Donors announce Shs355b democracy fund to Uganda
The Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) Board has announced over 355 billion Shillings (85 million Euros) funding towards promotion of democracy in Uganda over the next five years.
The funding, according to Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda, Henk Jan Bakker will support various civil society and government entities that have qualified for funding in the second phase of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF).
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Ambassador Henk, the current chairperson of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) made the announcement at the launch of the second phase of Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) at Silver Springs Hotel in Kampala this morning. The second phase of the funding also known as DGF II has been pooled together by seven development partners; Austria, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and the European Union.
Ambassador Henk said DGFII mission is to have a Uganda where citizens are empowered to engage in democratic governance and where the state upholds the citizen's rights.
He said the DGF arrangement which has been running since 2011 is unique in a sense that it brings together government institutions and civil society in Uganda.
He emphasized the crucial role of a strong and vibrant civil society as a driver of democratic governance saying that civil society increases social cohesion within a country, surviving as the glue that holds society together.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Bakker said DGFI has been successful in supporting government institutions and civil society to implement key commitments and had achieved considerable results.
"In short, the main lesson of DGF-I is that supporting citizen engagement with democratic processes and institutions leads to better governance results and more state responsiveness," said Ambassador Bakker.
Head of DGF Programme, Wim Stoffers said the funding will be used to support fifty civil society and government institutions during the funding period. He said over five hundred civil society groups had expressed interest to be funded.
The Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) was established by Austria, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Union as a basket fund to support state and non-state partners to strengthen democratization, protect human rights, improve access to justice and enhance accountability in Uganda.
