Interests and relationships in NGO gender advocacy: A case of Uganda.

The thesis presents an insider's investigation of the advocacy work undertaken by gender focused NGOs in Uganda with the view of understanding the ways in which these NGOs negotiate for their interests in their advocacy work within a complex set of relationships among themselves and with the donors, government and the people at the grassroots level. Relationships and interests are critical to our understanding of the NGO advocacy work in Uganda. However, more often the focus is on the technical rather than the relational problems in development. It is on this basis that most attention has focused on the agency of the donors. This study has tried to examine the agency not only of donors but the various actors in the NGO gender advocacy nexus. Through application of feminist research principles, the study examines the Land Co- ownership and Domestic Relations Bill campaigns to understand the ways in which gender focused NGOs have used these campaigns to negotiate for their interests. Although not limited to, in the case of this study, these interests are perceived to be resources, identity and status. Three organisations that have played a critical role in these campaigns that are: Uganda Women's Network, Uganda Land Alliance and Federation of Uganda Women Lawyers assist us to understand the relationships among gender focused NGOs and with the other actors. The study concludes that all actors in the gender focused NGO advocacy nexus are economically, socially and politically rational. They would like to reduce their transaction costs and maximise their interests. While donors use financial and development discourse knowledge resources, NGOs and government use their identities and status to negotiate and maximise their interests. Although not necessarily the determining factor, negotiation of interests influences both the agenda and the relationships among the various actors

Sjuksköterskors förhållningssätt till preoperativ hudförberedelse: en litteraturöversikt.

Enligt World Health Organisation [WHO] förekommer postoperativ sårinfektion hos 0,5 till 15 % av opererade patienter vilket orsakar lidande. Sjuksköterskor har ansvar för preoperativ hudförberedelse som har till uppgift att förebygga postoperativ sårinfektion. Syftet med denna studie var att med vetenskaplig litteratur undersöka sjuksköterskors förhållningssätt till preoperativ hudförberedelse. Nio artiklar inkluderades i studien. Överlag hade sjuksköterskor positiv attityd till preoperativ hudförberedelse men olika grad av kunskap och erfarenhet. Patientsäkerhet värderades högt. Följsamhet till WHOs riktlinjer var hög gällande huddesinfektion men varierade gällande preoperativa duschar. Litteratur i ämnet förekom sparsamt. Den positiva attityden till hudförberedelse hos sjuksköterskor kan vara kopplat till patienters lidande vid infektion. Riktlinjer varierade i olika länder. Sjuksköterskor har olika förhållningssätt till preoperativ hudförberedelse men gemensamma drag finns

Nursing and Medical Students’ Perceptions of the Rehabilitation Medicine Course Unit: A Case Study of Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

Background: Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine is a medical specialty concerned with the improvement of functioning through diagnosis and treatment of health conditions, reduction of impairment, and preventing and treatment of complications. In an era of an increasing number of debilitating and disabling conditions arises the need for exposure of medical students to a goal of reducing the impact of disabling conditions and socially integrating the individuals suffering from the after-effects of these diseases. However, for the future development of this specialty, there is a need to explore students' attitudes and perceptions. Methodology: A qualitative descriptive design was employed in the study. The purposive sampling method was used to recruit 18 participants who had done the Rehabilitation Medicine course unit in the year 2019/2020. Data was collected using an interview guide. Data analysis was carried out using content analysis basing on existing themes. Results: Basing on already existent themes which included:- Resources for Rehabilitation Medicine, Activities are done during Rehabilitation Medicine Training, Support provided during Rehabilitation Medicine Training and Evaluation carried out during Rehabilitation Medicine, the study revealed students' report about the reading resources that were not well provided, appreciated the activities done during training and commended the lecturers for the optimum support rendered to them during training. They however expressed disagreement with the evaluation method of post-lecture tests as they reported they were conducted with bias and only targeted students that understand information firsthand from the lecture in class. Conclusion and recommendation: The study found out that students' perceptions towards rehabilitation Medicine are generally positive. Whereas the teaching resources were considered sufficient, access to reading materials is considered difficult.

Policies and Practices Towards Women's Empowerment: Policy advocacy by Gender focused NGOs and the realities of grassroots women in Uganda

The study was designed to identify the factors that affect the effectiveness of policy advocacy work aimed at empowering grassroots women, its linkages with the issues of women at the grassroots level and make recommendations for improvement.This is an exploratory study that sought to analyze the causes of the gaps between the policy advocacy work of gender focussed NGOs at the national level and the realities of the grassroots women in Uganda. The study was designed to identify the factors that affect the effectiveness of policy advocacy work aimed at empowering grassroots women, its linkages with the issues of women at the grassroots level and make recommendations for improvement. The study was based on qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. Data was collected from six key informants from National Association of women organisations in Uganda (NAWOU), Uganda Women's Network (UWONET), OXFAM, Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), Federation of Uganda Women Lawyers (FIDA) and ActionAid Uganda( AAU). It is also based on secondary data from past literature on the subject and from the above NGOs. Thirdly the study is based on the active participation of the writer in the advocacy by gender focused NGOs at the national level for the past three and half years and having worked in Rakai World Vision Uganda Project from 1994 to 1997. The findings are presented under the following themes: • Current situation of women in Uganda, • Policy advocacy by gender focussed NGOs and • Factors affecting policy advocacy with a deeper analysis of the linkages between policy advocacy and grassroots women. The major findings of the study are that while Uganda presents a very good opportunity to ensure that grassroots women actively participate and benefit from advocacy processes, this opportunity has not been fully utilised

Community Mobilization Through Facilitated Participatory Learning and Action Groups for Maternal and Newborn Health in Buikwe District

The Mother Conference and Reunion Presentations, 2018Background This project tested the Participatory Learning Action (PLA) cycle in mobilizing the community for improved maternal and newborn health. The project, promoted by the World Health Organization highlighted the importance of health promotion interventions that strengthen individual, family, and community capacity to contribute to improved health while addressing the quality of care in facilities in Buikwe District. Community mobilization was realized through facilitated participatory learning and action (PLA) cycles with women’s groups in rural settings with low access to maternal health services. Community mobilization through facilitated PLA cycles work by building the capacities of communities to organize and take action to address the social determinants of health that underpin maternal and newborn health. Objective The study aimed at reviewing the feasibility of community mobilization through facilitated PLA cycles for improved maternal and newborn health in Buikwe district Methods The PLA cycle follows a four- phase approach that involves joint efforts in identifying problems, solutions, implementing and assessing program impact together. Ten women from two sub-counties in Buikwe received training in the implementation of the PLA cycle within their communities. These facilitators then led women’s groups in utilising the PLA cycle to identify and address maternal and newborn health challenges in their communities Results A total of 15 women groups were formed which utilised the four phase PLA cycle in identifying and addressing maternal and newborn health challenges in Buikwe district. They generated several local health solutions and brought about an increased demand for maternal and newborn health services. Conclusion The PLA guide is an empowerment and advocacy tool for improved maternal and newborn Health. However, the integrated nature of this approach necessitates an understanding of priorities set in mobilizing communities, the role played by local leadership and the resources needed for improved maternal and newborn health

Project management: tools, techniques and strategies of managing

This first edition categorises project management tools and techniques basing on the project management knowledge by PMBOK as emphasised by PMI but contextualised the knowledge dimensions to Africa/Uganda. It also includes some cross-cutting areas which are always left out or underestimated during project planning and design. Such cross-cutting issues have been documented to contribute to project failure or success. In other editions, we shall relate PMBOK areas, IPMA ICBs, PRINCE2, GAPPS among other standards; though pointing out more precursors to project success in developing or transitional nations like Uganda.School of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Uganda Christian Universit

NGOs and feminisms in development: Interrogating the 'southern women's NGO'

The inclusion by Northern stakeholders of a discursively constructed category of 'Southern women's NGO' - increasingly heralded as the ultimate organisational form of grounded, subaltern, collective action - has come to represent a signifier of commitments to gender equality, poverty reduction and/or social justice. Southern women's NGOs are frequently credited with the capacity to facilitate the inclusion of marginalised groups conventionally excluded from development's frame. This critical review argues that this essentialism derives firstly from the belief in the Southern NGO as a grounded, democratic and accessible organisational form well suited to reach and represent the diverse and disparate needs of the grassroots. Secondly, it reflects the tendency, despite an abundance of critical black, Third World and postcolonial feminist theory warning to the contrary, to cast 'Southern women' as a category of politicised agents who share trajectories of historical and contemporary oppression that allow them to transcend other axes of difference to achieve improved development outcomes. The discussion examines this tendency, and whether it has led to a wholesale belief in the capacity of both 'Southern women' and 'Southern NGOs' to reach as well as represent anti-hegemonic, subaltern and thus alternative development paradigms. The analysis concludes with some brief reflections on both the discursive and practical implications of privileging the 'Southern women's NGO', expressed as a homogenous category, as a key interlocutor between the powerful and the marginalised in development