Uganda Committee : Completed Projects

Web project

The first trip to to Gulu was undertaken in 2004 and created many positive encounters and contacts. Our first project was a web project, www.humanrightsuganda.org. The idea was to give NGOs who were actively working in the region a chance to publish their material on a non-censored webpage and therefore enable them to spread information about the conflict. The participating organizations are HURIFO, Gulu District NGO Forum and GUSCO.

A short educational instruction covering basic journalism and information technology was carried out in May/June 2005. Unfortunately, the result did not turn out as expected – technical problems made the homepage hard to update and information was not published on a regular basis. It is still a good way to spread information about the conflict and our goal for 2009 is to have the website up and running.

Courses in Health Education and Ecological House Construction

Together with Gulu District NGO Forum we decided on giving health courses for youths in the IDP camps. The Uganda Committee received funding in 2006 and the courses were carried out in early 2007; with the addition of offering youth groups training in how to build houses with an environmental friendly technique. This is due to the fact that the situation in northern Uganda changed in-between the Uganda Committee applying for funds and the funds finally being used. A cease-fire encouraged the population living in the IDP camps to move back to their homesteads; knowledge about house building was essential at this point. A positive side effect of the building courses is that the youth actually constructed two houses for their own purposes. An evaluation carried out in August 2007 showed that the courses where appreciated. The houses for the youth are currently being finished and will then be operated by the youth themselves.