Annual Report - Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda(CCFU)

Welcome to our 2008 Annual Report.
This was a most interesting and challenging year,
with much effort spent in ‘the field’ completing our
research and documentation work, resulting in 11
case studies on ‘culture in development’. We also
carried out a mapping study on people’s initiatives
to preserve their heritage, which brought us in
contact with new partners across the country who
are passionate about culture and have done
something about it. In previous years, CCFU had
been involved in knowledge generation, and rather
little in other strategic areas, such as policy
advocacy. It is therefore with enthusiasm that we
seized the opportunity to participate in and
contribute to development policy processes at
international and national levels in 2008.
CCFU was founded on the premise that culture is
not sufficiently taken into account in development
work, and our experience this year has indicated
that while this is so, perceptions of the role of
culture are changing, as alternative
approaches are being sought. Culture, which is at
the heart of any society, stands a chance of being
better recognised if it is well analysed and
illustrated as a resource in relation to current
development challenges. Although there is still
much to learn, this year’s challenges and
achievements have indeed shown the potential to
advance a case for ‘culture in development’:
understanding the concept, collaborating with like
minded organisations both nationally and
internationally, utilising existing fora to deliberate on
the relevance of culture and identifying resources to
support culture-related programmes.
The Foundation’s mission is to reverse the negative
perception of culture by promoting its recognition as
vital for human development that responds to our
national identity and diversity. CCFU does this
through three main strategies, focusing on: ‘Culture
in development’, ‘Cultural Heritage’ and ‘Crosscultural
training and brokerage’. Activities related to
each of these are reviewed in the following pages.

Page
1. CULTURE IN DEVELOPMENT 3
Research and documentation
Policy advocacy and influencing perceptions
Networking and collaboration
2. CULTURAL HERITAGE PROGRAMME 11
Support to people’s museums
3 CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING AND BROKERAGE 13
Endogenous Development Gender write-shop
Cross-cultural training
Capacity building in the documentation process
4 PROSPECTS FOR 2009 15
5 THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS 16

Research and documentation
At its inception, CCFU found little literature
viewing culture in a positive light, as a resource to
be used to contribute to sustainable and equitable
development that reflects our local context.
In 2008, we therefore continued and completed
the documentation of 11 case studies that
demonstrate how cultural resources (such as
values, systems, role models, resource persons,
and ancestral knowledge) have been used by
development practitioners to address
development challenges. These challenges relate
to gender, HIV/AIDS (information dissemination,
counselling, nutrition, and influencing cultural
practices), orphans’ and widows’ rights, and
culture as a business. In June, two publications
on ‘Culture in Development in Uganda:
experiences and prospects’ and ‘Drawing on
Culture to fight HIV/AIDS’ accompanied by DVDs,
were launched at a national event.
The Foundation also completed research and
documentation of two cases that illustrate how
working with clan leaders can enhance the
protection of widows’ and orphans’ rights. One
looked at a FIDA/PLAN project in Kamuli district;
the other explored the role of female clan leaders’
(which in our local context is a rare occurrence) in
promoting girl child education and protecting the
rights of women in Lira.
Some of our other research and documentation
work included an investigation of ‘Culture and
social protection for the very poor in Uganda’ in
the three regions of Buganda, Ankole and Lango.
The findings were shared at an international
conference on Social Protection for the Poorest in
Africa organised by Development Training and
Research and the Chronic Poverty Research
Centre in September. All these case studies are
available at www.crossculturalfoundation.or.ug

Documentation: Reflections
Our case studies, where cultural resources
such as knowledge and values, have been
used to address present day development
challenges, show that culture, though subtle
and often not recognised, remains a strong
aspect of society in Uganda. We however need
to deepen our understanding of the local
context where the root causes of these
challenges– and probably their solutions – are
located. This requires shifting our focus from a
sorry state of permanent “poverty, ignorance
and disease” to exploring inherent cultural
sources which motivate and empower
communities as key actors, rather than as mere
recipients of development. It also requires a
shift in perception from culture as something of
figurative value (using culture as a development
tool) to a deeper understanding in terms of
values, systems, motivation, and synergy
between local and wider worldviews.
Knowledge generated on ‘culture in
development’ needs to reach wider audiences
– supporters and promoters of culture, as well
as those outside this category, working on
issues of governance, human rights, and
economic development. This will foster
sharing of experiences, collective analysis,
and the incorporation of culture in
development initiatives.
Policy advocacy and influencing
perceptions
“Influencing the negative perceptions of culture is
one of the main challenges CCFU will face” we
have repeatedly been told by practitioners
engaged in programmes to promote culture. Such
negative perceptions are however slowly
changing, with renewed interest at national level
in relation to education and health, and at

international level in relation to issues of
creativity, diversity and sustainability.
A tendency to measure the value of culture in
monetary terms and in terms of its contribution to
national revenue is however also gaining ground.
Culture is then given the lowest priority in terms of
political will and resource allocation, and the legal
framework does not adequately support the
optimal utilisation of cultural resources. With
limited internal means to finance the culture
sector, it would be expected that other
opportunities, such as through the ratification of
international conventions that can provide funding
and other support (for instance the UNESCO
Conventions on the Promotion and Protection of
Cultural Diversity of Cultural Expressions, and on
Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage) would be
seized, but this has not been the case.
CCFU’s efforts in policy advocacy range from
disseminating our case study work, engaging in
dialogue with development actors within and
outside the culture sector, and promoting the
formulation, updating, ratification and
implementation of relevant policies in relation to
culture. In 2008, these efforts focused on:
Contribution to the National Development
Plan: The Government of Uganda invited civil
society to contribute to the development of the
2008-2012 National Development Plan (to
replace the Poverty Eradication Action Plan).
CCFU joined the Social and Cultural
Development sector Working Group and took the
lead on the ‘Culture and Development’ subtheme.
A series of activities, including a civil
society consultative meeting which attracted 56
participants. A paper highlighting the status,
challenges, opportunities, and strategies to
address issues of concern was produced by the
participants and shared with the Ministry of
Gender, Labour and Social Development as civil
society’s contribution to the National Plan. Five

priority proposals included ‘mainstreaming’ and
resourcing culture in all development initiatives,
cultural heritage education, knowledge generation
and management, cultural infrastructure
promotion, and updating the legal and policy
framework.
UNESCO Conventions: In March, CCFU
participated in a workshop on the ratification of
the UNESCO Convention on Safeguarding
Intangible Cultural Heritage, which highlighted the
importance of intangible heritage and outlined
strategies to support the ratification process and
its benefits. In December, CCFU organised a
Support Group Meeting during which civil society
reviewed the commitments made at the
Commonwealth People’s Forum 2007, including
lobbying for the ratification of the UNESCO
Convention on Protection and Promotion of
Cultural Diversity of Cultural Expression. A press
release (published in the New Vision) urging the
Government of Uganda to speed up the
ratification of this Convention was one of the
outcomes of this event.
Pluralism Knowledge Programme:
Democracy and human rights introduce a
dimension of pluralism in development that is not
often dealt with and is sometimes perceived as
foreign to the local culture. After participating in
an International Summer School on Human
Development and Human Rights organised by
HIVOS and the Kosmopolis Institute in Bangalore,
India, the Foundation was requested to
coordinate a “Pluralism Knowledge Programme”
in Uganda. This aims at supporting civil society’s
efforts to address issues of pluralism in the
country and initial activities in 2008 involved
commissioning four mapping studies, forming a
Temporary Working Group, and participating in a
Regional Conference in Indonesia.

Policy: Reflections
There is marked inertia when it comes to issues
related to culture, which is perceived as related
to a traditional past that does not warrant urgent
attention or resource allocation, unless this
attention is drawn by foreign prompting, as was
the case during CHOGM 2007. Participating in
developing civil society’s contribution to the
National Development Plan therefore provided
an opportunity to raise real concerns and
suggest ways in which these could be
addressed by government and other
stakeholders. With cultural affairs only
commanding 0.03% of national public spending,
however, this is only the beginning of a long
lobbying process.
Once ratified, instruments such as the
UNESCO Conventions and the National
Cultural Policy need to be ‘domesticated’ and
popularised into real opportunities for local
organisations and communities. Relevant plans
and adequate resources need to be allocated to
ensure that their objectives are achieved,
beyond mere symbols of good intent.
In Uganda, much emphasis has been
placed on political pluralism partly
because this is visible in relation to power
and distribution of resources. Other forms
of pluralism which impact on politics and
development, such as ethnicity, religion,
gender, and regionalism, are often not
given equal attention. Understanding
these and other forms of pluralism
presents opportunities for learning,
fostering respect, harmony and equal
opportunity in a country as diverse as
Uganda.
Within civil society itself, tolerance and
pluralism are issues that may be need to
be defined in the struggle to form a
cohesive critical mass that can effectively
play a role in addressing the issues that
affect the vulnerable in whose name we
exist.

Networking and collaboration
Working with others remains vital to discharging
our mission. In2008, we especially appreciated
working with:
The Ethnic Minority Group Forum - CCFU
participated in this Forum, that promotes the
cultural rights of ethnic minorities, and contributed
to a submission to the Equal Opportunities
Committee of Parliament.
COMPAS Africa - In June, CCFU participated
in a learning event organised by COMPAS
(Comparing and Sharing experiences in
Endogenous Development) Africa held
inBolgatanga, Ghana.
This presented an opportunity to share reports and
proposed plans and their relevance to the
Millennium Development Goals, to seek synergy
between the approaches employed by the
participating organisations, as well as to learn
about participatory video documentation.
Staff exchange programme: CCFU hosted
Claire Boonzaaijer for 8 weeks as part of an
exchange programme with COMPAS International,
during which she carried out a desk research on
culture, human rights and governance in Uganda
and the status of the UNESCO Convention on the
promotion of cultural diversity. She co-facilitated a
COMPAS gender write-shop as part of her
learning objectives and made monitoring visits to
COMPAS partners in Uganda and Tanzania.

International National Trust Organisation
(INTO) - CCFU became a member of INTO, which
presents opportunities for learning, information
and resource sharing between countries across
the globe, for heritage conservation, development,
management, and education.
CCFU Support group – In 2008, the CCFU
Support Group (with more than 100 voluntary
members) was invited to all the Foundation’s
public events and received copies of our
documentation outputs. At a meeting held in
December, members indicated that the Support
Group meetings presented a useful space for
learning and sharing experiences, and proposed
that in future this forum be used to develeop
advocay strategies and produce concrete outputs
for advancing the ‘culture in development’ agenda
in Uganda.
Networking: Reflections
Through networking, CCFU has developed
several beneficial partnerships that have
allowed us to broaden our understanding of the
development context within which culture is
located. We have been exposed to the efforts of
like-minded individuals and organisations, and
held discussions with them that have challenged
our thinking on ‘culture in development’.
There is a need to maintain the momentum to
lobby for a conducive policy framework by
engaging development partners within and
outside the CCFU Support Group, by involving
development actors whose work does not
explicitly include the promotion of culture, and
by collaborating with international organisations
to share experiences and critically reflect on the
relevance of our efforts in the regional and
global contexts.

The Foundation launched a Cultural Heritage
Programme in 2007, with two main initiatives. One
of these is entitled Linking past and future:
People’s museums and cultural resource centres
in Uganda.
Support to People’s Museums
Rather than focusing on Government museums
(that are often divorced from ordinary people), this
focuses on people’s museums or cultural resource
centres - whose existence is less well known.
Emphasis is placed on attempts by local
organisations or individuals to make a connection
with the past. In the course of the last two years, it
had come to CCFU’s attention that, in some parts
of the country, a few individuals and communities
had taken initial steps to protect and revive their
culture through such means.
In collaboration with the Uganda National Museum
and with support from UNESCO, CCFU undertook
a mapping study to identify such initiatives. CCFU
covered all four regions of Uganda, taking the lead
on which sites to visit from Community
Development Officers, resource persons, and the
initiators of community ‘museums’. 50 sites were
visited in 19 districts.
A written and photographic record of 24 sites was
taken, where an initiative had potential to sustain
itself with limited support. Out of these, 13
initiatives were considered vibrant, having been
established primarily to showcase culture with a
link to development, having a collection of items of
cultural or historical value and showing a
willingness to exhibit artefacts to the public. A plan
to support these initiatives was developed and will
be implemented in 2009.

People’s museums: Reflections
The existence of private initiatives to preserve
culture, most without external funding or
linkages to tourism, indicate that culture is an
important social dimension that is kept alive by
people’s desire to restore and preserve what
they consider essential aspects of their identity.
This has in places occurred despite war,
displacement and pressing survival needs,
even where there has been a breakdown in the
preservation of cultural values.
To sustain such initiatives, the significance of
one’s cultural heritage needs to be locally
understood. The relevance of a community
museum therefore lies in its ability to depict and
retell history, supported by artefacts and items
that are significant to a community’s identity.
Community museums present an opportunity to
keep a collective memory alive for generations
to come and form the basis upon which new
history can be made.

Endogenous Development Gender
write-shop
In November, a gender write-shop was organised
for partners of two Dutch-based programmes
COMPAS (Comparing and Sharing experiences in
Endogenous Development) and PROLINNOVA
(Promotion of Local Innovations). CCFU hosted
and facilitated this event, which brought together
16 participants from Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho,
South Africa, Ghana, Nepal, Ethiopia, Niger and
the Netherlands. The event provided an
opportunity to share experiences, and to deepen
an understanding of gender from an endogenous
development perspective.
Cross-cultural training
CCFU helped the partners of CARE-Uganda in
Pader district to carry out a cultural baseline. It
!
also undertook a sensitisation session for Oxfam
Kampala staff on culture in development. While
this provided an opportunity for these
organisations to reflect on how to incorporate
culture in their work, these remained one-off
exploratory engagements.
Capacity building in the
documentation process
CCFU opted to include a capacity building aspect
to documenting case studies. With enhanced
research and documentation skills, it was
envisaged that local organisations and groups
would in future be better able to document their
experiences and best practices. With varying
extents of competences found in these
organisations, this however proved very
demanding in terms of time and other resources.

Training: Reflections
Adopting a cultural approach requires a shift
in perception: from culture as a threat to
development, to a solution. This is not a new
and fashionable approach, but a challenging
one that requires reflection on our notion of
development, taking into account the local
context and questioning our biases.
An entirely newly constructed cultural
approach requires testing, patience,
confidence and funding, which may not be
readily available to development actors who
have become accustomed to the security of
log-frames and assured donor support against
known and tested Western approaches.
These challenges may lead us to a
reductionist / instrumentalist approach to
culture in development where emphasis is
placed on, say, working with traditional
institutions, without going beyond to explore
cultural values, principles and practices. It
could also mean a marginal incorporation of
culture into development approaches, with a
limited outcome, later to be easily dismissed
as romanticism.

" # $
What does 2009 have in store for CCFU?
A number of initiatives are bearing fruit: we
anticipate, in the coming year, to firmly establish
our budding Cultural Heritage programme, with
practical support to selected people’s museums;
we also plan to develop, pilot and document an
exciting training approach to ‘culture in
development’; our research work will also deepen
with cases focusing on governance issues.
How do all these add up to change? This will be a
major challenge for the coming year: ensuring that
our growing activities benefit from synergy and link
up with trends and initiatives elsewhere in Uganda
and beyond…
Culture in development
In 2009, CCFU will carry on with its research and
documentation work. Two cases studies on the
interface between governance, human rights and
culture will be produced. CCFU will also complete
the production of a further case study on gender,
culture and the reconciliation of traditional and
modern values (the Ekisaakaate, a holiday
programme for youth run by the Buganda
Kingdom).
Influencing
As an outcome of our involvement in the 2007
Commonwealth People’s Forum and in
subsequent activities to take forward some of its
recommendations, the Foundation plans to
produce a publication on ‘Beyond the 2007CPF:
what next?’, which targets civil society and other
development partners. This highlights the
outcomes of the People’s Forum workshop on
‘Culture in Development: A must for equitable and
sustainable development’, reflections by the

Commonwealth Foundation and a proposed way
forward.
Under the Pluralism Knowledge Programme, a
regional conference will be organised to discuss
salient issues emerging from the four mapping
studies, which together with issues emerging from
deliberations at the conference, will inform the
focus of the Pluralism Knowledge programme in
Uganda for the coming years.
In 2009, CCFU plans to coordinate and support
efforts towards updating existing national laws
related to culture, and to continue advocating for
the ratification of the 2005 UNESCO Convention.
This will entail widening our partner networks at
national and international levels, and increasing
our internal human resource capacity.
Cultural Heritage
The Foundation has developed a concept to
support 13 People’s Museums. With funding from
UNESCO, these initiators will be supported to
improve their museums through training,
cataloguing of artefacts, peer learning through
exchange visits, and seed grants to improve on
the viability of their initiatives.
Cross-cultural training and brokerage
Based on its research, the Foundation will develop
a training curriculum on ‘culture in development’
and use this to run the first module of a stand
alone course on this subject (the second training
module to be held in 2010).

% ! &
We take this opportunity to thank all those who
made our work possible in 2008.
Our Board of Trustees has encouraged us
throughout the year, and guided us on different
aspects of our work. Special thanks go to Patrick
Kiirya (in-coming Chairperson), Deborah Kaijuka
(out-going Chairperson), our Treasurer Augustine
Okurut and members James Baba, Juliana
Kuruhiira and Dipak Naker.
During the year, CCFU received financial support
of UGS.199,000,000 from friends listed below,
without whom we would not have been able to
meet our objectives and planned activities. We
therefore acknowledge with thanks the
contributions of:
Commonwealth Foundation
COMPAS
EU civil society capacity building programme
DanChurchAid
Development Research and Training / Chronic
Poverty Research Centre
HIVOS micro-fund programme
HIVOS and Kosmopolis Institute knowledge
programme
OXFAM
Plan International in Uganda
UNESCO Nairobi office
World Health Organisation
A copy of the full audit report and financial
statement is available upon request.