Kakaire A. Kirunda
30 October 2008
Kampala — The involvement of Uganda's civil society in the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) which oversees the implementation of the Global Fund supported projects on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria is weak.
This is according to a new seven country report, 'Making Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanisms work through full engagement of civil society', released this month by the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC).
"Due to rivalries and competition for resources and attention among civil society organisations, the selection of representatives has been contested. Because they come from a young and relatively immature civil society in general, Uganda's civil society representatives are treated as-and naturally feel-inferior when they sit in CCM meetings with donor representatives and high-ranking government officials," the report reads in part.
CCMs bring together multiple stakeholders to collectively identify country needs, design programming, and oversee implementation of Global Fund-supported projects.
Based on survey conducted locally by HEPS Uganda for the ITPC, the report says civil society representatives do not have access to the information needed to make meaningful and influential contributions to debates. "For example, it is assumed that all representatives have access to the Internet-which is not the case-and the meeting organisers send invitations by email and make references to Internet resources. In addition, civil society representatives do not have adequate understanding of government budgeting processes and financing procedures," says the report.
Uganda's civil society has also been found to be so diverse and broad that its representatives have had problems generating consensus on Global Fund issues. This in turn leaves little or no coordination among civil society prior to CCM meetings.
The report quotes Dr. Jim Arinaitwe, the Global Fund Coordinator at the Uganda Aids Commission as saying that the civil society seems to be a non entity, at least for now. "The primary player in this country is the government.
Whatever is discussed in the CCM will be presented and discussed in Parliament by the Ministry of Health. The role of the civil society is therefore secondary; it is brought on board to fill gaps-maybe until we develop to such a level when the civil society is represented in Parliament. We tell them [only] what we wish to tell them. Even the civil society representatives themselves do not feel that they are equal."
However the ITPC says the experience of rapid scale up of Aids treatment shows that civil society engagement is key to the success of wide scale health delivery. CS are believed to bring urgency to resource mobilisation and planning, inform programme development, give voice to vulnerable populations, deliver community-based services, and hold policy makers accountable for concrete results.
The lead representative of the civil society to the CCM Rev. Sam Rutakeire however dismissed the report findings saying they have full participation and make meaningful contributions. "I disagree with the report. We are able to express ourselves and our views count in the CCM," he said on telephone.
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