OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUTH - UPFYAupfya.or.ug/download/UPFYA_Strategic_Plan_2018-2022.pdf ·...

1.STRATEGIC PLAN | 2018-2022

UGANDA PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON YOUTH AFFAIRS


STRATEGIC PLAN2018 - 2022

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUTH

2. STRATEGIC PLAN | 2018-2022

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUTHGuaranteeing young people’s access to economic opportunities, social services and registering impactful engagement in decision-making.



ContentsForeword 2Patron’s Message 3Acknowledgments 4Introduction 5The Youth We Want: Our Vision on Youth Prosperity 10Theory of Change: Nourishing the Ecosystem for Effective Youth Representation, Leadership and Advocacy 11

Priority Interventions 13Risk Analysis and Mitigation 16Results Management Plan 16Notes 19

AcronymsCSO Civil Society Organization

DGF Democratic Governance Facility

DHS Demographic Health Survey

MDA Ministries, Departments and Agencies

MP Member of Parliament

NYC National Youth Council

TVET Technical Vocational Education and Training

UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UPE Universal Primary Education

UPFYA Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs

UPPET Universal Post-Primary Education and Training

WFD West Minister Foundation for Democracy


2.

The youth population is growing and so are the challenges young people face. Around 8.2 million Ugandans today are youth (18 – 30 years), and this number is projected to rise to almost 10 million by 2020. However, while the youth population is rapidly growing, economic and social development opportunities are not. Rising unemployment, inability to access essential services such as quality education and health, and gender based violence are just part of several constraints faced by Ugandan youth.

Our commitment to youth embodies a clarion call to Uganda youth leaders at all levels and of all dispensations to work for an environment where young women and men can have unrestricted access to economic opportunities and social services and where they can register impactful participation in decision-making.

In the recent past, the youth sector been a beehive of activities by government and nongovernmental actors including civil society and the private sector. A critical missing link however is that our work has suffered weak coordination and, at times, outright competition. At the heart of our limitations has been the weak interaction between the civil society, political society and the bureaucratic apparatus of government. The negative effects of this are glaring: neither increased youth uptake of leadership roles nor high vibrancy of youth civic actors has delivered much needed impacts on youth empowerment.

Therefore, the need to shift from ‘business as usual approaches’ has underlined the design of our strategy for the next five years (2018 – 2020). Rather than focussing on selected topics or programme areas, the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs (UPFYA) is choosing to holistically nourish the ecosystem for youth participation, leadership, and representation.

Our mission is to ensure that the aspirations of youth of all walks of life can reach the highest levels of decision-making. Blended with the power of well-coordinated advocacy, we expected that laws, policies and programmes that respond to youth aspirations will be enacted, implemented and that there will be results to show for this, these results must be reflected in increased opportunities for all youth.

This is not merely a strategy of UPFYA but rather one for all youth leaders in Uganda. The new approach suggested in this plan

advances the urgent need to shift from competition to cooperation and a move to replace duplication of efforts with synergy. Most importantly, we shall need to talk to one another and agree to put our voice behind common priority issues. As parliamentarians, we are making a commitment to become youth champions and would like to invite all youth loving

leaders to join us in this drive.

Mwine Mwaka (MP)Chairperson

Foreword



The vision of Parliament is to legislate for the people, to ensure

sustainable development, and democracy in Uganda.

Parliament recognises that Uganda’s population is young

and growing. According to the 2016/2017 National Household

Survey, more than two-thirds (75.2 per cent) of Uganda’s

population is aged 30 or below. Therefore, ensuring that the

legislative function meets the aspirations of young people

is a clarion call Parliament must heed, if the legislature is to

contribute towards the attainment of inclusive development

and the Sustainable Development Goals broadly.

Legislating for young people will demand considerable

listening to them, discussing with them and planning with them.

But how else could this prerequisite be met if there wasn’t a

parliamentary forum dedicated to youth affairs? In the lens of

Parliament, therefore, the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on

Youth Affairs (UPFYA) plays a critical role in aggregating the

aspirations of youth and presenting them in the parliamentary

law-making processes.

The new UPFYA strategy is an especially welcome framework,

considering its focus on nourishing the ecosystem for youth

representation, leadership and advocacy. This strategy

is expected to support the overall aspiration of the tenth

Parliament to legislate for all the people of Uganda. If the

commitments set out in this strategy can be met, we expect

Parliament to be up-to-date not just about the constraints

faced by youth, but also with young people’s ideas,

opportunities and challenges presented by rapid population

growth, unemployment and weak public service delivery

systems, to mention a few, can be overcome.

Uganda is praised worldwide for creating policies for

the participation of hitherto marginalised groups

in decision-making. Article 78 of the Uganda 1995

Constitution provides for special interest group

representation, and among these the five youth

representatives. While the interest group representatives

can be our torchbearers, they will require the support

of many champions to deliver on the evolving

demands of our constituents.

The Speaker’s office is committed to being one

such champion and is taking a first step by

committing to supporting the implementation

of the UPFYA strategic plan within the

parliamentary framework.

For God and my Country

Patron’s Statement of Commitment

Rt. Hon Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga (MP)

Speaker of Parliament


Acknowledgments

Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs (UPFYA) wishes to extend special thanks to the partners and experts who supported the process of developing this plan.

Our thanks go to the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) which has supported UPFYA from the time it was established. We are specifically grateful to Ms. Rebecca Kukundakwe – DGF Programme Manager Gender and Youth for her unwavering support and technical guidance.

We continue to thank the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the National Population Council (NPC) that provided both technical and financial support to ensure this strategic plan is successfully produced.

We are extremely grateful for the partnership and support received from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) who not only

contributed financially and technically to the development of this strategy. We specifically appreciate the technical guidance and leadership provided by the WFD Country Representative; Mr. Joseph Munyangabo who gave technical oversight to the entire process of generating this strategic plan.

Above all, we would like to acknowledge our lead consultant Mr. Yusuf Kiranda of the Centre for Development Alternatives for the immense work in developing the strategy and Ms Suzane Muhereza who developed the monitoring and evaluation framework.

This work wouldn’t have been successful without the leadership of the UPFYA Executive Board led by Hon. Mpaka Mwine supported by the UPFYA secretariat under the leadership of Ms. Coordinator Elone Natumanya Ainebyoona- the UPFYA Coordinator.



1. IntroductionOur population is growing and more than 77 per cent of Ugandans are young people aged 30 or below.

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Uganda’s total population in 2017 is projected at 37.6 million, with youth (18–30 years) constituting roughly 22 per cent (8.2 million) of that population.1Given the high number of children (55 per cent of the population) today, it can only be expected that the number of youth will keep increasing. How we harness the talents of today’s youth and generate opportunities for future youth will be key for Uganda’s possibility to tap into a potential demographic dividend.

Our Commitment to Youth is a five-year strategy of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Youth Affairs (UPFYA) through which we seek to respond to the demands of Uganda’s young generation, which is rapidly increasing in size yet is faced with unprecedented and evolving challenges. UPFYA is a youth leadership platform constituted by Members of Parliament (MPs) with a shared motivation to promote the interests of young people in Uganda. This strategy is also linked to the overall strategic framework of the Parliament of Uganda, whose overall goal is “to legislate for the people, sustainable development,

and democracy in Uganda.”2

Between 2018 and 2022, UPFYA aims to contribute towards an environment where Ugandan youth

have unrestricted access to economic opportunities and social services andwhere they can register impactful participation in decision-making.

To achieve this target, UPFYA will focus on nourishing the ecosystem for youth participation, leadership and representation. A starting point in our work will be to harness the mandate and influence of parliamentarians and then leverage that to promote youth causes.

Therefore, to achieve the youth we want, our interventions will start with getting the kind of MP we want—a youth champion.

As youth champions, MPs will work to ensure that the aspirations of everyday youth are solicited, aggregated and presented at the highest levels of decision-making. As a parliamentary platform, UPFYA will coordinate and link the youth development sector to the highest levels of decision-making within Parliament as well as in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, development partners and the private sector. Our task is to guarantee that young people’s aspirations as generated by civil society actors, student associations, political parties, the National Youth Council(NYC) and youth business associations are voiced and followed up.

Uganda’s total population in 2017 is projected at 37.6 million, with youth (18–30 years) constituting roughly 22 per cent (8.2 million) of that population. Given the high number of children (55 per cent of the population) today, it can only be expected that the number of youth will keep increasing....



Young people represent a commanding majority in Uganda, but are disproportionally affected by several constraints.

Ugandan youth face limited opportunities for gainful economic engagement, inadequate access to essential social services such as quality education and health care and an environment where youth have a limited influence on decision-making. Existing socioeconomic and political conditions obstruct youth from exploiting their capabilities and talents to achieve decent livelihoods and a smooth transition to adulthood. It also takes away the opportunity for Uganda to harness a potential demographic dividend, whereby a growing youth population could contribute positively towards the country’s productivity and the pursuit for socio-economic and political transformation.

1.1 Background youth settle for informal activities where work is precarious, unsafe and poorly remunerated. Moreover, the discourse on employment opportunities continues to pay less attention to the real circumstances of Ugandan youth, 77 per cent of whom, according to recent statistics, have only completed primary education or have not. 5The employment debates also continue to ignore non-traditional sectors such as sports and the creative arts.

Given the absence of social safety nets, most youth find themselves taking up poor-quality jobs only because the choice of living without a job is an alternative they cannot afford. As a result, young people are often exploited. The inability to find opportunities for gainful economic engagement renders youth vulnerable to crime and radicalization. It is also a recipe for social and political instability. 6The failure to find decent work also denies youth a sense of dignity and self-worth and robs them of the opportunity to contribute to society.

Gender disparities remain a daunting challenge that disadvantages mostly girls and young women as well as youth with disabilities.

Despite praiseworthy policies and institutional frameworks for the empowerment of marginalised groups, gender inequality remains salient in Uganda’s economic and social strata. Women constitute more than half of the population but command a limited share in modern wage employment. 7 And despite that fact that over 70 per cent of women engage in agriculture, less than 20 per cent of them control the proceeds of their efforts. 8 Women and girls face unacceptable exclusion in access to essential factors of production, especially land: In Uganda, only 27 per cent of registered land is

owned by women.

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a major challenge.

The scale of GBV in Uganda continues to be difficult to measure as much of it remains silent, invisible, or goes unreported. But the 2016 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) reports that 22 per cent of women (15–49 years) reported having experienced some form of sexual

Overall, Uganda’s rapidly growing population faces diminishing opportunities, especially for youth.

The past two decades of positive economic growth have been an era of ‘jobless growth’ that has not created the commensurate decent job opportunities much needed by youth.3 Although official unemployment figures are relatively low at 9.4 per cent, underemployment at 27.5 per cent and labour market exclusion are far-reaching problems for youth.4 With so few jobs in the modern wage sector, the majority of



violence. 9In addition to the widely discussed violence at home and

workplaces, new media presents a new space where violence is meted out to women.

Despite modest progress, significant gaps remain regarding access to basic social services, especially health care and education.

Access to health is a basic and inherent right. However,Ugandan youth, relative to the rest of the population, pervasively face severe constraints in this area, especially concerning sexual and reproductive health. Youth are constrained in accessing sexual and reproductive health information, which state of affairs is exacerbated by the absence of youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in many parts of the country. The consequences of the existent health sector gaps are glaring: a staggering 25 per cent of girls aged 15–19 are already childbearing. 10Teenage pregnancies blended with inadequate access to family planning services—as 38 per cent of married women report unmet family planning needs—can explain why Uganda’s population continues to grow rapidly above 3 per cent, which is above the rate

of growth for food production and above the rate of improvement inper capita income.

Uganda has registered considerable progress in education, especially regarding access. 11With the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Post-Primary Education and Training (UPPET), cost-related barriers to basic and secondary education have significantly diminished. However, recent statistics from UBOS show that 77 per cent of young people aged 15-29 years have only completed primary education or have not. Cost-related barriers remain a major constraint, particularly on access to tertiary education. In rural and remote areas, schools are still distant from the physical reach of learners. Disparities in school infrastructure and learning materials disadvantage learners, particularly those from rural areas, urban slums and remote environments where infrastructure is poor and learning materials are missing.Moreover, more challenges remain regarding the quality and relevance of education to the interests and needs of learners themselves as well as for the demands ofthe labour market and national development.

Highly demanded qualifications in areas such as medicine and engineering have limited places of admission and remain unaffordable for learners from low-income statuses. On the other hand, while vocational education has been touted as a panacea for the skills challenge and, by extension, the unemployment problem, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) remains largely unpopular partly due to the poor quality of jobs dominating the work opportunities available for TVET

graduates.



Over the years, youth participation in political processes has registered commendable improvement, thanks to an enabling legal framework and vibrant civil society.

Uganda boasts one of the youngest Parliaments in the world, meaning that youth are being increasingly accepted as leaders. However, the existing numerical strength of youth in leadership positions is yet to be reflected in the government’s policy and programme outcomes.

Youth voices still count for little indecision-making as this process remains the preserve of a small class of powerful elites.

This problem is underpinned by the paternalistic nature of Ugandan society blended with the influence of money in politics. In addition, many young leaders acquire public office without sufficient opportunities for mentorship and do not, during their period in service, get adequate chances to train and improve on their skills. Moreover, collaboration and networks among youth leaders are either missing, too weak or destructively competitive. Furthermore, young leaders in Uganda, particularly parliamentarians, receive limited opportunities to network locally and internationally, which would present an opportunity for cross-contextual learning and experience-sharing about what is effective and what is not in youth work.

Ugandan youth have continuously echoed the weak accountability mechanisms among youth leaders and youth organisations.

It is a commonplace concern that youth leaders seldom return to their constituents once elected. Furthermore, the mechanisms for horizontal accountability among youth sector actors are either weak or absent. Given that youth leaders seldom report to or consult their constituents, the views of everyday young people hardly


make it to decision-making spaces. In addition, youth leadership falls short of being truly representative. This disconnection weakens the bargaining power of youth leaders as they do

not enlist the support of their constituents.

Uganda continues to adopt laws and policies that limit vibrant political engagement.

Pieces of legislation such as the Public Order Management Act (2014) do not only have serious implications for civil and political rights, but they also constrict political space and make it difficult for youth to organise and engage. Yet, democracy demands that all social groups be able to mobilise around their interests and promote these interests by engaging freely in

political processes at all levels.

UPFYA, alongside several actors, has made efforts to respond to youth challenges but interventions are hampered by weak coordination and low professional standards.

The youth development sector is ostensibly crowded with interventions that are largely disconnected and hence miss out on the opportunities for cross-promotionor forward-and-backward linkages. This trend showed signs of waning in the recent past when youth civil society organisations (CSOs) came together under the leadership of UPFYA and worked on a joint youth manifesto. However, making headway on realisingthe aspirations of the manifesto demandsstronger coordination in thepursuit of effective advocacy and bargaining with Parliament, MDAs and development partners. Yet a structured coordination mechanism remains non-existent. On the other hand, the youth development sector remains less than professional and has not been able to retain the crucial skills and talents needed to pursue a coherent and impactful youth development agenda.



The overall development goal to which UPFYA aims to contribute is an environment where youth haveunrestricted access to economic opportunities and social services andwhere they can register impactful participation in decision-making processes. This goal will be achieved through four interrelated intervention areas.

1. Capacity strengthening of MPs and leveraging MPs as youth champions.

2. High-level advocacy targeting Parliament, MDAs and development partners.

3. Coordination, communication and accountability promotion among youth actors.

4. Data and knowledge exchange within the

youth development sector.

Our mission is two-fold. First is to leverage the mandate of Parliament and parliamentarians to ensure that youth-responsive policies are made and implemented, and that there are results to show for this. Second is to work towards a youth development sector that iscoordinated, professional and accountable. The developmentimpact of our work to which we aspire will be demonstrated by prosperity amongUgandan youth, who should ultimately be unencumbered in enjoying economic, social and political rights. This illustrates the enabling environment UPFYA is working to achieve.

1.2 Goal of the strategy

to contribute in an environment where youth have unrestricted access to economic opportunities and social services and where they can register impactful participation in decision-making processes.

GOAL



2. The Youth We Want: Our Vision on Youth Prosperity

Our strategy is inspired by the definition of development

as “the process of expanding the real freedoms people enjoy.” 12 Our commitment to youth is about working for an enabling environment that expands the freedoms of young women and men in Uganda. Conceptually, this freedom is underlined by three pillars:

Personal income: With better incomes, young people will be able to take charge of their lives and contribute in astounding ways to community and national development. Personal income is a starting point for a decent livelihood, human dignity and self-worth. Ending youth poverty through promoting policies and programmes that guarantee opportunities for gainful economic engagement of all youth is a key pillar of our work.

• Socio-economic arrangements: The social services we access are a determinant of the quality of life we can achieve, including the possibility to live healthy lives in healthy environments. Socio-economic arrangements by the government have implications for the available choices in health, education and other public goods and services. Public infrastructure determines our ability to invest, produce, access the market and prosper. With this strategy, UPFYA commits to compelling the government to deliver on social services in a youth-focused manner.

• Civil and political rights: Our participation in political processes and the enjoyment of civil freedoms is a matter of right. We view this as an indispensable pathway for youth to shape a future that we are very much part of. With this strategy, UPFYA is moving from simply celebrating young people’s numerical strength in leadership to work towards attaining structural change, i.e. bringing about an environment where youth voices count in decision-making.

Figure 1: Our vision of youth empowerment

2.1 An environment that expands freedom for all youth

2.2 Recognizing the heterogeneity of youth

This strategy is developed based on the understanding that youth are a heterogeneous social group. Youth diversity spans gender, ethnicity, religion, levels of education, habitats (rural vs. urban) and political identity, to mention but a few. This diversity also means that young people’s capabilities, talents, opportunities, constraints, world views and outlook also vary. For this reason, UPFYA does not pursue a one-size-fits-all approach in advancing the youth agenda. Plurality and flexibility underline our approach. Therefore, we seek to mobilize for opportunities that are commensurable to the diverse capabilities and aspirations of a heterogeneous youth constituency. We shall also nourish an ecosystem where diverse youth groups with diverse interests can reach the decision-making spaces.



ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

Monito

ring

En

ga

ge

d

Engaged

Advocacy

Monitoring, Follow up

Consulted

Co

rdin

ate

serv

ice

Co

nsu

lt

follo

wup

Parliamentarians (UPFYA Members)

Parliament, MDAs & Development partners

Youth sector CSOs, student and business associations, NYC

Cordinate, accountable & solicits, aggregates youth priorities that shape advocacy

Data, evidence-based ideas, Communication and Servicing of Youth sector

Enact, Finance and Implement Youth focussed proirities and programmes

UPFYA Secratariat

Capacity to cordinate and advocate for youth causes

Youth have access to social services, economic

opportunities and enjoy civil and political rights.

3. Theory of Change: Nourishing the Ecosystem for Effective Youth Representation, Leadership and AdvocacyOur theory of change rests on the assumption that if parliamentarians are capacitated and mobilised into youth champions, they will ensure that youth aspirations are represented at decision-making levels in Parliament, MDAs and among development partners. This will lead to the enacting, financing and implementation of public policies and programmes that respond to the constraints and aspirations of youth. Furthermore, if the MPs coordinate with other youth leadership spheres in civil society, student associations, business groups, political parties and the NYC, it will be possible to solicit and aggregate the priorities of everyday youth, which will then guarantee that high-level advocacy is representative and focuses on priorities defined by the youth themselves. This will, furthermore, enhance horizontal accountabilityamong youth actors, substitute duplication with synergy and, consequently, deliver better results in youth empowerment.



multi-level youth actors from civil society, student associations, business associations, political parties and the NYC will engage with high-level decision-makers and policy influencers.

Achieving the goal of this strategy will depend on a functional coordination mechanism of the youth sector.

The coordination mechanism will bring together two categories of youth actors, namely:

• Multi-level youth leaders from Parliament, the NYC, political parties,business associations and student associations.

• Youth development sector actors, particularly youth CSOs and development partners in youth programming.

Focus on cross-cutting issues will be a key pillar of our work. The drive to foster equal opportunities amongst young women and men will be a key pillar of our strategy. UPFYA will apply a double-pronged approach to gender mainstreaming. First, our approach will work towards ensuring equality in physical participation among female and male youth; and second, the approach will ensure an inclusive agenda that addresses the issues of both female and male youth. Special attention will be paid to the causes of youth with disabilities as well as young people in under served areas, such as regions that are either remote or affected by conflict or natural disasters.

Pursing our theory of change will be underlined by regular reporting, shared planning and exchange, as well as vertical and horizontal accountability in the youth sector. These aspirations underline a youth sector coordination mechanism which will be fortified with the use of ICT to ensure continuous communication and reporting as well as the exchange of experiences, ideas and opportunities. The coordination mechanism will provide a platform for consensus-building on priority advocacy issues that will inform high-level engagements by UPFYA members and similarly motivated youth activists.

Conceptualizing our theory of change

Our strategy is designed to work towards creating an enabling environment for youth to prosper. At the outcome level,we expect the enabling environment for which we aspire to be reflected in public sector policies and programmes that address youth issues being enacted, financed and effectively implemented. This impact role lies with Parliament as a whole as well as with MDAs. In addition, the contribution of development partners that technically and financially support Uganda’s development priorities will be key to attaining the impact to which our strategy aspires.

To purse effective representation and advocacy for youth, parliamentarians will require enhancement of their capacity to handle youth issues and improvement intheir representative function through the provision of up-to-date data, information and evidence-based ideas.

This demands actions such as membership training, global networking and effective communication within the forum as well as continuous research and the supply of up-to-date data, knowledge and emerging ideas. A competent UPFYA secretariat will be key to delivering this function.

UPFYA will provide crucial feedback to the youth sector on emerging responses and opportunities from Parliament, MDAs and development partners. To amplify youth voices, UPFYA will work to facilitate channels where



4. Priority Interventions Our priority interventions will focus on nourishing the ecosystem for youth participation, leadership and representation. We acknowledge that young people face diverse constraints and have varying interests and capabilities. As a forum of legislators representing all youth, UPFYA carries the responsibility of ensuring that the aspirations of all young Ugandans are universally presented and followed up at the highest levels of decision-making. Thus, rather than drawing up a strategy focusing on selected topics, we are seeking to provide a platform where priority issues as identified by the youth themselves can be championed.

Focusing on the ecosystem for youth representation will be underlined by a coordination mechanism for multi-level and multi-sector youth leaders to regularly engage and prioritise key advocacy issues. Such issues may vary by time and in accordance with the evolving socio-economic and political context inUganda.

The result areas of our plan are additionally informed by the need to contribute towards the attained of desired outcomes in the strategic plan of the Parliament of Uganda (2016 – 2020). UPFYA’s work will contribute towards increasing public involvement and participation in parliamentary processes; strengthening parliamentary accountability and scrutiny; enacting legislation for equitable development; and, participation in international engagements.

4.1 Results and interventions

Result area 1:

Parliament, MDAs and development partners enact, finance and implement youth-friendly policies and programmes.

Objective:

UPFYA members lobby and advocate for policies and programmes that respond to youth aspirations

Public-sector interventions for youth will demand three prerequisites: a) the presence of enabling policies or laws; b) the allocation of appropriate financing; and c) the effective implementation of programmes/policies by MDAs.

To contribute towards the attainment of result 1, UPFYA will work towards achieving three programme outcomes. First, UPFYA willbuild numbers, influence and legitimacy to advocate on behalf of all youth among key policy influencers in parliament, MDAs and among development partners. Second will be strengthening the capacity of forum members to lobby and advocate for youth priority issues. Third, UPFYA will facilitate an environment that encourages greater inclusion and participation of youth in advocacy on issues affective to youth. The aspired outcomes under result 1 will be achieved through the following interrelated interventions:

(i) Update forum membership and signup new subscribers

(ii) Hold networking meetings for regular exchange on youth priority issues

(iii) Train UPFYA members on lobbying, advocacy, policy influencing and the political economy of policy making in Uganda

(iv) Hold lobby and advocacy meetings with critical policy influencers in Parliament, MDAs, development partners and the private sector

(v) Develop a shared lobby and advocacy strategy with likeminded youth sector actors

(vi) Propose policies and bills that address youth aspirations



Result area 2: MPs’ capacity as youth champions is strengthened.

Objective: UPFYA builds the capacity of forum members on youth issues, policy influencing and representation

The starting point towards realising the enabling environment aspired for in this strategyis getting MPs who are youth champions. Building champignons among MPs is central towards the possibility of leveraging the mandate of parliamentarians to promote youth aspirations.

UPFYA will therefore work to strengthen the capacity of its members in four critical areas namely: a) understanding contemporary youth aspirations, b) appreciating the constraints holding back youth from realising their aspirations as well as the opportunities that can be leveraged to lift these constraints, c) understanding the local and international context within which youth development occurs, and d) effective approaches to policy influencing and youth representation.

The following interventions will contribute towards the attainment of result 2:

(i) Conduct research on youth focussed topics to provide UPFYA members with up-to-date data, knowledge and emerging ideas on youth issues

(ii) Training UPFYA members on youth aspirations, constraints and opportunities that can be leveraged to lift the constraints youth face

(iii) Hold local and international exchange missions to expose forum members to local and international development contexts and effective approaches to policy influencing and representation

(iv) Hold subnational engagements for MPs to gain better understanding of contemporary youth issues and shape public discourse through media engagements



1. Conduct an organization review and implement human resource restructuring

2. Undertake programme management and organization development training for staff and

board members

3. Establish research collaborations with actors with expertise in research on youth issues

4. Setup coordination office for the youth sector coordination and accountability mechanism

The following interventions will contribute towards the attainment of result 4.

1. Convene a flagship youth leadership & representation roundtable with actors from civil society, political party youth wings, student associations, business associations and NYC

2. Hold structured youth leadership, representation and accountability roundtables with actors from civil society, political party youth wings, student associations, business associations and NYC

3. Establish and maintain an online communication hub for information exchange under youth sector coordination mechanism

4. Prepare joint position papers on issues of concern including the national budget

5. Hold subnational events including dialogues, television and radio talk

Result area 4: The youth sector is better coordinated and accountable

Objective: UPFYA facilitates a youth sector coordination and accountability mechanism

Delivering the desired change will highly depend on our ability to register positive-sum results from the work of diverse youth actors and leaders. This, however, demands that the youth sector achieves better coordination and operates in accordance with the highest standards of accountability. In this

Delivering the aspirations of this strategy will demand that UPFA has the technical capacity to mobilise and service MPs as youth champions as well as coordinate the youth sector more broadly. This will demand that the leadership of the forum gains increased knowledge about organisational management and that the UPFYA secretariat builds stronger expertise and collaborations in research. Furthermore, the human resource structure of the organisation will have to be streamlined to among others ensure that UPFYA can facilitate a successful coordination mechanism for the youth sector. The interventions to contribute towards the achievement of result 3 will include the following:

Result area 3: UPFYA’s capacity to coordinate and service the youth sector is strengthened

Objective: UPFYA builds technical base to better support members and service the youth sector

regard, professionalising the youth sector will be an important part of the path towards sustainable results. Key youth actors considered in our planned coordination mechanism include civil society, student associations, youth business associations, political party youth leagues and the NYC. Our strategy emphasises a shift away from competition among youth organisations to cooperation, with a view to achieving positive-sum results in youth work. The coordination mechanism will focus on shared planning, consensus-building on priority advocacy issues, communication, networking, information exchange as well as vertical and horizontal accountability.



UPFYA Strategy - 2018 – 2022

Outcomes Indicators Interventions

OBJECTIVE 1:

UPFYA members lobby for policies and programmes that respond to youth aspirations

UPFYA builds numbers, influ-ence and legitimacy to advo-cate on behalf of all youth to key policy influencers

Indicator 1.1- Number of parliamentarians who subscribe to UPFYA and remain active in forum activities

Update forum membership and signup new subscribers Hold networking meetings with the forum for exchange on youth issues

Indicator 1.2- Number of meetings between UPFYA members and critical policy influ-encers on youth priority issues

Hold lobby and advocacy meetings with critical policy influencers in Parliament, MDAs and development partners

UPFYA members are better able to lobby and advocate for greater inclusion of youth on priority issues

Indicator 1.3- Number of members trained by UPFYA who report increased knowl-edge/skills in lobbying and advocacy

Train UPFYA members on lobbying, advocacy and the political economy of policy making in Uganda

Indicator 1.4- Shared lobby strategy devel-oped with input from UPFYA members YES/NO

Develop shared advocacy and lobby strategy with other youth sector actors

Explanation of risk Potential impact (High. Medium, Low)

Probability/likelihood of occurrence (High. Medium, Low)

Mitigation measures

Threat to governance CSOs

Governance CSOs may see UPFYA as a threat among donors and the youth constituency

High Low

UPFYA is positioning itself as a link for CSOs to parliament and MDAs. Thus, UPFYA’s is to be seen as supporting and not competing with to the work of CSOs. With this, CSOs are expected to find UPFYA as a valuable partner

Party politics

UPFYA members subscribe to different political ideologies. At times, party positions could be prioritized above the shared youth agenda

High Medium

UPFYA will ensure a non-partisan approach and unity of purpose by mobilising members along the shared goals outlined in this strategy. Focus will be paid towards seeking buy-in by influential power holders and influencers in political party caucuses.

Subscription to coordination mechanism

Different youth sector actors could decline subscribing to the youth coordination mechanism citing the need for more independence

Medium Medium

UPFYA is presenting the coordination mechanism as a platform exchange, accountability and collaboration. The mechanism will not be set up as an administrative structure, it will not seek to control the mandate and work of subscribers. Consensus building under the mechanism will be based on cordial conversations.

5. Risk Analysis and Mitigation

6. Results Management Plan



UPFYA facilitates an environ-ment that encourages greater inclusion and participation of youth in advocacy on issues affective youth

Indicator 1.5- Number of youth focused policy bills and laws developed with input from UPFYA members

Propose policies and law bills that address youth aspirations

Indicator 1.6- Number of lobby/advocacy meetings held in collaboration with youth actors beyond UPFYA

Hold lobby and advocacy meetings with critical policy influencers on youth priority issues

OBJECTIVE 2:

UPFYA builds the capacity of forum members on youth issues, policy influencing and representa-tion

UPFYA builds capacity of members to lobby, advocate and push legislation on youth issues and implementation of youth programmes among relevant stakeholders

Indicator 2.1- Number of training sessions for forum members on youth issues

Train UPFYA members on youth aspirations, opportunities and constraints

Indicator 2.2- Number of UPFYA members who indicate they receive support (data and information) from secretariat on youth issues

Build collaborations and conduct research on youth focussed topics

Indicator 2.2- Number of UPFYA members that participate in knowledge sharing visits

Hold local and international exchange missions for forum members Hold subnational and media engagements on youth issues

OBJECTIVE 3:

UPFYA builds technical base to better support members and coordinate the youth sector

UPFYA leadership has in-creased knowledge of organisa-tional management

Indicator 3.1 - Number of UPFYA staff who receive program management and organi-zational development training

Undertake programme man-agement and organisational development training for UP-FYA staff and board members

UPFYA secretariat builds ex-pertise in policy research and collaborates proactively with other research organisations

Indicator 3.2- Number of research briefs on policy issues drafted by UPFYA secretariat

Build collaborations and conduct research on youth focussed topics

5. Risk Analysis and Mitigation

UPFYA streamlines its HR structure to deliver new strategy

Indicator 3.3- UPFYA develops an updated organogram and human resource structure

Conduct organisational review and implement revised human resource structure

UPFYA runs a successful coordination mechanism for the youth sector and has clout as a convener in youth space

Indicator 3.4- Number of partic-ipants that express confidence in UPFYA’s ability to convene key stakeholders on pertinent youth issues

Setup coordination office for the youth sector coordination and accountability mechanism



1. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2015. Population projections 2015—2020.

2. Parliament of Uganda, Strategic Plan 2016 – 2020.3. See Mugisha & Kitamirike, 2016. UYONET-IRI situation room briefing papers, 2016.4. Kiranda, Y., Walter, M., & Mugisha, M., 2017. Reality check: Employment entrepreneurship

and education in Uganda.5. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2015. UBOS school-to-work transition survey 2015.6. MoFPED, 2014. Uganda’s employment challenge; Jütting, J. P., & de Laiglesia, J. R. (Eds.).

(2009). Youth unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa.7. National Planning Authority, 2010. Vision 2040.8. Ibid, 2016. National Development Plan II.9. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2016. Demographic Health Survey 2016.10. Ibid.11. Kiranda, Y., Walter, M., & Mugisha, M., 2017. Reality check: Employment entrepreneurship

and education in Uganda.12. Sen, A. 2001. Development as a freedom.

Notes

OBJECTIVE 4:

UPFYA facilitates a youth sector coordination and accountability mechanism

UPFYA runs a successful flagship event that gathers the right participants to dis-cuss topical issues in youth space

Indicator 4.1- Percentage of participants that express confi-dence in the Youth Leadership Roundtable as a mechanism that highlights key youth issues and targets/includes relevant mem-bers of the youth sector

Convene a flagship youth leader-ship roundtable with participation of youth sector actors from civil society, political party youth wings, student associations, business groups, and the National Youth Council

UPFYA and its members be-come more visible and front run debate on youth issues at sub-national level

Indicator 4.2- Number of subna-tional outreach events organized by UPFYA to discuss youth issues

Hold subnational events including dialogues, television and radio talk shows

UPFYA becomes a key voice in development, dis-semination and analysis of youth issues

Indicator 4.3- Number of presen-tations made by UPFYA on status of delivery of youth issues in the country

Prepare joint position papers on issues of concern to including the budget

UPFYA strengthens com-munication/feedback loop between members, youth civil society organisations and key policy influencers

Indicator 4.4- Number of indi-viduals informed of advocacy outcomes, receive research briefs and the legislative agenda

Establish online communication hub under youth sector coordina-tion mechanism

Youth voices are included in discussions on national priority issues

Indicator 4.5- Number of media engagements in which UPFYA participates with other actors on issues important to youth

Undertake media engagements on youth priority issues


UGANDA PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON YOUTH AFFAIRS UPFYA PARTNERS



Hon. Mwine MpakaYouth MP Western Region

Chairperson

Hon. Suubi KyinyamatamaJuliet .K

District WomanRepresentative, Rakai

Regional Coordinator- Central

Hon. Mafabi IshmaYouth MP Eastern Region

Vice Chairperson

Hon. Ogama IsmailLower Madi County, Arua District

Regional Coordinator-Northern

Hon. Anna AdekeNational Female Youth MP

General Secretary

Hon. Yeri Ofwono ApolloTororo Municipality MP, Tororo District

Regional Coordinator- Eastern

Hon. Oscar OmonyYouth MP, Northern Region

Treasurer

Hon. Mwijukye FrancisBuhweju County MP, Buhweju District

Regional Coordinator- Western

Hon. Okello Bonny DesalesKole North County, Kole District

Publicity Secretary

Elone NatumanyaCoordinator, UPFYA

Ex-Official/ Secretary to the board

UPFYA EXECUTIVE BOARD


UPFYA PARTNERS

Plot 16-18 Parliamentary Avenue Parliamentary House, North wing, Rm 021P. O. Box 7178, Kampala - UgandaCall: +256414377673, +256393516911Email: [email protected]: www.upfya.or.ug

NATIONAL POPULATION COUNCIL

With Support from:

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUTH - UPFYAupfya.or.ug/download/UPFYA_Strategic_Plan_2018-2022.pdf ·...

Documents

Transcript of OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUTH - UPFYAupfya.or.ug/download/UPFYA_Strategic_Plan_2018-2022.pdf ·...