Uganda National NGO Forum

Uganda National NGO Forum

Abbreviation	UNNGOF
Motto	Providing a sharing and reflection platform for NGOs in Uganda
Formation	1997
Legal status	Non-profit organization
Purpose	To provide a sharing and reflection platform for NGOs so that they can influence governance and development processes in Uganda.
Location	Kampala, Uganda
Region served	Uganda
Membership	585 members
Executive Director	Richard Ssewakiryanga[1][2]
Affiliations	ECOSOC, Task Team CSO, AGNA, GCAP Uganda, USPP & CIVICUS
Website	Homepage

The Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF) is a Ugandan nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a sharing and reflection platform for Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) so that they can influence governance and development processes in Uganda. It is an independent and inclusive national platform whose primary constituency and owners are NGOs in their diversity and configurations. UNNGOF is, however, open to other interest groups within a broadly defined civil society in the East African country.^[3][4][5]

History

Uganda National NGO Forum was launched in 1997 following two years of concerted work to develop the operational structure, a Constitution and membership recruitment program. Many NGOs had realized the need to engage Government and the donor community on policy issues and poverty concerns. Government on the other hand, found it important to involve Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in policies and programmes.^[6]

Under the auspices of Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (DENIVA), a meeting was convened to chart a way forward on forming a new forum. This process was steered by a committee formed in 1995 between national and international organisations, including Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), Oxfam and World Vision. The idea to form UNNGOF was to establish an organisation that would wholly represent CSOs while bringing together National NGOs, International NGOs, CBOs, Voluntary Development Organisations (VDOs), Farmers’ Groups, Cooperative Associations and other Citizens’ Organisations and interest groups from all thematic areas.^[7]

By 2001, UNNGOF had established policies and procedures for accountability, established formal registration for members, operationalized a code of conduct, amended the Constitution by re-mobilising members, developed a three-year rights-based Strategic Plan, and set up district forums for support at district level and to the Secretariat. Over the years, UNNGOF has received financial support from development partners like DFID, DANIDA, UNDP, DGF, and Ford Foundation inter alia, to undertake her mandate.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Function

Vision, mission and objectives

UNNGOF's vision is: A coherent, respected, well-informed NGO sector in Uganda; actively contributing to citizens’ wellbeing and safeguarding their rights.

UNNGOF's mission is: To provide a sharing and reflection platform for NGOs so that they can influence governance and development processes in Uganda.

UNNGOF's objectives are:

• An informed NGO sector that possesses necessary information and capacity to effectively engage in and contribute to development processes
• A networked NGO sector with strong internal and external linkages to other actors
• An engaged and accountable NGO sector that engenders respect from government and citizens, for the difference it makes to society^[12]

Interventions

UNNGOF has four major programme areas, namely:

• Citizen Mobilization, Governance Monitoring and Civic Space Campaigns: Under this programme area, UNNGOF seeks to mobilise citizens to engage with development processes as part of their civic role in society. Additionally, they seek to influence internal and external operating environment of CSOs to ensure a positive environment for NGO operations.^[2] In 2014, as a CSBAG member and platform organisation, UNNGOF used its structures to mobilize signatures which played a crucial role in popularizing CSBAG's 1 Million Signature Campaign.^[13]
• Civil Society Strengthening: The main objective of this component is to develop the capacity of Uganda’s civil society so that the CSO sector can deliver its core mandate and influence development policies and practices. This is delivered through interventions in the areas of: Capacity Development; Membership and Constituency servicing; Developing a Sub national CSO Infrastructure; and promotion of the Quality Assurance Mechanism- QUAM.^{[12][14][15][16]}
• Policy and Advocacy: The Policy and Advocacy programme component seeks to effectively coordinate collective policy engagements by NGOs, on policy issues of interest to NGOs and relevant to Uganda’s development for long term perspective planning. It therefore contributes to the overall Uganda National NGO Forum strategic plan by creating and strengthening platforms to strengthen NGO engagement in multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral policy processes where collective action is desirable and adds value.^[17]
• Communication, Knowledge Management and Learning: Under this Result Area, UNNGOF seeks to communicate and document our experiences and learning as well as broker knowledge imaginatively and develop a dynamic UNNGOF identity and presence across Uganda, East Africa and globally.

Membership

UNNGOF is a membership organisation for NGOs in their diversity; both local and international, working in Uganda. While the primary constituency of UNNGOF is NGOs, other institutions and platforms; that are not generally referred to as NGOs but whose interests are in line with the vision and mission of UNNGOF are welcome to join the family of over 500 active members. As of October 2015, UNNGOF had 585 members.^[18][19]

Besides its members, there are many other service subscribers to the work of UNNGOF including government, researchers, students, private sector, development partners, etc. While these are not members, they are constituencies that UNNGOF provides required services to; primarily aiming to profile the work of members and the NGO sector.

Platforms

UNNGOF works through a number of platforms with its partners to harness the power of collective voice. These platforms include;

Campaigns

As part of its work, UNNGOF seeks to mobilise citizens to engage with development processes as part of their civic role in society. Outreach is done through a number of campaigns including;

References

External links