When Civics go Governance

In ‘When Civics go governance’ Ria Brouwers analyses the stormy ascent of African NGOs in the field of good governance. Tracing the tracks of the NGO-boom in Africa, Brouwers brings together key academic writings with ISS led field on NGO interventions in Zambia, Uganda, Kenia and Tanzania conducted under the banner of the Hivos/ISS Civil Society Building Knowledge Programme.

"MUSEVENOMICS" analyzed

Popular understanding as postulated by Ugandan President Museveni suggests that if the prices of commodity prices go up, farmers should benefit by way of higher income. Morrison Rwakakamba from Uganda, a practicing economist and an active member of the  Knowledge Programme on “Small Producers’ Agency in Globalised Markets” argues that while this might theoretically be true, the practice is a bit detached from the theory. He explains that certain structural factors inhibit the farmers fro...

Stretching a Human Rights Approach in Search of Social Justice

Rights based strategies for obtaining social justice tend to focus on claiming legal rights at the level of the nation state. Drawing on findings from the Hivos knowledge programme in India, South Africa and Uganda, we argue that such a ‘purist’ rights based approach may overlook the potential of ´culture´ as a complementary source of inspiration for civic action.

The governance gap in Acholi

How do citizens exercise agency and claim their rights in post-conflict settings? This is the central question in a research project by Marjoke Oosterom, which is supported by IDS, Hivos and ICCO. Marjoke is working with remote communities in Northern Uganda  and is now adding a documentary to share some of the emerging insights and impressions more widely. The documentary is made in partnership with the Refuge Law Project and documentary makers Tim van der Maden and Esther Kool to make...

Uganda: playing the ethnicity card

Ethnic diversity in itself is not a recipe for conflict. In the run up to next week's elections politicians should be celebrating Uganda's diversity, not playing the ethnicity card for political gain, says Jimmy Spire Ssentongo

Pluralism: what relevance for Uganda?

As Uganda moves into an intense election period under a multi-party system, Western notions of pluralism appear irrelevant in a context where cultural diversity often results in exclusion, to the detriment of the public good

Interview with the Rt. Rev. Dr David Zac Niringiye

The Rt. Rev. Dr David Zac Niringiye, bishop of All Saints Cathedral in Kampala, talks to Ute Seela about diversity and common ground in Uganda The Pluralism Knowledge Programme serves, among others, as a platform to discuss diverging experiences of and views on diversity and pluralism. The following conversation can be found in full length at the openDemocracy online forum ‘Religion, Gender and Politics’.

Nothing as it Seems

What is the role of external donors in local development and local governance in Ethiopia? ISS-student Ephrem Shiferaw is currently blogging from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reflections and thoughts give us the feeling that there's so much more lurking under the surface of the muddy development-waters. We're looking forward to finding out more about his discoveries in the coming up weeks. The power of community-based organizations/CBO’s It has been three weeks since I started my research on co...

Who Cares About Sustainability?

Why is it so hard to sustain the effects of NGO interventions? Agnes Nalubiri explores this question working from the Rwenzori region with Hivos’ partner KRC. The emerging findings in a messy context suggest that a toxic mix of aid chain dynamics is at work.