CO-POWER OF VOICES PARTNERSHIP UGANDA

General

The Power of Voices Partnership (PvP) is an influencing programme with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme FAIR for ALL led by Oxfam Novib is a five year long initiative implemented jointly with consortium members Huairou Commission, SOMO and Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa) aimed at supporting and collaborating with people’s rightful demands towards companies, governments and multilateral organizations for economic, social and environmental justice, promoting global trade and value-chains that are fair for all. The main focus of the FAIR for ALL programme is to support and strengthen CSOs to play their diverse roles; aseducators, mobilizers, creators and watchdogs to make trade and value chains FAIR for ALL. In Uganda,FAIR for ALL programme aims at strengthening CSOs to create space and mobilize demands of small-scale producers to contribute to more inclusive and sustainable agribusiness value chains (focus on agriculture, specifically coffee and horticulture) that respect land rights and promote grassroots women’s rights and economic empowerment in Uganda, and a conducive environment that promotes equal opportunities for individuals and businesses,resulting in poverty reduction, better service delivery and sustainablebusiness practices. The Uganda FAIR for ALL programme will be implemented by Oxfam in Uganda and partners, aiming to: 1) Enhancing women’s access to local, regional and global value chains (agriculture, specific focus on coffee and horticulture) by strengthening their organizations and capacity to influence stakeholders in value chains, including public actors, for more inclusive policies and constituencies on production practices; 2) Strengthen women’s participation and leadership through capacity strengthening of women smallholder farmer groups in negotiation skills, policy analysis and advocacy, and market and price analysis; 3) Enhancing space for CSOs, in particular regarding land rights issues. Reviving cooperatives and collective enterprises of smallholder farmer producer groups as an alternative business model to mobilize and organize small-scale food producers in agribusiness value chains; 4) Addressing human rights violations in agribusiness, with a focus on compliance with FPIC; and 5) Advocating for a fair tax system and budget transparency, paving the way for pro-poor spending, including investment in agriculture, social protection, basic services and human capital development with linkages to fair trade policies and practices. These objectives will be achieved by supporting civil society to navigate shrinking space; addressing deeply rooted cultural norms against women; strengthening CSOs’ and alliances’ influencing capacities, in particular related to land, fiscal and trade policies, inequality and exclusion; and by strengthening CSOs’ capacities to engage with the private sector. To achieve the main objectives of the programme in Uganda, Oxfam will collaborate with: SEATINI (they also works with Oxfam and other CSOsthrough the Tax Justice Alliance Uganda); Agency for Community Empowerment (AFCE); Uganda Agribusiness Alliance (UAA); Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers' Forum (ESSAF).