IF LUKWAGO RESIGNS, NRM WILL JUBILATE AS IT WILL BE CLEARED TO TAKE OVER THE CITY

I was not only disturbed but could not believe that the lord mayor could go to the extent of saying he may resign simply because NRM is fighting him and doing things contrary to what is expected in e decentralized set up. If he ever resigned, that could be the end of his political career and a big disappointment to those who elected him. It is clear that one of Lukwago’s objectives is to see an orderly city. I highly believe that he had a hand in seeing to the stopping of the welfare fee that taxi operators were paying to UTODA. What is happening is that NRM is proving to him that they have the muscle, but NRM also values these voters, but it is correcting the messes that have accumulated over the 25 years when it left people do as they wish.
What my friend Lukwago ought to do is to sit with fellow the City Mayors and get to the drawing board to see how best these people can be relocated to other working environments. What Lukwago ought to know together with City Mayors is that to many serious investors, the mess in the city is one reason they could pull out their investments from Uganda. More often than not, it is very difficult to determine the exact time one is likely to move from one part of Kampala to another. Many of us who call to the city once in a while are grateful to modern technology that one can transact business even from home. So, Lukwago and company have to appreciate that things are being done fast as the NRM cleans the mess it has created over the years. The way to go is identify appropriate places where these people can be settled. What Lukwago equally has to know is that many of the people he is defending come many miles from Kampala and are not necessarily his or voters of the other Mayors. If one comes all the way from 2 or 3 miles out of the city centre surely, he or she can get where to work from near to where he resides. The Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) political leadership ought to know that the commercial cyclists are a big mess with in the city. It is long overdue to have these people out of the city centre; in fact, in the long run in Uganda, the commercial motor cyclists should be phased out as regards transporting human beings in most of the urban areas. If only one were to get statistics of households that have been negatively affected by commercial motorcyclists, every serious politician would simply see logic in eventually phasing them out. These motor cyclists register the biggest causalities admitted to Mulago Hospital, and more often than not there are at least two victims and for the disabled as well as the dead, the dependence rates keep increasing.
In Uganda it is high time whatever was done the wrong way is corrected. There is nothing that disturbs for example as people who decide to settle anywhere for business or other purposes as if land is free and that one has the right to use it as he feels like. Someone is in the road reserve and to get him out you have to deploy forces to do so. We must get our people appreciate that they ought to be responsible and reasonable people. Just when you move to Kajjansi trading Centre, you find that this place is long overdue for town council status, but it is shocking to learn that the delay which is more than 10 years since the 1st plans were done with the help of Makerere Physical Planning Department is greatly due to politicians who until to day are opposed to being part of the town council and it is not surprising that a matter which we thought had been put to rest was brought back to the drawing board by the politicians of Makindye Sabagabo who used Museveni’s desperate Presidential campaign to ask for a town board status; which has granted! This was at the time when the district had resolved to have Kajjansi Town stretching from Seguku to Namulanda.
To cut the long story short, my advice to the Lord mayor is simple; he is a youth who ate big an office that the NRM desperately wanted, he should look to strategies that people see make good sense in getting the city worth a capital, otherwise he seems to signal even to those in village that there is someone who is ready to fight for their rights if they migrated to the city. What the Lord mayor and other Mayors ought to understand is that those who benefit from the services of Kampala want a city through which they can make transactions and go back to other duties instead of killing a whole day simply because the city is full of those who see it as the easiest way to make some money.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

WOMAN, BODA BODA RIDER DROWN IN KAMPALA FLOODS

A scene where unidentified boda boda cyclist and Barclays Bank Katwe branch cashier, the late Brenda Omuntu drowned in an open channel September 14, 2011. PHOTO: STEPHEN WANDERA

By STEPHEN WANDERA

Posted Wednesday, September 14 2011 at 18:55
The Wednesday downpour that paralysed much of central business district of Kampala has claimed two lives, according to Deputy Police Spokesperson Vincent Ssekate.
A boda boda cyclist with his female passenger drowned in an open water channel as they tried to navigate their way on the flooded Entebbe road. The incident occurred near a boda boda stage popularly known as Kalitunsi near Clock Tower in Kampala.
The accident happened shortly before 2pm. The boda boda rider, whose body has been recovered, is yet to be positively identified. The female passenger has been identified as the late Brenda Omuntu, a Barclays Bank Katwe branch cashier. Mr Ssekate said the two were travelling on a boda boda when they failed to locate the road running into the over flowing channel.
Rescue teams were hampered from helping the victims earlier as the fast flowing water made it impossible to gain access to the drainage channel. Efforts are still on-going to retrieve the body of the female passenger.

KAMPALA LORD MAYOR THREATENS TO RESIGN
Thursday, 15th September, 2011

Lukwago is considering petitioning the constitutional court to seek clarification on his role as Lord Mayor
By Taddeo Bwambale and Brian Mayanja

THE Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago has threatened to resign his position, saying the Government has frustrated his efforts to streamline business in the city.
Speaking at the Special Council Meeting of the Authority yesterday, Lukwago said he was considering petitioning the constitutional court to seek clarification on his role as Lord Mayor, as provided for in the Kampala Capital City Authority Act, 2010.
“I am compelled to go to court to find out if I have no powers in the law. If court rules that I have no powers, I will pack and go home to the people who elected me,” he said.
Lukwago accused the government of deliberately refusing to recognise his powers in the management of the city. He cited a letter from the Resident City Commissioner, Alice Muwanguzi dated September 13, advising Council not to discuss the recent eviction of vendors from city streets without consulting the Kampala minister.
Last week, Lukwago and city councilors distanced themselves from the eviction exercise, saying they were neither involved nor informed about it. They asked the Kampala Executive Director to produce a written directive from the Kampala minister to the Authority, in accordance with public service standing regulations.
But Muwanguzi, in her letter to Lukwago, argued that the minister had general powers to give directives on policy and general development of the capital city, which the Authority must comply with.
“As the political head of the Authority, you are expected to guide the Authority to comply with the minister’s directive. Anything less than that is interpreted as defiance of Government by the Authority,” the letter partly reads.
Lukwago accused the minister in charge of Kampala, Kabakumba Masiko, for ignoring his numerous requests to meet political leaders in the Authority to resolve their grievances.
“The minister is here to serve everyone. Why should we turn into beggars? I am not going to kneel for anyone because we all have statutory obligations according to the law,” he said.
The councilors were divided on whether to stop debate on the matter. Some of them accused the central government of rendering them powerless while others proposed a meeting with the Kampala minister to resolve the matter.
“It appears that whatever we are doing here, we are just wasting time. Some of us came here to work but we seem to be heading for a crisis because they overlook our powers,” said Elijah Owobusingye, the councilor for Makindye East.
Lubaga Municipality Councilor, Godfrey Asiimwe proposed a meeting between the Kampala minister and political leaders to resolve the crisis.
The councilors gave one more week to the Executive Director to come up with a report on areas that can be temporarily gazetted for street vending in the city

WHY IS IT PROVING IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE TECHNICAL PEOPLE TO WORK WITH POLITICIANS IN KAMPALA INNOVATIONS?

I am one of the advocates of a better Kampala city, however, I believe it is not impossible for the technical people to work hand in hand with the politicians who are the people's representatives. The Government is itself defeating the policy of decentralization. It is important for the councilors to be given their right and have the technical people come in. The speed may change but in the current situation where many people depend on daily income it becomes unfair to just chase people more over when it is the same Government that has taking advantage of laxity so as to get votes.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

KCCA PLANS TO BAN BODA BODAs FROM THE CITY

Boda boda cyclists in the city face an uncertain future. PHOTOS BY STEPHEN OTAGE.
By Andrew Bagala & Robert Mwanje (email the author)

Posted Tuesday, September 13 2011 at 00:00

In Summary
First they came for the vendors and the city streets got a little less congested. Next, officials at Kampala Capital City Authority say, are boda boda motorcyclists who have been put on notice to vacate the Central Business District as part of the efforts to bring order to city streets. A similar attempt to keep the reckless-yet-convenient boda boda riders out of the city was derailed by political meddling “from above”. Will the riders go or weave their way out of the net again?

ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS 2010
Road usersNumberPercentage
Pedestrians 1,217 41.2
Passengers 799 27.1
Motor cyclists 512 17.3
Pedal cyclists 298 10.1
Drivers 128 4.3

Persons Seriously Injured
Pedestrians 3,908 27.6
Passengers 5,568 39.4
Pedal cyclists 1,127 7.9
Motor cyclists 2,642 18.7
Drivers 903 6.4
Persons with Minor Injuries
Pedestrians 347 20.3
Passengers 740 43.4
Pedal cyclists 209 12.3
Motorcyclists 237 13.9
Drivers 173 10.1

Source: Uganda Police Force

Efforts to get boda boda cyclists out of the Central Business District have been renewed by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), three years since the move was blocked by President Museveni. Although KCCA authorities say they haven’t reached an official position, they are already mobilising boda boda cyclists for a general meeting expected by the end of this week to convey the “bad news”.
KCCA deputy director for physical planning George Agaba confirmed yesterday in an interview that the authority has agreed on principle to draw a plan to tackle the boda boda industry “very soon.” “We are planning to hold a meeting with boda boda cyclists very soon to agree on the next steps. For now, we have not made a final decision about the industry, but several concerns will be addressed under the new arrangement,” Mr Agaba said.
A stakeholders meeting will also soon be convened to forge the way forward, Mr Agaba added. But the meeting, which will involve police, Office of the President, Resident Capital Commissioner and KCCA, is expected to rubber-stamp their earlier position to ban boda-bodas in the city.
There are 145,000 boda boda cyclists in Kampala District, but they are not regulated and do not pay any direct levies to KCCA, yet they are accused of causing traffic mess and accidents. Another official in the KCCA executive director’s office, Mr Peter Kaujju, said they have received numerous proposals from the private sector to ban boda bodas. “We are still reviewing them,” Mr Kaujju added in a telephone interview.
In the arrangement, the cyclists are banned from passing through or park in the carved off area whose boundaries start from Wandegeya traffic lights, through Hajji Kasule Road, Makerere Hill Road to Nakulabye Trading Centre among other areas.
This issue has been has been sticky since 2007, when government and KCC officials took a decision to ban them, but President Museveni and the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura blocked them. The President blocked the move, claiming that the industry was a source of income for the unemployed youth.
Boda boda cyclists have managed to stay in the city without paying levies or getting thrown out of the central business district because they have over the years emerged as a critical campaign tool during elections. Kampala Central Division Mayor, Godfrey Nyakana, said other issues to be addressed include issuing identification cards and introduction of divisional number plates for easy identification and riders’ numbers.

Wasswa William, Bodaboda, Nasser Rd
“All they need to do is to put the business in order. Sometimes you get downtown and the boda boda stage is competing with pedestrians for space. Some of us have spent over 10 years in this business and we know what it means chasing us away. Will there be alternative jobs for us?”

Kakulu Sulait, Boda-boda, Railway station
“The business feeds several people because those who have stayed in this trade know that it feeds banks, the Nabugabo dealers in spare parts and the importers of the bikes pay a lot of revenue to government. So sending us away will mean that several people will be hungry.”

Okello Allan,Sales representative
“It will be a little bit inconveniencing for some of us because right now, I have had to park my car somewhere because of the traffic jam in town. It may not be a wise idea because as a means of transport, it is not confined to specific type of passengers.”

Paul Shagga, Businessman
“It will hurt many people but for the good of the city, it is the right decision. Compare Kampala to Kigali and Nairobi, these cities are decongested. It will displace people and reduce accidents. It has been handy for the business community because it helps one beat deadlines.”

Becky Nadamba Voluntary worker
“It is a good idea. Bodabodas cause a lot of accidents unnecessarily. Only those coming to town should be trained and issued licences while those without should not be allowed into the city because they snatch people’s property and ride recklessly.”

Juliet Boona Receptionist
“Yes, the city will be neat but there will be problems in its outskirts. People will be forced to go back to the village. This will increase poverty in families because the bread winners will be rendered idle. Government should consider increasing security of the people and their income.”

IT IS ONLY AN IDIOT THAT CAN ACCEPT A BRIBE TO SEE TEACHERS NOT GET A SALARY INCREMENT IN 2011/12 FINANCIAL YEAR

IT IS ONLY AN IDIOT THAT CAN ACCEPT A BRIBE TO SEE TEACHERS NOT GET A SALARY INCREMENT IN 2011/12 FINANCIAL YEAR
I heard on news in the electronic media that MPs accepted a bribe to agree that there is no money that can be paid to teachers in th current financial year. If this is not a rumour but gospel truth, then the MPs who got the alleged shs 1,000,000 or so are a bunch of idiots, and whoever raised this money to see it paid to them deserves no better than being burnt alive the way thieves are treated by the locals these days. Those who have education at all have gone through the hands of teachers, it is sad that the plight of teachers has been ignored by the NRM Government and instead the money that would go to see them enjoy better pay has either been stolen or used to pay people in useless administration positions and among other areas to see to the creation of an exploitative middle class. It is sad, but on the matter of teachers’ salaries, the NRM has proved a real disappointment to Ugandans. I happen to be a son of a father who through his active life was a teacher, but it is basically the NRM administration where I have seen the pay of the teacher not worth. If it had been one of those areas NRM takes as priority, every Ministry budget would have had a cut to realize their objective. What is most unfortunate is that the NRM Government has never owned up to the increasing depreciation of the currency, instead they are quick to tell those who can believe them that the problems are world wide!
The day when majority of the people of Uganda learn what the truth is in life, may be the country will change for the better. The people continue to make decisions that cannot help them, they should know the truth, and many times have been told the truth about NRM leadership, given its deceit and how some of its cadres have looted the country, these same people end up electing NRM in a variety of positions and the country keeps sinking on and on. When a review is made of a number of contracts made, when you see someone’s contract cancelled and he demands billions that are later paid to him, you wonder why God cursed the would be Pearl of Africa.
You need to be a victim of the excesses of some of the people in NRM to appreciate how rotten it is. In 1988, I made a decision to join Nile Bank with the hope of moving to the top fast given that we were so many graduates in Uganda Commercial Bank. Little did I know that I had made a life long mistake! In 1990 about which time the problems of power started, a gentleman and a businessman – Caeser Kakooza was used by some people within Nile Bank with the possible knowledge of Richard Kaijuka a former shareholder in the same bank and the then Minister of Energy to open a Uganda Electricity Board account in the bank. One day, Kakooza presented a cheque solely signed by himself, as the officer concerned with corporate accounts, I accessed the account number and found all details correct, but had not been party to the opening of the account up to the processing of the cheque book, and here I was signing cheques on an account which some insiders knew was fake but had authorized opening it. Shortly after wards in the course of 1991 around Easter time, it was news to learn that Kakooza had been caught opening a similar account in the then Cooperative bank; and trust some people in Nile bank, the y panicked and saw the best was to send me on an indefinite suspension, and I can tell you, I have never had opportunity to tell court what happened but I lost my job and today from a banker I find myself as an advocate of Good Governance. My last blow was when the Late Abu Mayanja was Minister of Justice and some closed cases were got back to courts of law. This case was one of those and some how I had known about it and went to the Magistrates Court at Mengo; little did I know that I was wasting time. The case was got from the court room it had been allocated and taken to another Magistrate, and when I inquired, I was told that it had been postponed or what and I lost interest in it. So, when some people say that in NRM there are some mafia’s you just have to be a victim of these and accept.
I am convinced that something could be done to alleviate the plight of the teachers if only the Government had them at heart. Merely saying that increasing teachers pay would lead to a circle of other civil servants demanding for pay is empty. If Government created the situation in which the country is in to-date, it has to own up and do all in its mandate to better the situation. As long as we have people in Government who are after exploiting the others and hence taking away the little that majority would share so that they enjoy lavish lives; a chain of women and girl friends, we are doomed. Common sense would dictate to our leaders that shs 200,000 paid to the teachers now cannot even meet the requirements of one big vehicle of many of the senior leaders in a few hours that vehicle runs on the road. If such a vehicle needs shs 100,000 in fuel to travel to Kamuli from Kampala what sense is in shs 200,000 when it is paid to a teacher who is paid full time by Government? What is so absurd and I will repeat it over and over is the in-sensitiveness of the NRM Government over continued sponsoring of the so-called Government sponsored students. We are having a hello of problems with the NRM simply because it has cadres who think they know and when you analyze what they do it is empty. You now wonder where a parent who serves Government in a dedicated way can get the money to pay for tuition as Government lets the Government owned Universities charge tuition and non-tuition fees as they wish to have the ends meet, where it has failed to fund them as would be required, and instead Government continues with a scheme that would long have been scrapped and replaced by an Educational loan scheme.
As for Uganda we need to send a lot of prayers may be God will reconsider the country and help us see change to take us a step further.

TEACHERS' PAY RISE FOR NEXT YEAR
Monday, 12th September, 2011
By Moses Walubiri and Henry Sekanjako

THE Government has made a commitment to increase teachers’ salary by 15% next financial year.
The Government says it is not able to increase the teachers’ salaries this year due a constrained resource envelope.
The Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) called off the strike on Saturday, urging members to resume teaching today.
The union observed that since the Government had promised a salary increment in July next year, it was time to get back to work.
During a debate of the budget committee report at Parliament on Friday, the Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi, said the Government had learnt lessons from selectively giving different civil servants salary increments.
“No one can doubt the Government’s concerns about the need to raise teachers’ salaries, but we are financially constrained,” the premier said.
Mbabazi said a 20% salary increment for primary school teachers would require an additional sh172.5b and a 100% increment would require sh840.4b.
Mbabazi said the Government had come up with a new policy against selective increment of salaries.
He allayed MPs fears that giving teachers a salary increment would affect universal promary and secondary education.
“The scrapping of UPE and USE programmes is not in government plans,” Mbabazi said.
A number of MPs, however, expressed fears that forcing demotivated teachers to teach would affect the quality of education.
“What kind of education are these poorly-paid, demotivated teachers giving to our children?” Richard Todwong asked.
However, some MPs expressed concern over the budget committee for not taking the issue of teachers salary increment as serious.
The committee was tasked to identify wasteful expenditures in the budget and recommend re-allocations
Makindye west MP Hussein Kyanjo said money allocated to government projects like the patriotic clubs could be cut to provide for the teachers’ salary increment.
Nathan Nandala Mafabi suggested the sh4.5bn allocated towards the running of barazas be diverted to cater for teachers salaries .
“We should have these monies extended to teachers’ salaries, we don’t need these barazas,” he said .

UPE SCHOOLS WITH LAND NEED TO LEARN BETTER UTILITY FOR THIS FACILITY

Early this year, I called on my former primary school; Namutamba Demonstration in Mityana District. I was shocked at the rate of deterioration of the school infrastructure. The staff houses that exist in this school which made 75 years of existence; as shown below could only accommodate the most desperate otherwise in a good storm; these structures could fall on the occupants.



I was sad to see what was supposed to be a school library; surely this could not qualify as one; books thrown about here and there. As if that was not enough, I was heartbroken to see children categorized into three at lunch time; the 1st group had what could be called lunch; that is posho and beans, another had porridge and the last had nothing for lunch. I had thought that ours were bad days when more than 90% of the children had no shoes; it is unfortunate that the situation is worse. For a school in existence for 75 years not to have a single computer when today parents buy computers for children to play with, I had a rough time to get to terms with this situation. The school facilities being vandalized because the school can not afford to get means to lock the rooms; at the same time to find a number of facilities unrepaired when they are in a repairable state is sad.
This former school of mine has good land and some teachers make ends meet by utilizing what is attached to their residences. I appreciate the funding to UPE schools being peanuts, however, many of these schools have resources which when utilized can help them meet a number of challenges. Of areas with influential former personalities, Namutamba is one of them. You can say that this is one area where good education at primary level started and spread to Kampala and other areas of Uganda.


When the people who have been through Namutamba Demonstration School are mobilized; who among others include Ambassador Sempala and the current Secretary General of East African Community to mention just a few, the school would not be in the sorry state I found it in. 2ndly, the teachers we have today seem to lack training in areas like gardening, poultry and animal husbandry otherwise I don’t see children going without lunch when the school has land that can be used for the purpose as well as generate income to help run some school undertakings. In fact these schools I believe can access NAADS funding, if not at least it is high time they are included among the beneficiaries. That way, chances of feeding our children can greatly be enhanced. In districts which still have good agricultural land like Kamuli I visited recently, I am of the opinion that parents can contribute food say in form of grain to schools so that children don’t go without meals which is almost a fashion today. It also important that schools move from that want to see 1st grades only and put effort into practical subjects like agriculture, poultry, animal husbandry, carpentry, crafts to mention but a few.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO ELECT VILLAGE LOCAL COUNCILS TO EFFECT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS

THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO ELECT VILLAGE LOCAL COUNCILS TO EFFECT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
Sunday, September 11, 2011 I had opportunity to attend one relatively successful village meeting in Bweya – Kajjansi trading centre. The unusual I saw among other things is the big turn up of owners of wheels. Normally, these people tend to be unconcerned with developments that go on in village meetings; however, after Chairman Mubiru’s mobilization effort prior to the meeting, it was encouraging to see a big turn-up though of course time management remains a big problem for most. The meeting had been well tailored such that it would have taken about 4 hours to cover in detail the agenda of the evening.
One big advantage with LC I meetings is that they are cheap to organize as residents can come with seats; others may sit on mats or even grass. It is most unfortunate that the LC I’s we have in place operate illegally given that they expired long ago in 2006. This is one reason why they are not effective in many instances regarding mobilization and coming up with effective resolutions these days. The other thing that needs to be looked into is how these Council’s members are nominated by the Chairman. This defeats the desired democracy. As long as people can elect, they should be left to elect those they think can best deliver services, not what a single person sees as friends or those he can cooperate with.
In the Bweya meeting the members present had opportunity to hear from the NAADS coordinator, and it was unfortunate that the area was seen as a poor beneficiary of NAADS services; hence those present were told to turn up on 17th to elect those that would help in service delivery for NAADS programmes to the community. One councilor equated the area to Karamoja and she said with emphasis that Bweya was actually the Karamoja of Ssisa sub-county!
Dr. Collin Sentongo who happens to be a resident of the area told the meeting that he was ready to join a Development Oriented Committee to help development projects in the area. He told the group that he had worked on a section of 2 km road to help ease movement and hoped that the people would endeavour to look after this road properly. He however said that he was disappointed that out of 40 trees planted by the road side, some people had decided to uproot a few which was unfortunate.
The meeting benefited from the representatives of the Village Health Team (VHT) who told the gathering that they had been trained in administering primary health care, and that they would give treatment on first seeing the patient so as to advise the cares accordingly, in which case they did not have medication for taking home to await the sickness.
The issue of the bad roads which were taking so long to be worked on was raised. The meeting was told of the procedures in procuring a tractor to work on the road and that fuel had to be mobilized to have the work undertaken. There was concern that children were so much involved in spoiling the road by collecting sand for sell which is deposited when ever there is some good rain. The members agreed that no body should collect this sand as it made roads poorer.
On the issue of security, it was agreed that insecurity threatened the place and there was need to have night patrols back. The members agreed to paying shs 1,000 per household per month as incentive pay to those who would be involved in the guard services. Households were told to maintain an exercise book where each household would the signature by the one who collected the money in acknowledgment of receipt.
There was concern about a number of children who don’t attend school. The LC III Chairman Ssisa sub-county encouraged the parents to ensure that their children went to school as it was the best investment for the children. He further cautioned about the continued sell of land which was to throw many into poverty.
All in all, Government ought to work fast to see the LC I elections off ground. There is no need of wasting billions, the most effective LC I’s were those of 1986 and these elections were not that expensive to the taxpayer as now when the Electoral Commission wants so many billions, and when those billions are not raised; the people remain on the losing side as the development they would get through properly elected representatives is delayed.

INNOVATIONS IN MATERNAL AND INFANT HEALTH ADDRESS CHRONIC PROBLEMS CREATIVELY

Innovations in Maternal and Infant Health Address Chronic Problems Creatively

By: Talea Miller

Bangladesh; Flickr user Michael Foley Women in Bangladesh. Photo by Flickr user Michael Foley.
More than 350,000 women die each year around the globe from complications of childbirth, and 3 million children die in the first month of life. In the face of such dire numbers, development experts will focus on what is working around the world to improve the situation next week during the Millennium Development Goals assessment at the U.N. General Assembly.
A new report from the U.N.'s Every Woman, Every Child Innovation Working Group, out in the Lancet Monday, looks at some of the promising and innovative projects that could help change those statistics. Learn about five interesting approaches that could be models for other countries struggling with high maternal and infant mortality:

Project: ColaLife, Zambia
Have you ever traveled to a rural part of a developing country and been astounded to find that bottles of Coke also managed to find their way there? ColaLife is piggy-backing on Coca-Cola's extensive supply chain to provide isolated communities with much-needed medical supplies.
Self-contained "aid pods" filled with supplies can fit into any unused crate space and are delivered to local contacts when beverage supplies are distributed.
The group is currently working on an anti-diarrheal kit that would carry rehydration salts, soap, water treatment tools and educational materials. Diarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of death for children under five in the developing world, but is preventable and treatable.

Project: HERproject, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Pakistan and Vietnam
Reaching women where they work is the strategy at HERproject (Health Enables Returns), which now operates in more than 70 factories in seven countries. The group trains female employees at factories manufacturing everything from Levis to Microsoft to teach their peers about reproductive health, nutrition, infectious disease and other health issues. The project also links women up to health services, either by improving in-factory clinics or directing women to outside government services.

Project: Cell-Life, South Africa
Pregnant women who are HIV-positive can prevent their babies from contracting the disease with medication, but only if they take it correctly. In South Africa, 40 percent of children under five still die from AIDS-related illnesses, in part because many mothers don't complete the mother-to-child prevention programs. Cell-Life developed a 10-week program of text message reminders designed to help mothers remember when to attend appointments, give medication and tell them how to safely feed their babies. A randomized trial is ongoing, but so far results suggest that mothers using the SMS program are more likely to get their babies tested for HIV.

Project: LifeSpring, India
Low-income women in India usually have two choices for maternal care and child birth: wait in long lines at overcrowded government facilities or risk breaking the bank by paying for private care. Seeking to provide a middle-ground alternative, LifeSpring developed a chain of hospitals for women who earn about between $3 to $6 a day that provides an all-inclusive maternal care package for about half or one-third what other private facilities might offer.
The facilities cut costs by using a no-frills environment, and by breaking down complex processes into different tasks, some of which can be done by less-skilled professionals.

Project: SMS for Life, Tanzania
When a grocery store is sold out of milk, it's an inconvenience for customers. When a clinic in Sub-saharan Africa runs out of malaria medication, it's a life-and-death supply issue for patients. A public-private partnership in Tanzania between several groups, including Novartis and the ministry of health, produced the SMS for Life system in an attempt to end such stock-outs. SMS messages on stock levels, along with a data system used to map distribution helped cut the proportion of health facilities reporting malaria shortages from 78 percent to 26 percent in 21 weeks.

IT IS FEARED THAT ILLITERACY LEVELS MAY REMAIN HIGH IN UGANDA AS THE INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY IS MARKED

The International Literacy Day is a challenge for Uganda given that we still have a size able number of people who don't know how to read and write, yet many of these people cannot easily join local efforts to learn functional adult literacy if there is no immediate monetary rewards to be got after that effort. This is worsened by the situation where though the Government sings about Universal Primary Education (UPE), its contribution is a drop in the ocean. Parents in many UPE schools have to meet expenses which call for some income to finance. The shs 1,350 per term per child is unthinkable given the smallest amount a parent has to meet of uniform about 10,000 - 15,000; lunch or lunch substitute of shs 5,000 to 15,000 or more, books about shs 6,500 the least a term,Geometry set, school bag, pens and pencils to mention a few, not forgetting that these schools charge anywhere between shs 15,000 to 25,000 or more for fees and monthly tests. So, free primary education is not real in Uganda, and given the increasing poverty more so where the shilling keeps depreciating every other day, the fear is real that at this day and age in Uganda illiteracy rates are likely to remain high.
William Kituuka Kiwanuka

INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 2011
Educational institutions and literacy missions around the world commemorates the International Literacy Day on September 8. Endorsed by UNESCO, this day is proclaimed for disseminating literacy awareness amongst world's illiterate community.
Recognition of Literacy by UN
Adopted in the year 1965 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Literacy Day is observed every year, on this day with a new mission.
Since its very inception, this day became a special occasion to mark literacy awareness and many educational programs featured this particular day in their year round events. But in the year 1990, the United Nations General Assembly provided a bolster to global literacy by proclaiming the year as International Literacy Year. The special year marked the ongoing commitment of the world community to boost and support literacy as a key to personal progress and to the socio-economic development of nations.
International Literacy Day 2009 theme is "The Power of Literacy." It means this year the focus will be on the empowerment of literacy and its importance for participation, social progress and citizenship. Literacy and Empowerment is the theme for the year 2009-2011 of the United Nations Literacy Decade has been accepted.
What literacy is all about?
The definition of literacy and a literate person is vast according to UNESCO. A literate person is one, who can, with understanding, both read and write a short statement relevant to routine life, and capable of analytical understanding of men’s condition in the world. Literacy is a means of personal liberation and development and delivering individuals educational efforts. Literacy is a method of achieving faculties to develop their economic status and general well being and inculcating values of national integration, conservation of surroundings, fairer sex’s equality, observance of standard family tradition, etc.
Why literacy is important?
Literacy is not just about educating, it is a unique and powerful tool to eradicate poverty and a strong means for social and human progress. The focus of literacy lies in acquiring basic education for all, eradicating poverty, reducing infant mortality, simmering down population growth, reaching gender equality and ensuring constant development, peace and democracy. There are sufficient reasons why literacy is the centre of Education for All (EFA). A good quality basic education equips people with literacy potentials for life and further learning; literate parents are inclined to send their children to school; literate people are prone to access continuing educational opportunities; and educated societies are better geared to keep pace with the pressing development.
Hence literacy is considered as an effective way to enlighten a society and arm it to facing the challenges of life in a stronger and efficient way, raise the level of personal living, create and assist change the society.
Alarming Statistics
Despite many and multifarious efforts, the literacy rate across the world looks alarming. According to UN analysis there are close to four billion literate people world wide and some 776 million people lack minimum literacy skills, that mean one in five adults are yet to literate; 75 million children did not attend school and many more attend irregularly or are drop outs. Almost 35 countries have a literacy rate of less than 50% and a population of more than 10 million people who are illiterate. 85% percent of the world's illiterate population dwells in these countries, and two-thirds are fairer sex.
Total Literacy Requires Collective Efforts
Besides some customary bottlenecks have being observed in some under developed countries like population blast, lack of proper infrastructure and other factors, the grave backlash of the present economic crunch has also cut down the pace of the total literacy drive.
According to the UN, it calls for a combine parallel efforts, sufficient resources and endeavor, strategies, and continued analysis of the developmental work revised political will and for accepting to do things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and trans-nationally.
Four Tier Plan
Since 2000, for disseminating literacy across the world in big scale various governments of the world have announced four initiatives in collaboration with several agencies of the United Nations. These four initiatives are:

Education for all
Millennium development targets
United Nations literacy decade and
United Nations decade of education for constant development.

Several educational programs have been launched by the governments of world to make the people literate. Of course, such literacy programs have become successful, but still a good section of country’s population is still non-literate.
Making the entire literate is yet a far fetched goal. The fact is that without making the entire world literate we cannot expect a global development.
On this special day, let us take an oath to make our country as well as the world literate. It is possible if we take the very first step ourselves by sparing some time for uneducated people living around us.
Several educational programs have been launched by the governments of world to make the people literate. Of course, such literacy programs have become successful, but still a good section of country’s population is still non-literate.
Making the entire literate is yet a far fetched goal. The fact is that without making the entire world literate we cannot expect a global development.
On this special day, let us take an oath to make our country as well as the world literate. It is possible if we take the very first step ourselves by sparing some time for uneducated people living around us.

UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION IN UGANDA

Alex Ndeezi (MP)
Uganda's Universal Primary Education (UPE), begun in 1996, is the brain child of President Yoweri Museveni. A former lecturer at the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, Museveni is one of Africa's pragmatic leaders who believes in the transformation and modernisation of society through the elimination of illiteracy and the provision of Education For All - irrespective of one's gender, disability or any other categorisation.
In practice, the UPE programme is not universal, but has a realistic tendency towards universality. Before implementation, the policy was extensively discussed at various fora, including educational institutions, in the cabinet and at parliamentary level. Under this programme, the government commits itself to providing primary education for a maximum of 4 children per family. In order to comply with Uganda's constitutional requirements on affirmative action in favour of marginalised groups, 2 of the 4 must be girls, if a family has children of both sexes. In addition, if a family has a child with disability, he or she must be granted the highest priority in enrolment under this programme.
The government pays the school fees for the children. It also provides grants to be spent on instructional materials, co-curricular activities like sport, and the management and maintenance of utilities like water and electricity.
By the end of September 1999 six and a half million children aged 6-15 had enrolled for primary school education - one third of Uganda's total population. Total enrolment rates for all children have tripled since 1996 and the enrolment of children with disabilities, almost half of whom are female, has quadrupled.

Achievements
The increase in enrollment rates, as cited above.
The programme has helped to bring to light the enormous challenges of providing education for all and the special challenges of providing education to children with disabilities.
Increased funding for primary schools.
Reduced illiteracy rates - especially amongst children with disabilities.
Increased supply of building and instructional materials to schools. And increased awareness of the educational needs of children with disabilities e.g. the need for sign language development.

Challenges
The policy emphasises the mainstreaming of all categories of children. Profoundly Deaf children are not yet benefiting much from the scheme.
Emphasis is on day schools - children with visual and physical disabilities are finding it increasingly difficult to travel for long distances to and from school on a daily basis.
Mobility aids like crutches, wheel chairs and white canes are not provided for in the programme. Neither is the physical environment in most schools accessible.
Special education teachers in areas such as Deaf education, Sign Language, visual and mental impairment are inadequate and non-existent in most primary schools.
The classrooms are always too congested. In some areas classes are conducted under mango trees.
The programme has been criticised for being short-sighted. It does not explain what will happen to the tens of thousands of children after primary level.
The current ratio of teacher to pupil is 1:110. This is extremely high and not conducive to proper learning and good standards. With this ratio, the children with disabilities who need special attention, simply get "swallowed" in the congested classrooms.
The negative attitudes of most teachers towards children with disabilities are in many respects still a hindrance to the success of the programme.
The programme has almost become too expensive to run because the government is short of funds. The result is that donors have been approached for assistance. However, these donors often come in with their own conditions, which may not be wholly in the interests of the programme.

The Way forward
Efforts are being made to construct special units within the mainstream schools to meet the needs of children with special learning needs. However there is still a need to build more special schools e.g. for deaf children.
There is a need for special grants for children with disabilities to enable them to acquire mobility aids and other special learning materials.
The Ministry of Education has already issued a directive on ensuring physical accessibility for children with disabilities in the construction of new buildings. Some schools have already started implementing this directive.
Last but not least, even though UPE has its own weaknesses it has been hailed world-wide as a wonderful programme, a reflection of political commitment to education for all, and a role model of how the poorest countries of the world, such as Uganda, can eliminate widespread illiteracy and develop their human resources by provision of affordable education.
Alex Ndeezi is Uganda's first Deaf Member of Parliament. He is also the chairperson of the Uganda National Association of the Deaf. He can be contacted at: PO Box 7339, Kampala, Uganda. Tel: +256 (0)41 27 25 63