Strategic Plan

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

• BftW Bread for the World
• BOT Board of Trustees
• CAO Chief Administrative Officer
• CBO Community Based Organisation
• CBPM Community Based Policy Monitors
• CDD Community Driven Development
• CEF Commonwealth Education Fund
• CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
• COH Cessation of Hospitalities
• CORAT Christian Organizations Research Advisory Trust
• CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement
• CRE Christian Religious Education
• CSOPNU Civil Society Organisation for Peace in Northern Uganda
• CWS Church World Service
• DANIDA-DDP DANIDA Deepening Democracy Programme
• DCA Dan Church Aid
• DEMGroup Democracy Monitoring Group
• EDF-SDP European Development Fund
• EED Evangelisher Entwicklungsdienst e.v
• EET Ecumenical Education Team
• EFA Education for All
• EJAC Ecumenical Joint Action Committee
• EPN Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network
• ES Executive Secretary
• ESIP Education Sector Investment Plan
• FECCLAHA Fellowship of Christian Churches in Great Lakes and Horn of Africa
• FGD Focus Group Discussion
• GA General Assembly
• GAAP Generally Accepted Accounting Practices
• GOU Government of Uganda
• HOD Head of Department
• HSM Holy Spirit Movement
• HSMF Holy Spirit Mobile Force
• HUGGO Human Rights and Good Governance
• IAS International Accounting and Audit standards
• IBM Independent Budget Monitors
• ICCO Inter church Organization for Development cooperation
• IDP internally Displaced Persons
• IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Development
• IOM International Organisation for Migration
• JMS Joint Medical Stores
• KRA Key Result Areas
• LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
• LRLF Lango Religious Leaders Forum
• M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
• MIA Ministry of Internal Affairs
• MOES Ministry of Education and Sports
• MTR Mid-Term Review of UJCC
• NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Services
• NCA Norwegian Church Aid
• NCDC National Curriculum Development Centre
• NCF National Consultative Forum
• NDI National Democratic Institute
• NDP National Development Plan
• NGO Non Governmental Organisation
• NPP National Peace Policy
• NRA National Resistance Army
• NUSAF Northern Uganda Social Action Fund
• OD Organisational Development
• OPM Office of the Prime Minister
• PMA Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture
• PO Programme Officer
• PTA Parents and Teachers Association
• PWC Public Way of the Cross
• RBA Rights Based Approach
• RDC Resident District Commissioner
• SALW Small Arms and Light Weapons
• SFG School Facility Grant
• SMC School management Committee
• SO Strategic Objective
• TOR Terms of Reference
• UCDA United Christian Democratic Army
• UJCC Uganda Joint Christian Council
• UNDP United Nations Development Programme
• UNEB Uganda National Examinations Board
• UNLA Uganda National Liberation Army
• UPA Uganda People’s Army
• UPDA Uganda Peoples Democratic Army
• UPE Universal Primary Education
• UPV Uganda Peace Village
• USAID United States Agency for International Development
• WCC World Council of Churches
• WPCU Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This strategic Plan 2012 – 2017 is as a result of the active participation, involvement, invaluable contribution of various stakeholders that include; representatives of member churches, sampled Diocesan Bishops, Ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACs), Secretariat staff and the ecumenical partners especially those who were represented at the Strategic Planning workshop that was held between 11th – 16th April 2011, at St. Augustine Training Institute, Nsambya, We thank you all for your contributions.

The workshop was preceded by an evaluation of the strategic plan 2009 – 2011, where the consultant interacted with various stakeholders soliciting for their views on the past and future journey of UJCC.

The strategic planning process drew on the input from the Office of the Prime Minister that was represented by Mr. Innocent F. Ejolu, the Principal Policy Analyst, who enlightened participants on “Perspectives of Government on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Expectations.
In order to make the Strategic plan within the context of the Country’s development agenda, we were honoured to have a representative from the National Planning Authority (NPA), Mr. Richard Wansambo. He provided guidance on the National Development Plan (NDP) and the role of CSOs.
We thank the two government agencies for the support and cooperation in the strategic planning process.

The strategic planning process interrogated why UJCC exists, its historical evolution, the internal and external environment, achievements and challenges, its strategic development objectives, strategies and its areas of programme focus.

In a special way we recognize and appreciate the participation of His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga, the then Chairperson of UJCC, Mr. Ronald Kitanda representative of EED/BftW, Mr. Andrew Bagoole representative of Diakonia – Sweden, the staff and all representatives from the member churches that patiently participated in the workshop; and the Deputy Executive Secretary for Programmes, Mrs. Elizabeth Zimba Kisiigha for the coordination role undertaken.
We thank the partners that have supported the implementation of previous strategic plans and these include: Bread for the World, EED, ICCO, Cordaid, Dan Church Aid, Christian Aid, Norwegian Church Aid, Church World Service, Diakonia – Sweden, USAID, European Union and National Democratic Institute among others.

Furthermore, we thank Coratafrica consultants represented by Dr. William Ogara, Mr. Joseph Ndolo and Mr. Dickson Aduwo for effectively facilitating and guiding the entire process.
We trust in the Almighty God to be our guide in implementing the plan for the good of the people. “Ask the LORD to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out” Proverbs 16:3.

May you all be blessed as “We Grow and Serve Together”

Rev. Fr. Dr. Silvester Arinaitwe Rwomukubwe A.J
Executive Secretary

FOREWORD

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29: 11

Since its inception in 1963, Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) has remained focused and consistent with its ecumenical mission of providing services for improved quality Life of Ugandans and across borders. UJCC has undergone various growth processes including those that relate to its Constitution, its Structures, Leadership and various phased Strategic Plans.

Over the years, UJCC continues to strive to promote human dignity through interventions in our various thematic areas of Ecumenism, Family Life development, Education, Governance, peace building and conflict transformation. It’s engagements with various stakeholders in fostering an environment that enhances quality life in Uganda and beyond, amidst changing contexts is visible.

Worth noting is the advocacy role played by my fellow UJCC leaders on various challenges in our Country. The actions and voices of the Church have undoubtedly been loud and clear to many leaders and ordinary citizens on issues of corruption, land, poverty, illegal possession of small arms and light weapons, human murder (sacrifice), environmental degradation, election malpractices, poor education and health services, violent conflicts, human rights abuses, intolerance and peaceful co-existence among others. As Church leaders, we reiterate our commitment to the role of a watchman (Ezekiel 33: 1-9).

During 2009 to 2010, the Council members undertook a review of the Constitution to make it relevant within the changing times. The Constitutional Review Committee and the secretariat staff did a tremendous job in consultation with the member churches, and we had the Amended Constitution approved by the General Assembly of 2010. The Council is now guided by its Vision of “Christian witness through harmonious co-existence”, inspired by the values of Christian Love, Justice, Truthfulness, Reconciliation and Peace have provided a bond among members. Our Mission is “To promote consensus among men, women, youth and children in member churches to uphold Christian values and address issues of social and economic justice through representatives at various levels.”

It is against this background that this Strategic Plan sets out UJCC’s agenda for the period 2012 – 2017. This strategic Plan is designed through a consolidation of lessons learned, experiences gained and new practices that UJCC has accumulated over the years. It has further been developed in line with best practices for development planning and ensuring the participation of representatives of key stakeholders at every stage.

In the quest to meet its Vision and Mission, UJCC will work with the member churches together with other ecumenical partners and like minded Organizations in contributing to improved quality life of God’s people. During the implementation of this new Strategic Plan, the Council will make 50 years of its existence in 2013, which marks a milestone in the life and work of the Council.

The Strategic Plan 2012 – 2017 focuses on the following strategic objectives:

1. To widen the scope and intensify the practice of ecumenical fellowship and interfaith collaboration at all levels (1Cor.1:10-17).
2. To promote policies and programmes that deliver quality education, Health, HIV/AIDS and other social services in a just and equitable manner.
3. To advocate for and promote policies and programmes that contribute to good governance at all levels (Mark 9:35-36).
4. To promote policies and programmes of justice, peace and reconciliation. (Micah: 4.4/5)
5. Effective and Efficient UJCC organs where roles, responsibilities, systems, mechanisms and procedures are streamlined and functioning (1Chronicles 28: 11 – 21).

During the period stipulated in this Strategic Plan, UJCC shall focus on Six strategic Programmes:

1. Ecumenism, Family Life education,
2. Health and HIV/AIDS,
3. Education,
4. Good Governance,
5. Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Enhancement.
6. Gender mainstreaming and Advocacy will be cross cutting issues in all the programmes and activities.

UJCC will remain visionary and rely on God’s providence during the implementation of this strategic Plan because we are taught in Proverbs 29:18 that “A Nation without God’s guidance is a nation without order……………..”.

We invite our Members, development partners, CSOs networks and all other stakeholders to accompany us and strive to our calling of offering relevant services to the communities in Uganda. With all God’s blessings as “We Grow and Serve Together”

His Grace Henry Luke Orombi
Chairperson, UJCC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Introduction

This six-year Strategic Plan is a result of a strategic planning workshop held from April 11 to 15, 2011 at the St. Augustine Institute, Nsambya attended by staff of UJCC, technical staff of the various church members and some representatives of development partners. The planning process was further informed by the findings and recommendations that arose from the Evaluation that was undertaken between February and march 2011

2. Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC)

Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) is a faith based ecumenical organization that was established in 1963 and registered as a trustee under the Trustees Incorporation Act (Cap. 165). Its current membership comprises the Church of Uganda, The Roman Catholic Church and the Uganda Orthodox Church, which together constitute about 78% of Uganda’s population. The member churches recognized a need for Christians to witness together and live in harmony.

Vision

Christian witness through harmonious co-existence

Mission

To promote consensus among men, women, youth and children in member churches to uphold Christian values and address issues of economic and social justice through representatives at various levels.

Motto

Growing and serving together

Core Value

UJCC has five values, namely: Christian love, justice, truthfulness, reconciliation and peace. These values bind us together and influence the choice/decisions we make

3.Strategic Directions:

UJCC has decided to focus on five strategic directions in the next six years, namely: Ecumenism, Good Governance, Social Services, Peace and Reconciliation and Institutional Strengthening

3.1 Ecumenism

The overall objective of this priority area is to widen the scope and intensify the practice of ecumenical fellowship and interfaith collaboration at all levels. Prior to realizing the overall objective, UJCC will ensure that ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACs) and other organs are established and functional and that ecumenical chaplaincies are established in government institutions.

3.2 Good Governance

The need for good governance to be practiced at family, community, national and regional levels cannot be over-emphasized, hence the decision by UJCC to focus on it in the next six years.

The overall objective will be to advocate for and promote policies and programmes that contribute to good governance at all levels. In order to achieve this objective, the following results will be necessary: Citizens’ capacity to influence government policies and programmes built and enhanced; the culture of respect for Human Rights, observance of the rule of law and adherence to the principle of constitutionalism promoted and upheld; and the culture of prudent management of natural and other resources and environmental protection promoted and sustained.

3.3 Social Services

The public demands common or basic services. However, the government of Uganda is unable to provide all the basic services that cover all her citizens. This is supplemented by non government actors of which UJCC is one of them. UJCC, therefore, will aim at having in place policies and programmes that assure the delivery of educational, health and other social services in a just and equitable manner in place.

3.4 Peace and Reconciliation

Uganda has experienced and continues to experience historical and emerging conflicts characterized by internal displacement, loss of lives and property and the general phenomenon of resolving conflicts in violent manner. Uganda is experiencing relative peace following the unconcluded peace talks and guns falling silent in Northern Uganda and families resettling from IDP camps to their original communities. The high level of proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and a number of civilians possessing illegal guns has turned conflicts to be violent. In pastoralists communities like Karamoja, armed cattle rustling has led to insecurity and internal displacement especially for the neighbouring communities. Considering the aforesaid, UJCC will focus on promoting policies and programmes that will guarantee Justice, Peaceful resolution of conflicts and Reconciliation to amend the so many broken relationships.

The overall objective will be to see peaceful and reconciled communities. This will be preceded by the following results: Religious and community leaders’ capacity in influencing the development, implementation and monitoring of peace related policies’ enhanced; Member institutions and EJACs able to manage conflicts peacefully; Tolerance of diversity within and between communication enhanced through the Peace Village; Community safety and control of proliferation and misuse of small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) increased; Collaboration and networking with strategic partners strengthened.

3.5 Institutional Strengthening

UJCC will work towards ensuring efficient and effective UJCC institution and organs where roles, responsibilities, systems, mechanisms and procedures are streamlined and functioning.

Furthermore, UJCC will ensure increased active participation of UJCC organs in the implementation of the strategic plan and will work on strengthening M&E systems and mechanisms; ensuring they are operational and effective.

I. INTRODUCTION

“The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10: 10

The strategic plan 2012-17 is the fourth in a series of plans put together by the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) since the year 2003. This is the first 6-year plan as a result of a participatory process by key stakeholders of the organization. It has been informed by a number of interventions which included a strategy evaluation carried out in March/April 2011and the strategic planning workshop held from April 11 to 15, 2011 at the St. Augustine Institute, Nsambya attended by staff of UJCC, technical staff of the various church members and some representatives of development partners. The process was facilitated by Mr. Joseph K. Ndolo (Team Leader), Dr. William Ogara and Mr. Dickson Aduwo from CORAT Africa.

1.1 BACKGROUND

Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) is a faith based ecumenical organization that was established in 1963 and registered as a trustee under the Trustees Incorporation Act. Its current membership comprises the Church of Uganda, The Roman Catholic Church and the Uganda Orthodox Church, which together constitute about 78% of Uganda’s population. UJCC was established after Uganda’s independence in 1962 at a time when the country was undergoing a transition politically, economically and socially. The environment in which UJCC was established was characterized by bitter conflicts between and among faith communities during the colonial era, which challenged the three religious leaders who recognized a need for Christians to witness together and live in harmony. Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) is an associate and affiliated to All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

UJCC was established with the purpose of working towards greater mutual understanding and unity; achieving cooperation by means of joint consultation and action in practical matters of common interest such as economic empowerment and development; and developing options for member Churches to pursue and enhance their capacity and responses to pertinent issues. UJCC was also established to make recommendations for actions to member Churches and other bodies; and working with member Churches to fulfill the great commission of Jesus Christ – Mathew 28:19-20

UJCC’S VISION, MISSION AND CORE VALUES

Vision

Christian witness through harmonious co-existence

Mission

To promote consensus among men, women, youth and children in member churches to uphold Christian values and address issues of economic and social justice through representatives at various levels.

Motto

Growing and serving together in Christian teachings

Core Value

UJCC upholds her dignity through the following five values:

Christian love

Christian love demands kindness, understanding, meekness, fairness and consistency in performing your duties. We shall therefore endeavor to witness and serve our target communities and engage with all our stakeholders in the spirit of love, compassion, charity and selflessness.

Justice

Justice entails treating all people equally and fairly in all spheres of life. It also encompasses advocating for people who are not able to speak out for themselves. We shall therefore go all-out to pursue policies and programmes that promote the dignity and rights of all people living in Uganda including their right of access to social services such as education, medical and healthcare services and employment opportunities on the basis of fairness and equality.

Truthfulnes

The truth is powerful, liberating weapon. Truthfulness builds confidence and trust. The truth sets free all those who are crucified on the basis of falsehood. We shall therefore make every effort to vigorously promote and foster the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity in the conduct of public affairs.

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is an instrument of healing broken relationships. It restores and liberates people from the yoke of bitterness, vengeful spirit, and recrimination. We shall therefore endeavor to pursue policies and programmes that promote reconciliation, healing and recovery among individuals and communities living under conflict.

Peace

Peace is a gift by God to all mankind. Lack of peace whether in the family, the community or the nation constitutes a danger to the enjoyment of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms and realization of people’s aspirations for development. We shall therefore strive to mobilize our constituents to pursue policies and programmes that promote peace at all levels. We shall advocate for the culture of peaceful resolution of conflicts at family, community, national, regional and international level

1.3 UJCC OBJECTIVES

In order to effectively fulfill her pledge of growing and serving together the people of Uganda, the following objectives guide the work of UJCC:

• To fulfill the Great Mission of preaching the Gospel (Math 28:18-20).
• To work towards greater mutual understanding and unity among the member churches.
• To achieve cooperation by means of consultation, coordination, and action on practical matters of common interest among member churches
• To carry on constructive engagements with member churches, the Government, and other organizations to resolve conflicts, enhance harmonious coexistence and uphold human dignity.
• To enhance the capacity of the Secretariat and other ecumenical organs
• To promote a culture of justice and reconciliation necessary for peace
• To promote human rights, democracy and good governance
• To promote economic social justice and Christian cultural values
• To promote Christian education and other social programmes
• To do any other thing for the purposes of attaining the above objectives

2. UJCC’S Key Achievements

“You are the Light of the world. A City on a hill can not be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” Mathew 5: 14 – 16.

UJCC has been active in implementing its strategic Plan 2009 -2011, guided by five main strategic objectives and a number of programmes areas. The summary of key achievements under each programme area is highlighted below:

Ecumenism

Activities under this area of focus were intended to widen the scope and intensify the practice of ecumenical fellowship and collaboration at all levels and increase member churches participation in ecumenical activities.

In this respect, annual joint celebrations of Christian feasts and other ecumenical occasions at National and Diocesan celebrations were undertaken mainly for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Public Way of the Cross. Developed and disseminated ecumenical information, education and Communication materials. Such materials that were mainly disseminated are those pertaining to Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Public Way of the Cross. Ecumenical collaboration deepened among members not only in the celebration of Christian festivals but social activities were undertaken jointly; these included education, health, economic groups, peace building and joint advocacy initiatives.

Education

In the area of education, UJCC emphasized the formation and strengthening of Ecumenical Education Teams (EETs) in the dioceses and districts. Both the UJCC Secretariat and the EETs were engaged in influencing policy and practices in the delivery of quality education at national and district levels. At national level, engagements have been at the bi monthly Education Sector Consultative Committee meetings and annual Education Sector Reviews. There has been continued engagement with the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) on curriculum issues especially the thematic curriculum (Primary 1 – Primary 3) and the review of CRE curriculum. UJCC representatives have participated in Curriculum reviews with NCDC. At primary level, the review was completed up to Primary five, for Primary six and Seven, the curriculum has been reviewed but still in draft form. O’Level CRE curriculum was also reviewed and there has been an integration to have one syllabus from S.1 to S.4. The reviewed curriculum combines “Developing in Christ” with “Christian Living today”. For A’Level, NCDC is planning to have the review of CRE to cater for now emerging issues like corruption, ethics, HIV/AIDS among others, a process that UJCC has made input.

Coordinated and facilitated the formation of Ecumenical Education Teams (EEMTs) in the dioceses/Districts of Kasese, Hoima, Masindi, Kibaale, Ssembabule, Namutumba, Tororo and previously in Buliisa. Carried out sensitization of religious leaders, School Management Committees (SMCs), inspectors of schools, parents and other stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities in promoting Christian values. This has been achieved under the education programme of “Enhancing Social Responsibility in the education sector” implemented in the above districts. The project built the capacity of 1440 members of School Management Committees, 737 Head teachers, Local government leaders, members of PTAs, drawn from 240 schools, disseminated the Education ACT, 2008, provided suggestion boxes to school communities.

As a result of these interventions, there is an improvement in the attitude and active participation of parents towards the education of their children. They are now able to provide mid day meals for the children while at school, able to provide scholastic materials and the level of absenteeism of pupils has greatly reduced from 30% to about 10% in those districts. The performance of School Management Committees has also improved, more members are now attending meetings as compared to previously, and members of SMCs now make spot visits and monitoring of the schools. The local government leaders like Sub County chiefs and Chairpersons of local Councils are now monitoring school activities, monitoring the attendance of both pupils and the teachers and raise any emerging issues with those concerned, this is something that was not there before UJCC’ s intervention despite the presence of provisions in policies and laws on education in the Country.,

Gender and Family Life

In an effort for UJCC to empower its members to heighten their role at the family level, constituted a Family Life task Force composed of members nominated by the member Churches. The task force developed draft materials on family life education and parenting with themes on Parenting, Marriage, Managing single life and Co- habitation.

UJCC mobilized and built the capacity of 20 women and 10 youth in economic empowerment programme, group dynamics and business skills. These were only representing the member churches and had a Training of trainers (ToT) course. Thereafter, they were able to mobilize other community members to form economically viable groups. And as result, self help groups for the women and youth have been formed and saving funds or projects to fight poverty.

Human Rights and Good Governance

Citizen Participation for Transparent and accountable governance.
This programme aims at empowering and facilitating religious leaders (EJACs) and citizens to participate in governance processes, promote transparency and hold their leaders accountable.

Civic education was undertaken in the districts of Karamoja region mainly in Moroto and Kotido. Civic education was also undertaken in those districts that are implementing the citizen participation programme in the Iganga, Mityana, Dokolo, Kaberamaido, Pader and Abim.

Citizens’ Forums were implemented under the Citizen Participation Programme in the districts of Iganga, Mityana, Kaberamaido, Dokolo, Pader and Abim. As a result citizens are empowered and knowledgeable to hold their leaders accountable. Citizens now know their rights, roles and responsibilities as enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda. There are cases in communities that show that citizens have been empowered to demand for services from their leaders. For instance in Iganga district, Ibulanku sub county, citizens demonstrated and demanded the use of the ambulance for Buses Health Center IV.

In Nabitende Sub County, Nabitende primary school had only three teachers but after the advocacy by citizens and EJACs, the district authorities posted more six teachers to the school. In Mityana district, reports of Kikandwa Police officer holding illegal roadblocks to rob travelers was reported to the RDC and that officer was transferred. Similarly in the districts of Dokolo, Kaberamaido, Pader and Abim, parents have had a positive change in attitude with regard to the education for their children. Parents in Pader district have practically visited schools and did the slashing of the compounds at beginning of every term among other interventions.

Participation in Legislative processes

Lobby and advocacy has taken place at various levels including local, Sub County, district and national levels through various governance related interventions. At the sub county and district levels, the EJACs have engaged local government leaders on issues of service delivery especially in the sectors of education and health. This has taken place in the districts implementing the citizen participation programme as reported above.

At national level, advocacy has focused on Electoral Law reforms and other laws that were tabled in Parliament between 2009 to date. Memorandums were presented to Parliament on bills including the Domestic Violence bill, which was later enacted into law.

At the beginning of 2010, UJCC religious leaders gave a message to the entire nation giving key messages on key issues of importance to the Government and to the entire population. Such issues included: Free and fair elections, service delivery by the government, peaceful co –existence, tolerance in diversity among others. The statement was signed by the three Archbishops of UJCC member churches and disseminated to all Government offices, Members of Parliament, Civil Society Organizations, all dioceses among others.

Coordinate and facilitate religious leaders to actively engage relevant institutions in developing appropriate policies and practices that contribute to a culture of free and fair elections. In an effort to fulfill this objective, UJCC organized Public dialogues with a theme: “The Uganda We Want:

Towards free and fair elections in 2011”. Dialogues were organized in 17 sampled districts including Kampala, Mukono, Luwero, Jinja, Arua, Gulu, Lira, Hoima, Kabale, Mbarara, FortPortal, Masaka, Soroti, Moroto, Mbale, Tororo among others. This gave an opportunity to Ugandans to give their views on issues of Electoral Reforms and free and fair elections and those issues that need to be addressed to enhance democratic governance in Uganda. These views formed part of the Memorandum that UJCC presented to Parliament on Electoral Law Reform amendment bills that were before Parliament.

Election Observation and technical support

Coordinated national Election Monitoring for Presidential, Parliamentary and local Council elections. UJCC has both as an institution but also under DEMGroup, monitored Parliamentary and District Council Bye- elections in Ssembabule, Ntungamo, Kabale, Mbale, Kamuli among others. Currently participating under the Democracy Monitoring Group (DemGroup) Consortium with other three Civil Society Organizations namely; Action for Development (ACFODE), Transparency International (TI), Center for Democratic Governance (CDG). DemGroup deployed 22 regional coordinators, 215 Constituency Observers and 6000 poll watchers in different parts of the Country.

In 2009, UJCC undertook a programme to fight corruption through awareness raising to the religious leaders and to the public through radio programmes. Regional workshops were undertaken in Kampala, Soroti, Arua and Radio talk shows held on Radio Paus, Radio Kigezi, Radio Veritas, Radio One and Radio Simba.

Due to the experience and expertise, skills and knowledge gained by UJCC, the council was requested by All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) to second a staff to provide technical support to the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) in establishing civic education, voter education and election observation programmes. In this respect, a staff was seconded to Sudan to support the Churches and as a result capacity of the SCC was enhanced and ably accompanied and effectively played their part.

Capacity building for CSOs/CBOs in strengthening multi-party Democracy in Uganda.
This Programme aims at building the capacity of Civil Society Organizations and Community Based organizations to fully and effectively participate in the multi party dispensation and hold political parties accountable through advocacy and meaningful engagement. In this respect, UJCC has built the capacity of 8 Civil Society Organizations spread in the districts of Kumi, Iganga, Masaka, Arua, Kasese and Bushenyi. The CSOs have had their capacity enhanced in strategic planning, project proposal writing, policy analysis and advocacy, community dialogues, data collection and research methods, programme development, report writing and other development issues handled through training and mentoring processes. The CSOs are Bumakwe in Masaka, Buddukiro in Masaka, Women in Health Promotion in Iganga, CIFOVUP in Arua, YAPI in Kasese, UWESO in Kumi, LIPRO and Awake Ankole in Bushenyi. The communities in these districts have had their capacity too built to advocate and demand for accountability from their leaders (duty bearers).

Peace building and Conflict Transformation

The programme aims at contributing to peaceful communities through capacity building, advocacy, mediation.

Advocacy for the Peace Policy:
Religious leaders participated in national conflict early warning and Early response mechanisms and discussed and made in put on the concept paper on the national peace policy; the concept paper was drafted by UJCC with the participation of other Civil Society Organizations. As a result of advocacy and lobbying, the Office of the Prime Minister together with Ministry of Internal Affairs have set up a committee to draft the policy. UJCC is a member of this committee representing the Civil Society Organizations.

Uganda Peace Village
Construction of the peace Village continued and now, two huts are complete and ready for use. The other two huts are already roofed what remains is completion by plastering, plumbing fittings, electrical wiring among others before they can be ready for use. During the period under review, UJCC was able to organize and facilitate peace forums for religious leaders, Women and youth leaders. A total of 220 women, youth and Religious Leaders have benefited from the skills training at the peace village. This has been through training and peace festivals. These participants have formed peace committees in their communities to foster peace initiatives in their communities. The youth went back and set up similar projects in Soroti, Lira, Kasese, Luwero among other dioceses.

UJCC implemented the Strengthening Decentralization Programme in Karamoja region in the districts of Moroto, Kotido and Kaboong. In each of these districts, two sub counties were covered aimed at empowering citizens in the region to effectively participate in the decentralized governance. Forty nine members of staff from the Local governments of the 3 districts were trained, a total of 64 participants attended the Training of Trainers (ToT) course in Participatory Resource Monitoring and Tracking (PRMT), and 1600 village leaders were sensitized on PRMT. This led to community dialogue meetings conducted at parish level and a total of 1719 participated. The empowered community leaders monitor any form of resource exploitation especially the minerals. This was civic empowerment of the citizens to participate in governance processes and monitor government programmes for the benefit of the citizens.

UJCC Supported initiatives and is part of networks that build good neighborliness in the great lakes and Horn of Africa. UJCC has worked with National Council of Churches in the region including Burundi, Rwanda, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan to enhance peaceful co existence in those countries. This has been under the auspice of the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA) and All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC).

Institutional Strengthening and Capacity building.
As a result of the recommendation from the 2008 evaluation report, UJCC constituted a Constitutional Review Committee comprising representatives from the member Churches. The Committee completed its work in May 2010 with presentation of the draft constitution to the Annual General Meeting for discussion and was approved. The Constitution was submitted for registration to the Registrar of Trustees that is the Ministry of Lands. The UJCC Amended Constitution, 2010 separated and clarified on the roles and functions of the various organs of the Council, with making the Board of Trustees functional and separated from the Executive Committee. Similarly, in order to make the EJACs functional, the amended Constitution provides for the chairmanship of the EJAC to be one of the Bishops, this has made the leaders of the Diocese (Bishops) to be pro active in UJCC work.

Under Monitoring and Evaluation, the Database management was worked on by an IT consultant and members of staff were trained on how to use the data base management system. The system will enable timely inputting and retrieval of any required data on the UJCC activities. With now the new strategic plan, the system has to be up dated taking into consideration changes in certain aspects like in the indicators.

During the past years, various materials were produced and disseminated to stakeholders. Such materials included Programme based brochures for example the Citizen participation programme, Revision and update of the UJCC main brochure, Newsletters both hard copies and soft copies produced as an eNewsletter. The Parliamentary Bulletin was produced and disseminated every after two months, there were also Publications in form of the Religious Leaders Pastoral letter and Religious Leaders condolence Message of the death of over 70 Ugandans that were killed by terrorists in two spots in Kampala. These materials have informed and empowered UJCC members and other stakeholders to engage at various levels. These are also reference materials for research based advocacy and for the academicians.

Staff development
A number of staff participated in various short term trainings that are tailored to their jobs/tasks. Training was undertaken in the areas of; Election Observation, Reintegration of Ex – combatants and Armed persons, Oil governance, Oil revenue transparency and natural resource management, Food Security, Climate Change and Environment, results Based management, planning monitoring and evaluation, “Using Public International Law to Assess Elections: The Experience in Africa”, Fundraising and Resource mobilization, financial management for non finance managers and Monitoring and Evaluation. This has empowered staff with skills and knowledge to do their work effectively

Office Equipment Acquisition
The Council purchased a 16.5 KVA Generator to alleviate the constant power problems commonly known as load shedding. Additionally, the Council managed to acquire a new fax machine, 3 printers, 2 managerial chairs, 1 secretarial chair and 3 lap tops. As a result, UJCC is able to have constant power supply which increased staff working morale and in turn enabled the staff to produce their reports in time and meet deadlines.

Summary of key emerging issues from the External Evaluation Mrach – April 2011
The external evaluation of the implementation of the strategic plan 2009 – 2011 was undertaken just a few months before the strategic planning process was embarked on. This was during the period January – March 2011.
There is general consensus that a lot has been achieved over the last two and half years in spite of funding and capacity constraints. According to the evaluator, “the interventions were and still remain relevant and have the potential to make an important contribution to the achievement of the vision and mission of UJCC and not least to the realisation of the objectives for which the strategic plan was developed”.

The strategic plan 2009-2011 design was appropriate and did provide a good strategy for creating greater ownership of UJCC at different levels and sustainability of impact in the long term. A key challenge with the design has been largely to do with the inability of UJCC to put in place the necessary structures on which to anchor the design.

Limited funding remains a major challenge and this has impacted negatively on efficiency and effectiveness. Significant progress has been noted in the area of good governance, policy influencing in education, and modestly in the area of peace building and conflict transformation. It is noted that the intervention has demonstrated the potential that UJCC has in giving direction to the growth and development of Uganda.

Impact has, however, been limited to specific interventions within the strategic plan, particularly in the intervention on good governance, and to some extent in education and peace, through strengthening the demand side of service delivery in the former, and by influencing policy development in the latter. The intervention in the promotion of democracy though has had significant impact on the decisions in the Parliament has largely remained unnoticed and so is UJCCs contribution to the election monitoring.

Key Issues to take forward
The strategy evaluation report did reveal the following areas that UJCC needs to carry forward in terms of lessons learnt to inform the next strategic planning cycle. These include the need for UJCC to:

Ensure that it focuses its energy on facilitation, networking and coordination, capacity building of EJACS; resource mobilization; and monitoring and evaluation. This will involve restructuring the secretariat to reflect the new realities.
Put more emphasis on areas of comparative advantage on Human Rights and Good Governance; Capacity development; deepen ecumenism beyond annual events. Keep in touch with evangelism and ensure proper documentation of good practices.
Implement the planned decentralized strategy as an essential element for establishing regional EJACS as had been envisaged in the reviewed constitution. Thereafter, UJCC should embark on a systematic capacity building of the EJACS and to reorient them to the new paradigm of UJCC operational strategy, and also to prepare them to take on the new responsibility that comes with the shift in operational strategy.
Focus its major strength in democracy and good governance by building on the respect that UJCC commands from across the country is based on its interventions on good governance and democracy related interventions.
Address the potential danger that its visibility has increasingly diminished, even in programme areas where it was seen as the leader. This should be done through improved communication, research and documentation, and monitoring and evaluation functions.
Avoid situations that will make it be seen as the “voice” of political opposition. This can be achieved through proactive programming and being consistent in the way they do their things.

3. GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF UJCC

The Council consists of the Church of Uganda, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Uganda Orthodox Church (founder members) the faith of which is based on authentic teaching of the Bible and the Apostles’ Creed and accepts baptism by water in the name of the Trinity. The custodian of all Council’s assets and property is bestowed on the Board of trustees that consists of: The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda; The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese; The Metropolitan of the Uganda Orthodox Church; The National Chief Administrators of the member churches; and The Executive Secretary who shall be the Secretary to the Board and an ex-officio member

The Executive committee formulates policies and oversees the implementation of the policies by the Secretariat. This committee consists of: the Chairperson who shall be a Bishop elected by the committee; the National Chief Administrators of the member churches; chairpersons of the Working Committees; two representatives nominated by each of the member churches, one of whom shall be a woman; and the Executive Secretary who shall be the Secretary to the Committee

The working committees of the council include: Ecumenism and Interfaith Committee; Education committee; Finance and Administration Committee; Gender, Family Development and Health committee; Human Rights and Good Governance Committee; Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Committee; and Any other committee as shall be appropriate

UJCC Secretariat coordinates and implements all the activities of the Council and support by the regional Ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACS).
The EJACs are the UJCC grassroots implementing structures constituted at the regional, district and parish levels. They are composed of representatives of the member churches and chaired by one of the Bishops/Archbishops. The EJAC members are drawn from the technical staff members of the churches including areas such as Education, Health, Justice and Peace, Family life, women’s and youth ministries among others.

3.1 PLANING METHODOLOGY, ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS

The planning process included listening to the history of UJCC and using lessons learnt from that history to inform its future work, the results of the strategy evaluation and stakeholder strategic planning workshop. The process was also informed by input from the office of Prime Minister and the National Development Plan .

In terms of limitations, the strategic plan is dependent upon the goodwill of key stakeholders to provide ongoing support to implement the plan. These include commitment of EJACs to participate actively in implementing activities on the ground, and support by UJCC leadership and the secretariat in providing the supportive framework for the implementation of the strategic plan.

4.0 CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

4.1 BRIEF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Uganda as a country has witnessed relatively satisfactory economic progress and decline. In spite of the economic recovery from the down turn of the 70’s and 80’s the size of the country’s per capita income is still very low compared to other economies in Africa and Asia . In 1992/93, 56% of the population was below national poverty line. This has since dropped to 44 % in 1997/98 and to 31% in 2005/6, with a greater size of the population living under poverty line being located in the northern part of the country. In spite of this, regional disparities between rural and urban income levels remain. In addition, the relatively high economic growth that has been sustained since the early 1990 has contributed to a reduction in the levels of poverty. The effects of this are yet to be felt at grassroots level.

Uganda’s development progress continues to be constrained by gender inequalities and social vulnerabilities. Though women comprise 70% of the work force in agriculture, they experience unequal access and control over important productive resources like land . The progress towards reaching the MDG by 2015, in respect of education and health status remain slow. The country has a fast growing population which has expanded from 9.5 million in 1969 to 24.2 million in 2002 and to an estimated 30.7 million in year 2009 and at 3.2 % growth rate per annum, the population is projected to reach 38 million in year 2015 .

4.2 THE POLITICAL SCENARIO

Uganda has just recently concluded its national parliamentary and presidential elections. The country’s culture of constitutionalism is not improving as fast enough with many institutions struggling to embrace the principles of ideals of democracy . The civil society in Uganda is as diverse as the concept itself and there is yet to be a clear framework for constructive engagement with the sector. The current NGO Law also constraints the engagement between NGO’s and government and cases of mutual suspicion remain. The majority of citizenry remain un-empowered in engaging various arms of government on policy debate and advocacy.

The public sector management remains wanting due to a weak policy, legal and administrative framework. Corruption at various levels of government remains a major issue and this has had devastating impact on the progress made in public administration. The citizenry is yet to be fully empowered to engage effectively in demanding better performance from government institutions .

4.3 SWOT ANALYSIS

Dissection of UJCC reveals both internal and external factors that either positively or negatively affect her efficiency and effectiveness as an ecumenical body. SWOT is a management tool used in identifying the factors that affect the operation of an organization.

4.3.1 INTERNAL FACTORS

Using the seven “S” principles of Shared Values/Culture, Staffing Numbers, Skills and competencies, Structure, Style of leadership, Systems in place and, Strategies and priorities, the stakeholders critically analyzed UJCC’s strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths
The potency on which UJCC posses include the following:

Three (3) credible archbishops of UJCC who form the board of trustees.

The large UJCC membership that accounts to about 78% of Uganda’s population.
Trust and goodwill that the Council has obtained from the Ugandan people and donors
Committed and well qualified staff at the Secretariat that coordinates all the activities of UJCC
Capacity to handle huge amount of funds and account for them. However, there is need for timely and consistent reporting as per the development partners formats.
Expertise and long experience in the issues of governance especially election observation is recognized both nationally and regionally.
National, regional and international connectivity, that is, UJCC has network across the world. UJCC is a members of WCC, AACC, FECCLAHA and, BEACON.
Leading provision of vital social services including educational and healthcare facilities in the country
Unity and diversity of people from different faiths and their ability to work together
Grass root institutional framework through Ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACs). However, there is need to strengthen the EJACs to properly implement Council programmes.
Despite of UJCC being categorized together with other Civil Society Organisations, the Council’s mandate is divine and permanent in nature.
Ability to advocate sensitive issues without fear or favor puts the Council advantage over other CSOs.
Weaknesses
The UJCC has various weak points that need to be looked at critically in the effective and efficient implementation of this plan to desired impact. The weaknesses include:

The implementation of the Council’s programmes is over 90% reliant on the support of development partners (donor dependency syndrome).
The Council staffs have low remuneration thus limiting attraction and retaining of competent staff.
Despite of UJCC presence in the entire nation through EJACs, the Structures are weak and incoherent in their operations thus requires strengthening and coordination. This translates to weak ecumenism at the grass root levels.
There is evidence of inadequate documentation and dissemination of various programmes activities.
There is pronounced faith based and prominence struggles/conflicts that exists amongst the UJCC member churches in some areas that do not auger well with the spirit of UJCC. This has further displayed itself in the competition amongst member churches on ownership of schools and health facilities.
Notwithstanding being in existence for 48 years, UJCC still rent office space thus putting more pressure on her limited resources.
The Council’s administration and management involves consensus building amongst the three churches leadership that at times becomes bureaucratic leading to delays.
Joint ventures are critical in pursuing common agenda however; unprecedented partnerships with organizations that do not share Christian values at times water down the relevance and credibility of UJCC.
Sustainability of various UJCC projects remain a major challenge
4.3.2 EXTERNAL FACTORS

External factors are issues that do affect the activities and operations of UJCC but have limited control over them. During the stakeholders’ forum for the development of this strategic plan, opportunities and threats of “SWOT” analysis, Stakeholders’ analysis and “PESTEL” analysis were adopted. “PESTEL” presents the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal Factors. UJCC stakeholders include the development partners, the government, CSOs, member churches, media, staff and the community. The external factors were identified as opportunities and threats as elaborated below;

Opportunities
The following opportunities present themselves to UJCC to take advantage of: The existence of the National Development Plan that aimed at ensuring growth, employment and socio-economic transformation for prosperity; good will by the government, development partners and the society at large on the UJCC’s contribution in the development agenda and relative peace in conflict prone areas of Uganda especially the Eastern and Northern parts of Uganda

Threats
UJCC stakeholders identified several threats that UJCC needs to be aware of and be proactive in her plans. They include the following:

Limited funding from the development partners
Political instability caused by recent election and inflation of basic commodities that has occasioned protests and public demonstrations
Intolerance of opposing or divergent views by the government that is often seen as the voice of the opposition parties
Weak enforcement of pro-poor policies by the government
Political declarations without due regard to the existing policies and legislations by the political elite
Widespread corruption in the public administration
A large majority of ruling party’s Members of Parliament is subjective in legislations that can be derogative and dictatorial
5.0 STRATEGIC AREAS OF FOCUS IN THE NEXT SIX YEARS

“So I run straight towards the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the Life above. However, that may be, let us go forward according to the same rules we have followed until now.” Philippians 3: 14 & 16.

In line with its vision and mission and in view of the emerging issues from the evaluation report and information from the situational analyses, UJCC has chosen to focus on five strategic directions (priorities) in the next six years, namely; ecumenism, good governance, social services, peace and reconciliation and institutional strengthening.

5.1 ECUMENISM

“I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me” John 17: 21.

UJCC was formed in 1963 but ecumenism has not yet taken a firm root, especially at the grassroots level. The thrust of this strategic Plan is therefore the establishment of Regional Ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACs) in all the 17 regions and ensuring that all working organs of the Council are fully functional. Through this UJCC hopes to foster the spirit of ecumenism and ecumenical collaboration among member churches of UJCC at all levels.

The Council is in cognizant of the fact that the Church needs to work in partnership with the Government of Uganda on matters pertaining to nation-building. The importance of building and nurturing people working in various government institutions including the Uganda Police Force, the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, the Uganda Prisons Service and Parliament spiritually cannot be overemphasized. This will help in fostering the culture of fairness and integrity in the management of public affairs. UJCC therefore intend to focus on the issue of establishing chaplaincies in the above-mentioned government institutions. This will call for cooperation and goodwill on the part of the Government of Uganda and the relevant institutions.

Strategic Objective 1:

To widen the scope and intensify the practice of ecumenical fellowship and collaboration at all levels among member Churches (1Cor.1:10-17).

KEY RESULTS
KRA 1: Seventeen Ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACs) established at various levels and made functional through Capacity building interventions.
Outputs:
1.117 functional regional EJACs and Ecumenical Teams in place

Capacity of 17 regional EJACs and ecumenical teams in ecumenism enhanced.
Ecumenical and theological reflections and sharing held among members.
UJCC Secretariat staff and working Committees orientated on ecumenical matters.
Core Activities:

Coordinate and facilitate capacity building for all regional EJACs to understand and practice ecumenism.
Coordinate and facilitate the establishment of ecumenical teams in schools and in theological and tertiary institutions.
Facilitate and support EJACs in implementing ecumenical activities in their respective communities including Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, World Women’s Day of Prayer, Public Way of the Cross, Ecumenical Peace Week, ecumenical celebration of Martyrs Day among others.
Coordinate and organize ecumenical retreats for various UJCC organs including secretariat staff and regional EJACs.
Produce and disseminate IEC ecumenical materials to member churches, EJACs and other stakeholders.
KRA 2: Ecumenical Chaplaincies established and functional in government institutions.
Outputs:

Advocacy on establishment of chaplaincies in the Police, Army, prisons and Parliament undertaken.
Core Activities

Advocate for the establishment of chaplaincies in the police, the army, prisons and strengthen those in Parliament through engagement with the relevant ministries.
SOCIAL SERVICES

“and if one of you wants to be first, he must be the slave of all. For even the son of man did not come to be served; he came to serve and give his life to redeem many people.” Mark 10: 44 – 45.

The public demands common or basic services. The government of Uganda is unable to provide all the basic services that cover all her citizens. This is supplemented by non government actors that UJCC plays an integral role. The Council strives to ensure delivery of educational, health and HIV/AIDS, water and sanitation, and other social services are in a just and equitable manner.

The Council shall implement a wide range of activities aimed at influencing the policies and programmes of the government for improved and better service delivery. This will entail engaging relevant government ministries and agencies on educational and health policy matters. In this regard, UJCC shall focus on building the capacity of various organs of the Council, including EJACs in policy advocacy skills and monitoring the performance of government agencies in delivering educational and health services. The Council shall also focus on influencing government policy on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and management and, mainstreaming gender in all her operations.

Strategic Objective 2: To promote policies and programmes that deliver education, Health, HIV/AIDS and other social services in a just and equitable manner

KEY RESULTS
KRA 1: Improved service delivery in the education sector
Outputs:

Education policies and programmes influenced.
Capacity of 17 regional EJACs on education policies and programmes enhanced.
Teaching of Christian Religious Education (CRE) in schools and other institutions strengthened.
Core Activities:

Review the existing government education policies.
Engage the Ministry of education and other relevant government agencies on the gaps and challenges in the education sector.
Participate in Curriculum review programmes organized by the National Curriculum Development Center.
Organize platforms for dialogue with stakeholders.
Conduct trainings for EJACs and Ecumenical Education Teams (EETs) on education laws, policies and advocacy skills.
Facilitate EJACs to engage with local government officials and other stakeholders on matters pertaining to quality education.
Engage member churches and other stakeholders to encourage and promote the teaching of Christian Religious Education (CRE) in Church founded schools.
Engage the Ministry of education on production and dissemination of CRE materials.
Develop monitoring tools on the teaching of CRE in schools.

KRA 2: Improved access to Health and HIV/AIDS services by the citizens.
Outputs:

Capacity of 17 regional EJACs enhanced for effective advocacy on matters of Health and HIV/AIDS
Health and HIV/AIDS policies and programmes influenced.
Capacity of 17 EJACs enhanced on matters pertaining to Health and HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and social support.
HIV/AIDS Work place policy for UJCC Staff reviewed and implemented.
Core Activities:

Review the existing government laws and policies on health and HIV/AIDS.
Undertake advocacy with relevant government agencies on health and HIV/AIDS policies and laws.
Facilitate member churches on the development and review of church policies on HIV/AIDS prevention and management.
Train and orientate EJACs on government laws and policies with regard to Health and HIV/AIDS.
Facilitate EJACs to engage with local governments and other stakeholders on matters pertaining to service delivery in the health sector.
Produce and disseminate the UJCC HIV/AIDS Work place policy.
Sensitize staff and their dependants on the policy, Mobilize resources for the implementation of the policy.
KRA 3: Gender mainstreamed in UJCC policies and programmes
Output:

Capacity of EJACs and other UJCC organs on gender mainstreaming enhanced.
Core Activities:

Develop appropriate training and sensitization materials on gender mainstreaming.
Conduct training for the EJACs, secretariat staff and members of UJCC organs on matters pertaining to gender equality and empowerment.
Develop an action plan for the implement of the Gender policy.
Network and collaborate with other partners on gender issues.
KRA 4: Christian values promoted in families and society
Output:

Capacity of religious leaders and lay leaders on family life education and parenting skills strengthened.
Core Activities:

Finalize the development and dissemination of appropriate IEC materials on family life education and parenting skills.
Facilitate EJACs to implement family life education activities in their communities.
GOOD GOVERNANCE

“Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” Mark 9: 35

“Speak up for people who can not speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless. Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy” Proverbs 31: 8 – 9

In broad terms, governance refers to the exercise of executive, legislative and judicial authority at all levels. Good governance entails the positive exercise of such authority in political, social, economic, cultural and other spheres for the benefit of the population as a whole. It is a prerequisite for peace, stability and sustainable development.

The main focus of this strategic area is to contribute to the creation of an environment in which good governance is practiced at family, community, national and regional levels. In order to achieve this goal, UJCC shall focus on two main areas, namely promoting and enhancing people’s participation and promoting human rights. Furthermore, the Council shall network and collaborate with various stakeholders. The following is an overview of the programmes that the plan shall implement.

First, UJCC shall implement programmes aimed at building the capacity of the citizens to influence government policies and programmes at all levels. This will include training and empowering Ecumenical Joint Action Committee (EJACs) and all working committees. We shall also collaborate with other stakeholders in the field of advocacy.

Secondly, UJCC shall implement programmes aimed at promoting and upholding the culture of respect for human rights, observance of the rule of law and adherence to the principle of constitutionalism. This will entail advocating for the translation of the Constitution of Uganda into all local languages and building the capacity of EJACS in civic education, democracy monitoring (including tracking public expenditures) and election observation.

Strategic Objective 3: To advocate for and promote policies and programmes that contribute to good governance at all levels (Mark 9:35-36).

KEY RESULTS
KRA 1: Citizens capacity to participate and influence government policies and programmes enhanced
Outputs:

Capacity of 17 regional EJACs to engage with grassroots citizens and local government organs on matters of transparency and accountable governance enhanced.
Capacity of UJCC working committees to engage Parliament and other government agencies on influencing policy and legislation enhanced.
Core Activities:

Develop appropriate training materials on civic education and democracy monitoring.
Train the Ecumenical Joint Action Committees (EJACs) in the areas of civic education, democracy monitoring, including public expenditure tracking and election observation.
Enhance citizen participation for transparent and accountable governance through Citizens’ Forums.
Coordinate and strengthen the engagement of Civil Society Organizations with Parliament and other government agencies.
Produce and disseminate the Parliamentary bulletin to stakeholders.
Hold consultative, lobby and advocacy meetings with Members of Parliament.
Coordinate consultations among member churches and other CSOs on bills before Parliament and other emerging issues of legislative nature.
Coordinate and facilitate presentation of memoranda and petitions on key advocacy issues with relevant Committees of Parliament and to other relevant government ministries and agencies.
KRA 2: The culture of respect for Human Rights, observance of the rule of law and adherence to the principle of Constitutionalism is promoted and up held.
Outputs:

The Constitution is translated into local languages and widely disseminated in the Country.
EJACs and other organs of the Council are equipped with basic knowledge and skills in civic education, democracy monitoring, election observation and advocacy.
Level of compliance by government organs with Constitutional provisions, international instruments ratified by Uganda and good governance practices monitored.
Core Activities:

Collaborate with government agencies on dissemination of the Ugandan Constitution to schools, community based groups and other organizations.
Facilitate EJACs to monitor local government programmes with emphasis on issues of transparency and accountability.
KRA 3: The culture of prudent management of natural and other resources and environmental protection promoted and sustained.
Outputs:

Policies and legislation on natural resources influenced
Capacity of 17 regional EJACs and other key stakeholders enhanced in the management of natural resources.
Implementation of government policies on environmental protection and conservation and food security influenced and promoted.
Core Activities

Undertake to review the existing policies on land, oil, water bodies and forests among other natural resources.
Engage relevant government ministries and departments on issues/policies of food security and natural resources.
Conduct training for the 17 regional EJACs on management of natural resources and facilitate them to implement programmes and activities on food security and natural resources.
Review the existing legislation and policies on environmental protection and conservation.
JUSTICE, PEACE AND RECONCILIATION

“Everyone will live in peace among his own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make him afraid. The Lord Almighty has promised this.” Mark 4: 4
“Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called children of God.” Mathew 5: 9

Background
Uganda has experienced and continues to experience historical and emerging conflicts characterized by internal displacement, loss of lives and property and the general phenomenon of resolving conflicts in violent manner. The high level of proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and a number of civilians possessing illegal guns has turned conflicts to be violent. In pastoralists communities like Karamoja, armed cattle rustling has led to insecurity and internal displacement especially for the neighbouring communities.

The civil war in Northern Uganda which lasted for over 20 years left about 2 million people internally displaced, although since the Peace Talks in 2006, people have returned to their original settlements and are trying to cope with the post conflict situation. There are efforts by the government to have affirmative action to rehabilitate and develop the region. This is being done through programmes like the Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP), Karamoja Integrated, Disarmament and Development Programme (KIDDP), Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF II) phase two among others. With the high level of corruption in public offices, there is need for an active participation of the civil society to monitor the implementation of these programmes; otherwise the intended beneficiaries may not accrue the benefits.

The recently concluded general elections that took place during February – March 2011, were marred with malpractices that left various political leaders and candidates and their supporters disgruntled. There is need for religious leaders to play a role of reconciling conflicting parties to accompany them in the healing process but also to avoid escalation of political related conflicts.

Furthermore, Ugandans are still grappling with unresolved conflicts related to issues of Land ownership and “land grabbing”, ethnic, political , pastoralist related conflicts, marginalization, historical conflicts like the absent land lords in Bunyoro region and Religious conflicts. Various reports indicate an increasing level and incidences of domestic violence even after passing the law on Domestic violence in 2009, this is yet to be effectively implemented by the government, leave alone to make it known to the citizens.

Uganda is a land locked country with its neighbours being Kenya on the eastern part, DRC on the western part, Sudan on the Northern part, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi on the Southern part, its location puts it at the center of the volatile Great Lakes region. On a number of occasions, it has experienced cross border conflicts with its neighbours and this has increased Small Arms proliferation in the Country.

UJCC recognizes that its constituency especially the religious leaders are always a stop point for resolving conflicts, however their skills in conflict resolution, mediation and Early warning mechanisms are limited. Religious leaders too have rare opportunities and spaces to interact with the citizens quite regularly; this is part of the space that religious leaders should exploit to empower citizens to be peace makers (Mathew 5:9).

Considering the above situation, in the next 6 years (2012- 2017), UJCC will focus one of its strategic direction in the area of Peace building and Reconciliation.

Strategic Objective 4: To promote policies and programmes justice, peaceful and reconciliation.

KEY RESULTS
KRA 1: Religious and Community Leaders’ capacity in influencing the development, implementation and monitoring of peace related policies enhanced
Outputs:

Six pro people peace policies (National peace policy, Firearms policy, Disarmament, Pastoralist policy, and Peace Education policy) reviewed/developed, influenced and monitored by religious leaders.
Core Activities:

Develop the advocacy strategy.
Undertake data collection on the advocacy issues.
Production and dissemination of advocacy materials.
Carry out Radio programmes.
KRA 2: Member Institutions and EJACs able to manage conflicts peacefully
Outputs:

17 regional EJACs trained and supporting communities in Mediation, trauma healing, management of schools conflicts and gender based violence.
Research based dialogue and reconciled communities.
Core Activities:

Develop training materials for peace building, mediation, Trauma healing, Conflict sensitivity, schools conflicts and Gender Based Violence.
Facilitate and conduct Training of Trainers (ToT) courses on the above topics for religious leaders, community leaders, school administrators, youth, women among others.
Facilitate EJACs in the 17 regions to implement activities in mediation, psychosocial support, Gender Based Violence and school conflicts/peace clubs.
Build the capacity of EJACs to undertake research and mainly baseline surveys on conflicts in their regions/communities.
Facilitate, coordinate and organize national reconciliation Forums based on the regional findings.
KRA 3: Tolerance of diversity within and between communities enhanced through the Uganda Peace Village.
Outputs:

Conducive environment for peace building created.
Harmony among diverse communities enhanced.
Core Activities:

Continue with construction work at the Uganda Peace Village.
Establish a peace resource center.
Organize and facilitate quarterly peace camps for the youth, women, religious, cultural, political and community leaders.
Organize and facilitate at least one annual inter – cultural exchange visit.
KRA 4: Community safety and control of the proliferation and misuse of small arms and Light Weapons (SALW) increased.
Outputs:

Increased awareness on the dangers of small Arms proliferation and misuse.
Increased engagement and level of influence of religious leaders in community safety and development programmes at all levels.
Core Activities:

Develop and disseminate awareness raising materials on the proliferation and misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW).
Organize media programmes to raise awareness among citizens on the dangers of illegal SALW.
Organize and facilitate dialogue forums between religious and community leaders with government on the misuse of official arms.
Facilitate religious leaders and EJACs to monitor the implementation of peace and development recovery programmes in North and NORTH Eastern Uganda including KIDDP, PRDP, NUSAF II among others.
KRA 5: Collaboration and Networking with strategic partners strengthened.
Output:

Strengthen mutual learning, lobbying and advocacy at all levels.
Core Activities

Organize and facilitate quarterly network meetings.
Participate and contribute to network meetings on peace and other related initiatives.
Contribute subscription fees to national, regional and international peace networks.

5.5 INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING

“Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered round him, and he began to teach them.” Mathew 5:1

“David’s instructions for the Temple” 1Chronicles 28: 11- 21.

UJCC realizes that in order to be able to implement this strategic plan, there is need to strengthen its capacity. This will include capacity building for its various organs, including the regional EJACs and the secretariat staff. It will need both financial and non financial resources in order to achieve the set objectives. Capacity will be in form of finances, training for the members of its organs, establishing and improving the existing systems, mechanisms and procedures as well as acquisition of required soft and hard ware.

UJCC will put in place a fundraising strategy with the aim of reducing on donor dependency. This strategy will give UJCC a direction on how to raise funds at international, regional and local levels. UJCC will focus on Institutional Development. One of the areas will include having all UJCC organs (Board of Trustees who are the Custodians; Annual General Meeting who are the Policy makers; Executive Committee who formulate policy proposals for approval by Annual General Meeting; Working committees who plan and make recommendations to Executive Committee; Secretariat who are involved in coordination and capacity building; and EJACs who are involved in implementation at grassroots) clearly understand and adhere to their roles and responsibilities. UJCC will also be involved in empowering the organs with skills and competencies in the areas of Resource Mobilization, Lobbying and Advocacy, Monitoring and Evaluation.

Additionally, UJCC will be involved in capacity building initiatives in the areas of: Human Resource Planning and Development. This will focus on skills and competencies development, Staff Welfare and Motivation; Ensuring adequate equipment, utilities and Machinery (Computers, vehicles, telephones, cameras, furniture, maintenance, keeping updated asset register for inventory). UJCC will also review and operationalize systems, mechanisms and procedures aimed at institutional strengthening in the areas of; finance and administration, research, documentation, information, communication, monitoring and evaluation.

Furthermore, UJCC will ensure increased active participation of UJCC organs in the implementation of the strategic plan and will work on strengthening M&E systems and mechanisms; ensuring they are operational and effective.

Strategic Objective 5: Efficient and Effective UJCC and its organs where roles, responsibilities, systems, mechanisms and procedures are streamlined and functioning.

KEY RESULTS

KRA 1: Increased active participation of UJCC organs in the implementation of the strategic plan.
Output:

Roles and responsibilities of various organs of the Council clearly understood and adhered to.

Core Activities:

Facilitate and conduct orientation workshops for members of the organs on their roles and responsibilities.
Conduct training needs assessment for members of UJCC various organs.
Undertake training and empowering of members of UJCC organs including secretariat staff..
Provide the UJCC secretariat with necessary goods and services and ensure they are maintained for efficient and effective performance.
KRA 2: UJCC funding base and financial management systems strengthened and streamlined for transparency and sustainability.
Outputs:

Fundraising and sustainability strategy developed and operationalized.
Financial Management systems streamlined and functional.
Core Activities:

Establish a Fundraising team.
Facilitate the development of a fundraising strategy for UJCC sustainability.
Undertake a human resource audit for the UJCC secretariat year 2012.
Facilitate local, regional and international fundraising initiatives for the strategic plan activities.
Coordinate the review of UJCC policy manuals.
Up grade the accounting software package.
KRA 3: Improved Research, Documentation, Advocacy and Communication
Outputs:

Research, Documentation, advocacy and Communication strategies established and operationalized.
UJCC public image and visibility enhanced.
Core Activities:

Coordinate and facilitate the development of UJCC research, advocacy and communication strategies.
Produce and disseminate IEC and advocacy materials.
Develop a distribution list/contact list for all the documents and communications from UJCC.
Undertake to develop an effective and efficient management information system.
Coordinate media advocacy.
Develop and implement UJCC visibility strategy (production of visibility materials like T- Shirts, banners, calendars, brochures, booklets etc).
Strengthen the EJACs to implement programmes effectively and efficiently.
Disseminate information to the public through SMS system.
In build media programmes within the programmes and projects and make provisions in the budgets (through use of radios, TVs, news papers etc).
Ensure an updated website (www.ujcc.co.ug)
KRA 4: Operational M&E systems and mechanisms strengthened.
Output

UJCC M&E operating systems and mechanisms improved.
Core Activities:

Build the capacity of staff and EJACs in M & E.
Develop a UJCC an information management database.
Design appropriate M & E tools.
Monitor the implementation of the strategic plan.
Undertake internal and external reviews of the strategic plan implementation, including mid term reviews and end of strategic plan evaluation.
Mainstream M&E within UJCC programmes and activities.

6.0 MANAGEMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN

UJCC recognizes that strategic planning is a continuous process that needs to be well managed at all the stages and steps, for it to bear fruits. The process involves different stakeholders and each one has an important role to play. The functions, roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder will be clearly defined so that there is no confusion as to who does what during the implementation of this Strategic Plan.

6.1 RESPONSIBILITY

The implementation of this strategic plan will be the responsibility of every manager. However, the office of the Executive Secretary will provide general oversight and leadership regarding its implementation.

6.2 COORDINATION

The Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Programmes will have the responsibility of coordinating the implementation of the strategic plan with the members of the secretariat, EJACs and other partners/stakeholders to ensure that necessary monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are put in place to track down progress and achievement of the goals respectively.

7.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION

UJCC recognizes the importance of monitoring and evaluation of the strategic plan and will therefore make it an integral part of the entire process. The overall purpose of monitoring and evaluation will be to measure and assess performance in order to learn and manage the results more effectively and inform decision-making. The system will largely use the strategic objectives, results and indicators that have been incorporated in the strategic plan log-frame matrix. As much as is possible the process of monitoring and evaluation will be participatory, involving all the key stakeholders and in particular the target groups.

7.1 MONITORING

The areas to monitor will include, but not limited to: performance, utilization of resources, capacity of members, impact, context, institutional capacity and reaction of the target groups.

The monitoring process will involve regular collection and analysis of information on the progress of the strategic plan implementation. The process will include, but not limited to the following: Check whether the implementation is on course in relation to the set objectives; help in the documentation of the process of implementation; document milestones/progress and key learning areas from experience and feedback; inform UJCC’s future directions, decisions and planning; help in taking corrective measures if any unexpected results occur, in order to bring the program/project back onto target; and check that allocated resources are being used as intended and cost effectively.

MONITORING TOOLS

As much as possible, UJCC will use a variety of monitoring tools, depending on the nature of the project and donor requirements. Some of the tools include: work plans, reports, field visits, annual staff appraisal forms, and staff meetings. Each program/project will determine which tools are relevant and most suitable for their situation.

Work plans

A work plan will be one of the main tools of monitoring the progress of the implementation of the program. Each program will be expected to prepare detailed work plans. The work plan will provide the following information: outputs, activities, timeframe, persons responsible, financial and other resources required.

Reports

The reports will include program management reports; financial reports, audit reports and donor specific reports (where required by the donor).

Quarterly Program/Management reports

These reports will include: Planned activities for the quarter; Achievements against the plan (outputs and any major outcomes); Major variances; Any trends (in terms of context, national or global that have or may influence our work); Constraints and challenges faced; Any lessons that have been learnt; Recommendations; and annexes.

Note: This format will be used as UJCC format, except where a donor has a specific format. This format will also be used both for annual and quarterly report.

Financial report

All financial reports will be expected to be compliant with the Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and in line with the principles of cash accounting process (Accrual). In preparing the report, consideration shall be given to formats given by specific donors. Otherwise, the format will include the following main components: Budget allocation; Expenditure for the period; Accumulated expenditure; and Variances.

Audit Report

The International Accounting and Audit Standards (IAS) and the GAAP shall govern the preparation of the audit reports. The format will include the following: Balance sheet, Income and Expenditure account, Statement of asset registers, Cash Flow Statement and Letter of Management

NB: All the first four above will provide comparative information in relation to other accounting periods.

Field visits

UJCC secretariat will plan to visit programs/projects regularly with a view to interact with the target groups to obtain their views on how the program/project is affecting them (positively or negatively) and their proposed solutions to perceived problems. The personnel undertaking the visits will prepare reports either at the site or immediately after visits, focusing on relevance and performance, including any early signs of potential problems or success areas.

Annual staff appraisal

The key issues that will be looked at here are:

• Performance against agreed standards/indicators or result areas as per the job descriptions.
• Identification of gaps (or factors that contribute to poor or good performance) and agreement on corrective measures where necessary.
• Agreement on the next period’s result areas/objectives.
• Meetings
• UJCC will hold staff and management meetings on a regular basis in order to discuss important issues pertaining to the programs/projects and take appropriate action, where necessary. General staff meetings, management and programme staff meetings will be held monthly.

7.2 EVALUATION

UJCC will ensure both internal and external evaluations are done depending on specific program/project specific requirements. Internal evaluations will primarily serve UJCC’s/Program’s internal information needs, whereas external evaluations will serve the purpose of meeting the external party’s information needs. UJCC will plan to have two external evaluations: mid-term review and final evaluation.

The Mid-term review will be done at the end of the first phase in the 3rd year to assess the progress with a view to check whether the implementation is still on the right track based on the agreed plans. The final evaluation will be conducted at the end of the strategic plan period.

UJCC plans to evaluate the following aspects of her work: achievement of goals and objectives by assessing the progress towards achieving the set goals through mid-term evaluation and also assessing the actual achievement of the goals after completion of the program; the realisation of expected impact; organisation’s/program’s relevance in National priority areas, members needs and thematic areas; factors that contribute towards sustainability; and efficiency and effectiveness.

EVALUATION TOOLS

The following are some of the tools/mechanisms that will be used during evaluations of programs/projects: Questionnaires, Stakeholders meeting; Focus Group Discussion Guides; Interviews Guides; Logical Framework Matrix; Observation guides; and Documentation reviews.

8.0 DETAILED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (LOGFRAME MATRIX)

The Log-frame was developed based on the five strategic directions identified during the strategic planning process and which are discussed in section 9 of this report. Based on these strategic directions, a three-year time frame, being the first phase of the six-year strategic plan was adopted for planning.

Furthermore, for each strategic direction, strategic objectives were developed systematically to address all key aspects thereof. Under each objective, the key result areas and corresponding outputs and activities were identified and documented.(see Logical Framework Matrix below). Furthermore, monitoring indicators, means of verification, assumptions and risks were identified and documented as indicated in each specific Logical Framework Matrix.