AIM The aim was to explore the experiences of HIV-positive individuals before and after gaining access to antiretroviral therapy in Wakiso District, Uganda and how antiretroviral therapy impacts certain aspects of those living with HIV, such as sexual behavior, support systems, faith and personal identity. METHODS Based on secondary data analysis of “Life On Antiretroviral Therapy: People’s Adaptive Coping And Adjustment To Living With HIV As A Chronic Condition In Wakiso District, Uganda” by Steven Russell (2015). The data was reanalysed using the conceptual framework from Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model. RESULTS Six main themes will be presented including personal life after HIV diagnosis, acceptance of HIV status, disclosure of identity, changes in sexual behavior, different types of support systems, and increasing faith and strength from God. After receiving antiretroviral therapy, the quality of life seemed to improve for some of the participants. Participants described their experiences living with HIV/AIDS, such changes in personal goals and perception of self, immediate acceptance of positive HIV results, disclosure of identity to certain people, the different types of support offered from each support system they have, abstaining from sex and the use of contraceptives against future transmission. Furthermore, participants have also described an increase of faith and belief in God in order to cope with HIV/AIDS. CONCLUSION People living with HIV in Wakiso District, Uganda have described significant changes in their lives after receiving antiretroviral therapy. These changes affect them both physically and emotionally therefore more research must be done to investigate the influence of antiretroviral therapy on wellbeing.

This thesis aims to explore how human rights practitioners interpret human rights (as either universal or contextual), and if their interpretation influence the way in which human rights are implemented in development assistance. In order to answer this question, I have conducted field studies in Stockholm, Sweden and Kampala, Uganda. By viewing the outcomes of these field studies through a theoretical lens concerning the universality or contextuality of human rights, the study intends to cast light on human rights practitioners’ own personal notions of human rights and what implications these views have for development assistance.   The study shows that all of the respondents in the case studies share a common view concerning the universality of human rights, and that the rights articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) are indeed universal and should be shared by all people everywhere. That being said, the result also demonstrate that there is a common notion among the respondents from Kampala that this universality does not exists in the practical implementation of human rights in development assistance. Furthermore, the results show that all respondents see that clear prioritizations are made in terms of which rights are focused on in the field of development assistance specifically. The respondents perceive these prioritizations to be set on the basis of the political agenda of the international community and major donors. Which priorities end up at the top of the agenda depends on any number of cultural, historical, ideological and economic factors that differ from situation to situation.   In light of these findings, I argue in this study that there exist weaknesses in the universal approach to human rights that are claimed by Jack Donnelly and the donor community when it comes to practical implementation in development assistance. The results of this study show that the universality of human rights is threatened by uneven power dynamics that exist between donors and partner countries. This has implications for the ability of both practitioners in the field of human rights and donors to instill confidence in a local context. Therefore, this thesis suggests that there is a need for a re-examination of how this universality is approached from the international community and the donors when it comes to the practical implementation in development assistance in order for the common goal to be fulfilled.

No description available.

How do armed rebellions begin? Scholars often probe the “origins” and “onset” of internal conflict, but rarely scrutinize how violence initially emerges. This study does so by examining the inception of all rebel groups that formed in Uganda since 1986. It focuses in particular on understanding why only some nascent groups become viable, while others fail too early to make an imprint on the historical record and thus remain omitted from scholarly analyses. By comparing the initial stages of rebellion for groups that become viable with those of groups that fail early, this project offers a rare opportunity to examine how armed conflict begins and how it sometimes ends before large-scale violence occurs. The project highlights the importance of information in the initial trajectories of aspiring rebels. While most existing work envisions rebel initiation as a collective action problem, I posit that in fact insurgencies often begin as small, vulnerable, clandestine groups whose primary challenge is to avoid information leaks to the government. Several arguments at the core of the dissertation follow from this conceptualization of incipient rebellion. First, in weak states – those with minimal institutional penetration and thus minimal monitoring of their territory beyond the capital – barriers to entry for clandestine groups are low and therefore rebel formation will occur more commonly and with less spatial predictability than several dominant theories of conflict initiation suggest. Second, the decisions of civilians who live near newly-formed rebel groups, many of who could provide information about nascent rebels to the government, are critical in determining whether nascent groups survive. Civilians make decisions about whether to provide information to the government about incipient rebels based primarily on information they receive from other civilians; thus, variation in the structure of civilian information networks importantly influences incipient rebels’ chances for becoming viable. By showing a link between ethnicity and information networks, the dissertation advances a new understanding of how ethnicity can influence conflict onset. A third argument calls attention to the importance of domestic intelligence institutions in allowing states to access local information networks, deterring the initiation of new rebel groups. / Government

Anthropological research on the sociocultural outcomes from applications of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) for infertility, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is greatly lacking and much needed. Narratives from individuals, couples, families, community leaders and members are particularly germane to medical anthropological studies on the intersection of science and technology in the new millennium. With ART applications still in their infancy in sub-Saharan Africa, research of this nature may be of benefit in determining how best to apply ARTs within important cultural frameworks and allow infertile couples and other recipients the opportunity to minimize adverse results. This paper draws upon theoretical perspectives from anthropology, science and technology studies, ethnographic data from my field study in Uganda, and reviews of literature, to construct theories about how for the Baganda, the proliferation of ARTs could potentially change or disrupt cultural notions of power and identity and unseat core notions of kinship.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of donors in the establishment, implementation and sustainability of donor-funded telecentres in Africa. This was achieved by looking at success factors and reasons of failure at three donor-funded telecentres across three countries on the continent. The projects in question were Nakaseke Telecentre in Uganda, Bhamshela Telecentre in South Africa and the Malawi Rural Telecentre Project (MRTP) which, in the end, was never implemented in Malawi. To achieve the objectives of the study, both secondary and primary sources of data were used. The population of the study consisted of senior officers within the organisations that pledged financial and technical support for the MR TP and those that funded the Bhamshela and Nakaseke Telecentres. However, since there was no response from the donors of the Nakaseke Telecentre, all the data relating to the case was solely sourced from the literature (both print and on-line). Data collected dealt with various aspects of telecentre establishment, implementation and sustainability. The study found that Africa depends heavily on external finance and expertise to establish and implement telecentres due to financial incapacity, lack of expertise and poor infrastructure. The various experiences from the three cases have also demonstrated that donors cannot apply a single model of implementation uniformly across the region due to various political and socio-economic factors existing in different areas of the continent. Finally, the study highlighted the fact that if project sustainability is to be achieved, donors need to constantly improve the training and management component of telecentres. Therefore, rather than trying to draw a standard blueprint for project success, donors need to be ingenious and learn from shared experiences in the field, creatively adapting the solutions that work in one context to others. In conclusion, the findings identified in the present study potentially open up a window for the possibility of future research in terms of the success of donor-funded telecentres in Africa. / Thesis (MIS)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

The government of Uganda, on realizing that community conflicts could not be handled entirely by the centre, enacted a Local Councils Act, whose operationalization began on 8th June, 2006. The Act established the Local Council Courts for the administration of Justice at the local levels; it was also intended to define the Jurisdictional powers and procedures for the established Courts and other related matters. Laws and guidelines were developed and the Minister of local government issued the Local Councils Courts (Regulations) 2007 aimed at facilitating the operationalization of local councils in their functions related to the administration of Justice. Since their inception, the experiences, challenges, and people's perception of these local councils is not very clear. Overall, the study explores the experiences of local council courts in resolving local conflicts and also comes up with suggestions for more effective resolution of conflicts. The specific objectives are: 1) to identify types of conflict handled; 2) to explain the process of resolving conflicts; 3) to document the degree of satisfaction with the court process and perception of the system's effectiveness; 4) to identify the challenges faced by local council courts system in helping to resolve conflicts; and finally to make suggestions for improving the effectiveness of these courts in resolving conflicts. This study used a cross-sectional descriptive study and employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. It was conducted in Lubaga division (LC III), Kampala District and it targeted members of the local courts, community members with a case handled by the local court representatives of collaborating institutions. The findings show that there was no uniform understanding of the phenomenon conflict apart from the community respondents and key informants who almost had similar view to mean 'a misunderstanding between two parties'. The local councils at all levels (LC I, LC II, LC III) were only mandated to handle civil cases. The cases mostly handled were; domestic violence (37/63); rent defaulting (35/63) and land disputes (30/63) .In all these cases the causes were mostly economical, social, cultural and political in nature. The study also found out that most of disputes were being brought willingly to the courts but a small fee levied was unpopular among the community members. The local courts were issued with guidelines to follow although these guidelines fell short of the expectations of the members who wished they could also handle criminal cases. The level of satisfaction with skills and capability of local courts members to handle cases was just above 50% and the reasons advanced were that in most cases the conflicts were usually resolved or settled, and the disputants were always allowed to ask questions. Most of the conflicts were usually resolved through negotiations (37/63) with courts playing a moderating role and encouraging the complainants to reconcile. Local courts were also perceived to be effective in terms of being quick and cost effective. The effectiveness of these courts was also looked at in terms of their ability to handle a wide range of services as reported by 38/63%) of the respondents. Other factors which were advanced as impacting negatively on the effectiveness of these courts include: biasness (36/63); lack of follow up, political interference and to some extent corruption. etc. The key challenges reported were; delivery of services on voluntary basis; lack of coordination between police and local courts; lack of local courts to implement judgments; pressure to make judgments on cases outside the mandate of these courts and the high rates of child offenders yet they were protected the existing laws. In conclusion, generally though not uniform there was a clear and rightful understanding of the term conflict. The local council courts were following the guidelines and were aware of their mandate of handling only civil cases which was a good practice. The approach of local courts endeavoring to solve cases through negotiations was a good one although at times it was reported as a slow process. Overall, communities were satisfied with the local courts and felt that they were effective in handling local conflicts The existing policies should be revised to accommodate: 1) remuneration of local court officials, 2) empowering the local courts to enforce their judgments; 3) clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the local courts vis-à-vis those of the police and 4) reviewing the laws regarding child-offenders less than 18 years of age. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

This thesis explores the ways in which education and training programs can contribute to the achievement of equitable, self-reliant, and sustainable community development. A case study was conducted on an indigenous affiliate of the Agency for Cooperation in Research and Development (ACORD) in Nebbi district, Uganda. ACORD is a broad-based international consortium o f European and Canadian non-governmental organizations. ACORD's main focus in sub-Saharan Africa is to help establish or strengthen local, non-governmental structures with a view to promoting equitable, self-reliant, sustainable development. The ACORD-NEBBI community development programme was chosen for the study for four reasons: First, it appeared to be consistent with the community development principles advanced in the literature. Second, it emphasizes long-term localization of the programme through a significant skills training and education component. Third, the ACORD-NEBBI programme is a mature (i.e. over 15 years old) community development effort with a variety o f programs under one umbrella. And fourth, the programme was accessible geographically and culturally to the researcher. The research methods included observation, document analysis, and forty-six semi-structured interviews. The interviewees represented community development workers, former participants of ACORD-NEBBI training programs, primary beneficiaries of ACORD-NEBBI development programme, and the programme personnel. Six factors were found to support the ability of ACORD-NEBBI education and training programs to contribute to the achievement of equitable, self-reliant, and sustainable development initiatives: first, application of a phased approach to change and localization; second, tailored training activities at the request and pace of the beneficiaries; third, support to and promotion of self-selecting group formation based on common interests that, in turn, allowed the functioning of groups with less social friction; fourth, the application of a development approach compatible with the socio-cultural traditions; fifth, the development of a multi-faceted programme that penetrated all vulnerable segments o f the society; and sixth, the application o f change agents who supported emerging community groups. Two factors were identified as hindering the ability of ACORD-NEBBI education and training programs to contribute to the achievement of equitable, self-reliant, and sustainable development initiatives: a) the poor state o f development instruments (i.e. accessible roads, clean water, and well equipped medical centres), and b) missed target groups ~ the poorest of the poor — who could not form groups through which training is delivered. The latter factor exists because the programme focuses on groups, and hence individuals who could not form or j o in the selfselecting groups were left out of the development process. Thus, the lower middle class strata o f the village communities have benefited the most because they already had the basic resources — work capacity, knowledge, capital — with which to gain access, influence and the much needed savings mobilization prior to group formation. The majority o f the rural poor do not possess these important resources.

This dissertation represents a year-long (August 2004-August 2005) ethnographic case study of 15 adolescent schoolgirls attending a secondary school in a poor, rural area of Masaka District, Uganda which explores the challenges, opportunities and potential for future identities that were associated with secondary level education. This study includes an extensive analysis of the degree to which the global objective of gender equity in education, prioritized in UNESCO’s Education For All initiative as well as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, is promoted and/or achieved in the National Strategy for Girls’ Education in Uganda (NSGE). I consider various ideological understandings of international development in general as well as development theory specifically related to gender, and I draw on the Capabilities Approach (as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum) and Imagined Communities and Identities (Benedict Anderson, Bonny Norton) to interpret my findings. My research reveals that girls’ educational opportunities are constrained by many “unfreedoms” (Sen, 1999), such as extreme poverty, sexual vulnerability and gender discrimination, that are deeply and extensively rooted in cultural, historical, and socioeconomic circumstances and contexts, and that these unfreedoms are not adequately addressed in international and national policies and programme objectives. I propose several recommendations for change, including: a safe and secure “girls’ space” at school; mentorship roles and programmes; counselors; comprehensive sexual health education and free and easy access to birth control and disease prevention products, and sanitary materials; regular opportunities for dialogue with male students; employment opportunities; closer community/school ties; and professional development opportunities for teachers.

In the developing world, women are more likely than men to work in poorly paid occupations in the informal sector. Women are responding to this inequality by joining co-operatives. Women-only co-operatives offer the opportunity for employment and empowerment. A case study approach on an unregistered, women-only handicraft co-operative located in the Mpigi District of Uganda was taken. The epistemological approach used was feminist standpoint, using Rowlands’ theory of empowerment as the analytic lens. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 members of the Tabiro Ladies’ Club. Key informant interviews, participant observation, and a feedback workshop also occurred. Members of the Tabiro Ladies’ Club experienced empowerment at the personal, collective, and relational level. Findings were supported by the interviews, key informants, participant observation, and the feedback workshop. Implications for the women include the development of agency, economic benefits, social benefits, and capacity development. Hindrances included economic struggles and being an unregistered co-operative. / Ontario Graduate Scholarship, OAC 1950 International Graduate Travel Scholarship, SSHRC GGSF Travel Grant, Registrar's Travel Grants, Registrar's Research Grant for Graduate Students, and R/S Hungerford Grad Travel Scholarship.