of involvement of civil society actors in various ICT forums and projects.
Civil society organisations in East Africa were urged to embrace ICTs in their advocacy interventions.
mGovernance Workshop: Potential of Technology on Water Governance in Kenya
On July 5, 2012, iHub Research hosted a workshop aimed at engaging different stakeholders in Kenya’s water sector to identify and discuss current interactions between the stakeholders, understand how transparency, service delivery and citizen participation are currently being applied in the sector and identify the potential of mobile applications/platforms in promoting sustainable urban and rural water development.
Workshop participants were drawn from the government, the tech community, civil society, residents of various areas including the Kibera slums, media, academia and NGOs.
Water governance is the thematic focus of the mGovernance in Kenya Project.
Full insights from the workshop are available here. In addition, the report on technology use in Kenya’s water sector is also available for download here.
Kasese equipped with the use of ICT tools to share and disseminate information
As ICT becomes a necessity in our daily activities and operations, it has been approved that it’s quite easy to managed access and share information in our communities simply using ICT tools. Kasese district officials, the members from the civil society and Community members have been fully equipped with ICT skills.
This training which took place on 21st and 22nd June 2012 at the E-Society Resource Centre located at Kasese District Head Quarters was done by officials from The Collaboration for ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).
ICT for Democracy in East Africa: May 2012 News
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in May undertook a small survey on the knowledge, attitudes, and needs of citizens regarding the utility, effectiveness, and security of using ICT for democracy in Uganda’s northern region. The survey involved individually administered questionnaires in Gulu town.
In addition, at the Gulu-based Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC), journalists, CSOs, local government officials and students participated in a CIPESA-organised discussion on how best ICT could be used to foster citizen participation given the economic, literacy, and other challenges faced by the region.