Youth Social Work Association (YSA)

YSA plans to implement the project; ‘‘Building capacity of community monitors to engage government and advocate for the right to clean water’’ in Northern Uganda specifically Gulu district, Koro sub county. The project aims to strengthen community based structures to engage the government to be accountable and responsive to the clean and safe water needs of the community to increase transparency and accountability in the water sector. The project expects to achieve increased emphasis on transparency and accountability in the water sector to ensure the quality and access to safe and clean water becomes a key government issue and to Improve capacity of the community to advocate for access clean and safe water and government and non state actors for increased accountability and transparency in the water sector.

The project seeks to benefit the community members and in particular women and girls who bear the brunt of poor and inadequate services in the water sector due to poor governance in the sector. YSA will also target and work closely with other CSOs in the region particularly the UWASNET NGO members and DWSCC. This will be through quarterly and monthly meetings organised by district and through personal contact YSA will initiate with the individual organisations significant and relevant in advancing and advocating for the course of governance and accountability in the water sector.

YSA will use the approach of blending the “science” of surveys with the “art” of advocacy for reforms by using the community score card (CSC) which is a qualitative monitoring tool for local level monitoring and performance evaluation of services projects and even government administrative units by the communities themselves. YSA will identify and train community based monitors on community monitoring and evaluation of government projects CSC to assess the quality of service delivery in the water sector. The training will ALSO incorporate components of advocacy and report writing skills. The monitors will be mentored and supported to write their quarterly reports to share with community and service providers in Sub County and district feedback meeting. The feedback meetings will provide opportunities for engagement between government officials, service providers and the community members. Community members will call for good governance accountability and transparency from government in the water sector. It will also provide opportunity for community to advocate for their right of access to clean and safe water.  This process will exact social and public accountability and responsiveness from service providers by including an interface meeting between service providers and the community that allows for immediate feedback, the process is also a strong instrument for empowerment by enabling the public to voice their opinion and demand improved service delivery.