Uganda Country Building Program

1. INTRODUCTION
National Planning Authority (NPA) with Support from African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) will convene a two-day workshop under the theme; “Integrating Capacity Building Initiatives for National Development” from 26th to 27th March 2012 at Imperial Royale Hotel. His Excellency the Vice President of the Republic of Uganda will offi ciate at the opening and the Hon. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will offi ciate at its closing.

The workshop will offer a platform for Government Ministries, Departments & Agencies, Development Partners, civil society, private sector, Parliamentary Committees on public accounts & the economy as well as independent experts to develop strategies for country-level coordination and integration of capacity building initiatives to more effectively contribute towards Uganda’s economic growth, employment creation and socioeconomic transformation. It will produce the following tangible outputs:

i. Lessons and best practices from on-going capacity building interventions;

ii. Areas in policy, institutional, organizational and human resource development identifi ed and prioritized as a basis for developing a shared capacity building Agenda;

iii. Shared strategies for joint collaboration, implementation, coordination and dissemination of capacity building initiatives and results;

iv. A roadmap for formulation of an integrated country capacity building policy and plan; and

v. Enhanced commitment by GoU, Development Partners and Implementing Entities (IEs) to contribute to implementation of the capacity building strategy in a coherent and complementary manner

2. WHY THERE IS NEED FOR INTEGRATING
CAPACITY BUILDING EFFORTS Despite development efforts undertaken since attaining her political independence in 1962, Uganda has registered dismal economic progress compared to other countries like Botswana, South Africa, Mauritius, Malaysia and Republic of Korea. After emerging from instabilities of the 1970s and early 1980s, Uganda became one of the fastest growing economies in the world during the past two decades. That recovery and stabilization period is over, and the country has entered a new phase of growth and transformation, which requires strategic investments in building the capacities of the public sector, private sector and civil society to manage the country’s transition to prosperity. To be able to make those strategic investments, we need a coherent national capacity building strategy focused on propelling transformation and development.

There is also a need to harmonize and focus current and future interventions in order to improve effi ciency in the allocation and utilization of scarce capacity building resources from Development Partners & GoU and to consolidate their overall national development impact. Building on the achievements attained through on-going interventions to strengthen public fi nancial management, expenditure accountability and public sector management in general, integrated capacity building will increase the effectiveness of public expenditure management in achieving the objectives of national development as contained in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2010/11-2014/15 and generate effi ciency savings to bridge the fi nancing gaps identifi ed in the NDP.

3. TARGET GROUP
Invitations have been delivered to the following key stakeholders: Uganda Country Capacity Building Program (UCCB) steering and technical committees, Joint Budget Support Framework (JBSF) Development Partners, Joint Budget Support (JBS) line Ministries and Agencies, Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) steering committee and management, renowned experts and researchers in the area of capacity development, bilateral Development Partners, Members of Parliamentary, sector managers at NPA and the media.

4. THE ISSUES
The workshop will specifi cally focus its presentations, discussions and deliberations on six keys areas, namely:

a) Building capacity for public fi nancial management and expenditure accountability in the context of national/decentralized development management;

b) Legal, policy and institutional reforms in public financial management and service delivery: progress made and emerging priorities for Government action;

c) Interventions, results and challenges in building human resources and organizational capacity for development;

d) Strengthening the voice and participation of the private sector, civil society and academia with public sector to improve service delivery;

e) Strengthening Public-Private-Donor Partnerships in designing, coordinating, monitoring, disseminating and evaluating capacity development interventions and results; and

f) Towards an integrated approach to country capacity development in Uganda.

Six experts, including independent consultants and senior Government offi cials, have been engaged from to prepare technical papers on the above areas, to form a basis for discussions.

5. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP CONVENER
This workshop is convened by NPA under the Uganda Country Capacity Building Program (UCCBP). The UCCBP, currently funded by African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and GoU, aims at strengthening planning systems, public expenditure management and accountability, and the institutional and human capacity of private sector and civil society in order to promote effi ciency and effectiveness in the use of public resources for national development. The UCCBP is currently undertaking a review to determine its activities for the next 2-3 years, and the planned workshop is expected to contribute to this exercise.

UCCBP works with Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development; Ministry of Public Service; National Planning Authority; Offi ce of the Prime Minister; Uganda Bureau of Statistics; Directorate of Economic Affairs & Research (Office of the President); Local Government Finance Commission; Uganda Management Institute; Institute of Certifi ed Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), Parliament of Uganda; Inspectorate of Government; Private Sector Foundation Uganda and Uganda National NGO Forum. Through these Benefi ciary Institutions, the capacity and space for civil society and private sector to engage with Parliament and the Executive in policy dialogue and public expenditure monitoring have been greatly enhanced to infl uence the process and outcome of the national budget. Trainings to strengthen expenditure review skills and investigative methods for oversight institutions have resulted in increased hearings on public expenditure and delivered more prosecutions and convictions. Through enhancement of statistical skills and tools, Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has been strengthened to produce more reliable national statistics needed for improved national reporting, information retrieval and public policy and decisionmaking.

6. CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
All invited delegates are expected to attend the workshop and to keep time. However, due to limited space at the workshop, other interested stakeholders are invited to submit their views and ideas via e-mail to the workshop Rapporteur: shemb@lanternconsult.com and the NPA Capacity Building Expert: ekiiza@npa.ug.

For further inquiries, please contact UCCBP Program Offi cer Rachel Emaasit on telephone number 0772516750.