CBR/UNNGOF/GIZ Civil Society Book Project

The Centre for Basic Research (CBR), Kampala working in collaboration with the Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF) is undertaking research to write a book on the value of civil society in Uganda’s national development. The research for the Book project is supported by the Civil Society in Uganda Support Programme (CUSP), is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and funded by the European Union (EU) and the Germany Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The aim of the research process is to bring together civil society scholars, activists, and practitioners to present analysis, interrogate new narratives and emerging civil society perspectives and experiences in Uganda.

The research will provide a platform for Civil Society researchers, academics, and practitioners to engage in debates on civil society from a diversity of dimensions that will be anchored in carefully selected thematic areas. The researchers are locating their engagements in cutting-edge theoretical debates and conceptual frameworks relating to civil society at global, regional and national levels that will set the context to foster a nuanced understanding
of civil society in Uganda.

The findings of the research will be published in an interdisciplinary book which will serve as a resource for students, academics, policy-makers, and practitioners interested in national development issues and their interface with civil society. The research is focusing on the following four thematic areas and topics:

 Thematic Area 1: Conceptual and Historical Overview of Civil Society in Uganda

• Examining the Blind spots of the Human Rights-Based Approach in Uganda’s Civil Society undertakings;
• Civil Society and the Democratic Oversight and Control of the Armed Forces in Uganda;
• The Women’s Movement in Uganda: Flourishing, in resurgence, in Abeyance or Over? A historical Theoretical Analysis.

Thematic Area 2: The Social and Economic Contribution of Civil Society in Uganda

• An Econometric Study on the Contribution of Civil Society to National Development;
• The Contribution of Civil Society to National Development in Uganda: A Social Accounting Matric Approach;
• Civil Society and Political economy of Aid in Uganda;
• The Social and Economic Contribution of Civil Society in Uganda;
• Recent changes in Aid to the HIV/AIDS sector: A Case Study of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO).

Thematic Area 3: The Governance and Sustainability of Civil Society in Uganda

• Internal Accountability and Self-Regulation of Civil Society Organisations in Uganda; the case for a Clean House Approach to Accountability;
• Social Accountability in Civil Society: Children in the Driver’s Seat? Child-Led Social Accountability in Uganda, a critical analysis;
• Breaking the Barriers? Analyzing the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Operating Environment in Uganda;
• Strengthening the credibility and effectiveness of NGOs through the NGO Quality Assurance Certification Mechanism (QuAM);
• Digging deeper on social norms programming by Civil Society Organisations in Uganda.

Thematic Area 4: The Regional Dimensions of Civil Society and it’s Future in Uganda

• Civil Society Engagement in EAC Integration: An Examination of the Effectiveness of the Consultative Dialogue Framework (CDF);
• Civil Society in Regional Governance in the East African Community.

A number of Public Seminars will be held between June and August 2021 to discuss the findings of the study, as fieldwork and report writing progresses.

Contact the Executive Director/Project Coordinator at Tel: 0704342987 E-mail: cbr@cbr.ug or
csbookproject@gmail.com