Resources

This report is a result of the first ever Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process (UPPAP) in which local people were consulted in 36 rural and urban sites in nine districts in Uganda. In this assessment "voices" and perspectives of the poor are brought to the fore to influence district and national planning, implementation and monitoring. The report covers perceptions of poverty and wellbeing and strategies for coping with being poor, as well as the degree to which the poor have access to, and benefit from, services and infrastructure. It goes on to look at issues of government and poverty, along with the role that security plays in development. Finally there are rcommendations and messages for policy makers. The report points to the fact that poverty is more than just income and expenditure or the lack of basic needs, it is also a feeling of powerlessness. Poverty in the eyes of the poor is location specific, multi-dimensional, cyclic and seasonal and requires a holistic approach to it's alleviation.

The Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process (UPPAP) is an initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED). Its overall aim is to bring the voices and perspectives of poor people into policy formulation, planning and implementation by central and local governments. A first participatory poverty assessment (PPA1) was carried out in 1998/99 in 36 research sites in nine districts. Its findings were used to inform policymaking. This book details the second PPA (PPA2) which has now been implemented, with two main aims: to deepen the understanding of poverty and poverty trends gained in the first PPA; and to investigate people's experiences with selected government policies. Research was carried out in 60 research sites in 12 districts. Work was undertaken in three phases, or 'cycles', between November 2001 and May 2002. The research was undertaken by seven partner organisations - NGOs or research institutions - working with local researchers, usually from the district administrations, and the overall coordinating and implementing agency was Oxfam GB. The book includes sections on: the Uganda participatory poverty assessment process; poverty, vulnerability and poverty trends; livelihoods and the plan for the modernisation of agriculture; environment and poverty; health and poverty; water and sanitation; education; taxation; and good governance and poverty reduction.

This 30 minute video explores the complexities of poverty from the perspectives of poor people themselves. It reveals that although the experiences of poor people vary widely by location and situation, there are significant commonalties in the way poor people describe their lives: sense of powerlessness and voicelessness; precariousness of their livelihoods and lack of security; isolation, humiliation, and lack of connections to resources and opportunities; and gender inequality. The result is a 'domino effect' of disadvantages and inequalities, all of which make it difficult for poor people to escape the hold of poverty. The video introduces viewers to people who are challenging these obstacles, and initiatives that are helping to empower the poor, make their lives more secure, and give them access to greater opportunities. Some of the examples depicted in the video is NIDAN, an Indian NGO empowering women to get micro credit loans to set up their own businesses; the 1997 Universal Primary Education reform in Uganda, now giving access to education to all children in the country; a research project in India giving poor people access to IT; community-based health care in favelas in Brazil; Medica, an NGO-run centre for therapy for women subject to domestic violence in Bosnia; womenÆs police stations in Brazil faciltating women to report sensitive crimes such as rape and domestic violence; the work of a community organisation in the poor community Sacadura Cebral, Brazil, influencing government to improve public services and housing.