Working With Community Volunteers to enhance the decision ...

1. IntroductionPlan has implemented, from 2005 to 2010,a programme to reduce the vulnerability ofUgandan communities to the impact of HIV andAIDS, an initiative carried out in partnership withFIDA-Uganda until 2009. The programme hasin particular sought to protect the legal rights ofHIV- affected people in two areas: Kawempe, alow-income neighbourhood in the capital city ofKampala, and Kamuli, a poor rural district in theEast of the country.The denial of women’s rights to participate inthe decisions that affect them and their familieswas a key rationale for this intervention. As oneway to reduce the violation of these rights, Planand FIDA established a cadre of communityvolunteers to provide information and legalservices to local residents and thus increasetheir access to justice. This strategy was seento provide a number of advantages, includingharnessing volunteers’ knowledge of the localsituation and the prospects of sustaining theirwork beyond the programme period.This case study documents the work of thesevolunteers and the change they have contributedto, especially in relation to enhancing thedecision-making powers of women. This, Planrecognised, was essential to reduce the impactof HIV and AIDS on the primary ‘target group’ ofthe programme, women and children affected bythe pandemic.This document fi rst provides some backgroundinformation on the programme areas and the mainchallenges faced at the outset. Section 2 alsooutlines the PLAN/FIDA initiative, its objectivesand strategies. Section 3 includes information onthe community volunteers, the rationale for usingthem, their intended functions, how they wereselected and their daily work, drawing contrastsbetween urban and rural contexts and betweenmale and female volunteers.Section 4 brings out their impact on women’sdecision-making, illustrated with examples andshort stories, and highlights successes andchallenges met. Section 5 proposes lessonslearnt from this programme, including the effi cacyof using volunteers as an approach and theprospects for sustainability. The fi nal section offersconclusions.The study has been written to share theprogramme experience with the widerdevelopment community and to inform futureinitiatives by Plan and other partners. It hasinvolved a review of programme reports and otherdocuments, as well as 55 individual and groupinterviews with more than 80 respondents whosaw the programme in action and could observethe changes it brought about. This included thecommunity volunteers themselves; programmestaff; opinion, religious and cultural leaders; thepolice and magistrates; and members of LocalCouncils who interacted with the programmeat village and district levels. Women and menwho directly benefi ted from the volunteers’ workwere also met. The interviews were conductedin Kawempe and Kamuli by two women lawyerswho were part of the implementation teamand formerly worked with FIDA. Research wassupervised and the text edited by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda.Working with Community Volunteers to Enhance theDecision-Making Powers of Women5