[{"bbox": [72, 131, 924, 157], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2. Participation of civil society in sub-national and national development processes is limited"}, {"bbox": [72, 159, 1137, 424], "category": "Text", "text": "Despite the fact that civil society is supposed to be consulted and involved in a number of relevant development processes at all levels, the actual participation in these processes remains limited. Moreover, for youth, women, persons with disabilities and marginalised groups including refugees it remains difficult to have their voices heard and to influence decisions affecting them. In addition, during the last year, many processes in which participation of CSOs and consultation of the general public are usually foreseen did not take place as planned due to restrictions on public meetings to limit the spread of COVID-19. Issues that worsened during the pandemic such as gender-based violence, teenage pregnancies and marriages of underage girls, or services inaccessible for persons with disabilities, were not sufficiently addressed in discussions and subsequent decision-making. There is also need to ensure meaningful civil society participation in matters relating to climate change and biodiversity that affect more and more Ugandans."}, {"bbox": [72, 450, 1137, 610], "category": "Text", "text": "Where civil society actors, youth, women, persons with disabilities and marginalized groups are involved, their participation is often unstructured and of limited effectiveness. Furthermore, government actors do not always have the capacities to organize good quality participation processes in terms of identification of relevant stakeholders and proper moderation. At the same time, civil society actors also often lack the capacities to make meaningful contributions in consultation processes for example CSOs working with marginalized groups are often not aware of participation opportunities or do not have adequate knowledge of the planning and budgeting cycle."}, {"bbox": [72, 635, 548, 662], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 3. Civil society organisations' capacities are limited"}, {"bbox": [72, 663, 1137, 1061], "category": "Text", "text": "Internal deficiencies often hinder CSOs in effectively playing their role in society and represent the interests of marginalised groups as well as environmental protection and climate action. CSOs weaknesses include shortages of qualified personnel and basic equipment. There is often need for training in core competencies such as results-orientation, evidence-based advocacy, engagement strategies, information and knowledge management, management and leadership skills, financial and administrative management as well as the mainstreaming of youth, gender, inclusion and environmental sustainability. An important challenge is the limited degree of cooperation between CSOs working at the national level and those up-country but also between national level CSOs and networks. There is also limited cross-sectoral cooperation between CSOs working in different thematic fields and on cross-cutting issues. Financial sustainability and adequate management of resources are also important issues for many CSOs as they are still highly dependent on development partners for financial resources and most organizations do not generate own resources through the development of, for instance, social enterprises. These challenges are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as many CSOs currently experience difficulties in raising donor funds due to restrictions in their project implementation causing delays or, in some cases, cancellation of whole projects. Furthermore, while the COVID-19 pandemic gave a big push to digitalization, at the same time it also revealed severe gaps in proper equipment and the necessary IT skills to shift work online within most CSOs."}, {"bbox": [72, 1087, 1137, 1141], "category": "Text", "text": "Identification of main stakeholders and corresponding institutional and/or organisational issues (mandates, potential roles, and capacities) to be covered by the action:"}, {"bbox": [72, 1166, 1137, 1326], "category": "Text", "text": "The main stakeholders of the Action will be the Ugandan civil society in its broadest definition, including NGOs, trade unions, professional associations, CBOs, women and youth associations and groups and those representing marginalised groups, cooperatives, FBOs, emerging social movements as well as umbrella or membership organisations. These organisations represent the rights-holders and provide the link to them as the beneficiaries of the Action: the people of Uganda, with a focus on women, youth, persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups and individuals, including refugees."}, {"bbox": [72, 1352, 1137, 1644], "category": "Text", "text": "Among government entities (duty bearers), the NGO Bureau will constitute one of the main stakeholders of the Action. While legislation on the regulation of the NGO sector has been enacted in the last couple of years, the overall set-up and monitoring as well as capacities to fulfil the mandate in line with democratic governance principles and human rights obligations both for the NGO Bureau and decentralised structures can be further developed. The NPA with its mandate for national development planning and the overall evaluation of relevant government policies and bringing different state and non-state actors together is another important stakeholder. The Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) are also important stakeholders in the coordination of public budgeting with development planning; mobilisation of public resources; and ensuring effective accountability for the use of such resources for the benefit of all Ugandans. It is envisaged to bring on board other selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies that can ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups in development and governance processes, including the Ministry of"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1157, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 6 of 19"}]