PROGRAMS TO MEET DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

 ACCESS TO NUTRITION AND NUTRITION EDUCATION

Nutrition programmes supported with SUO funds are to solve chronic, preventable and accessible nutritional needs. Programmes include education diet, supportive health care and restructuring professional input.

Sporadic shortages of food may be dealt with through food relief programmes carried out by appropriate relief agencies. A nutritional programme should not be replaced by a food relief programme.

Possible Programme Activities

1          SUO designates a specific person or group (e.g. mothers of youth association, health committee, community health worker, staff) to be responsible for implementing nutrition activities. The services of a professional nutritionist should be obtained when needed on short term contracts.

2          SUO ensures the training of parents of Children in basic nutrition and feeding concepts so that best methods of utilizing available food resources are identified.

3          SUO ensures the training of young women in proper eating habits during pregnancy. They should provide information about proper pre-natal and post-natal  care and promote the breast feeding of infants.

4          SUO ensures the training of children   in the nutritional value of local foods, in what constitutes a balanced diet, and how to prepare local foods for optimum nutritional value. The cyclic availability of local food is considered in the training.

5          SUO regularly measures the impact of their nutrition programmes and adjusts them to overcome identified weaknesses. When nutrition goals have been achieved by SUO, it reduces or terminates nutrition services.

6          SUO implements a food supplement programme only after it has completed a nutritional survey of the children which determines whether nutritional need exists, the nature of the nutritional need and the most affected groups.

a          The survey is conducted by the beneficiaries ( children and parents) with professional assistance. Beneficiary involvement in the process helps increase their awareness of their nutritional needs.

b          Food supplement programmes are implemented only in coordination with all of the activities named in guideline 1 through 5 above.

c          Food supplement programmes reflects the “food culture” of the community. Programmes that demonstrates good nutritional practice, even if it contradicts traditional local practices.

d          Persons with nutritional deficiencies ( the “target group”) receives an appropriate level of supplement to ensure recovery.

e          Children suffering from severe malnutrition receives appropriate medical attention.

f           Children enrolled in the food supplement programmes are regularly monitored ( height/weight, age/mid-arm circumference) by the parent to ensure continuous progress.

7          SUO encourages the development of sustainable agricultural activities which can include:

a          Adopting appropriate and agriculturally acceptable farming practices

b          Increasing food production through provision of seeds and initiating seed banks

c          Improving food shortage facilities.

d          Carrying out nutrition education especially for women

e          Encouraging sound and sustainable farming methods

f           Encouraging fruit tree planting

g          Encouraging poultry, rabbits keeping, vegetable gardening, e.t.c

ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER

“WATER IS LIFE” The importance of SUO is being able to provide clean water for communities in Target communities cannot be over- emphasized.

POSSIBLE PROGRAMME ACTVITIES

-                    Encourage water harvesting by helping build iron sheet roofed houses or using approved roof tiles.

-                    Provide water tanks for schools and homes

-                    Help identify funds for sinking boreholes or rehabilitating water sources.

-                    Protect water springs

-                    Liaise with government and other agencies to ensure provision of water to community.

ACCESS TO BASIC EDUCATION

SUO will continue to emphasis the provision of primary school education. SUO have to ensure that all enrolled children attend and complete primary school and SUO will set up secondary school fees, bursary scheme to help those who perform very well to continue to secondary school.

 POSSIBLE PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

-                    Assess gaps in primary school attendance in our area of operation  and specifically among SUO families.

-                    Establish nursery schools

-                    Pay for nursery school teachers

-                    Ensure well-built and well equipped primary school class rooms

-                    Ensure provision of reading and writing materials for children

-                    Liaise with the Ministry of education and other education authorizes for improvement of primary school education.

-                    Encourage girls to attend and complete primary school

-                    Plan adult education programmes for parents.

-                    Liaise closely with Ministry of Culture and Social Services for involving enrolled parents in on-going adult education programmes.

ACCESS TO MEANS OF ALLEVIATING POVERTY THROUGH INCOME GENERATION

POSSIBLE PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

1          Small enterprises may be initiated by the SUO, individuals served by the SUO, or by small groups of parents or youth. SUO may develop enterprise to fund services which are considered essential to the well being of the participants and the community.

            In such cases the SUO, as well as operating its own enterprises, must provide enterprise development opportunities to individuals and small groups.

2          The group which initiates the enterprise should be formally organized so that it functions as an independent, cohesive body.

a.      The group should be small enough and members of the group live near enough to each other that cohesion and cooperation are ensured.

b.     Familial relationships within the enterprise group should be considered and addressed from the beginning.

3          A viable and simple credit system for the group or group members should be a part of the plan for enterprise development. Ideally this system will include a savings component as well as a loan component. Examples of these are credit unions, village banks, SUO credit or revolving funds, postal savings.

            When a loan revolving fund is initiated interest rates ranging from 5-7% should be charged to the borrowers. Time limit when to pay must be indicated normally within one year so as to allow more people to borrow.

4          Every small enterprise should be operated as a profitable business.

5          All of the members of the group should receive orientation and information.

6          SUO engaging in small enterprise development should make available on regular basis basic orientation to the establishment of small business for all parents when they enter  the SUO. This orientation should include information on Guidelines 3 and 5 minimally.

7          SUO enterprises should be designed to positively affect the lives of women and children.

8          The technology used in any enterprise should be appropriate.

9          Assessment should be made of all of the processes involved in the enterprise to ensure that they are economically appropriate to the local environment.

10        Financial records relating to any small enterprise , whether it be initiated by an individual, by a small group of parents or youth, or by the whole SUO, should be kept separate from the SUO financial operational records. Also a separate bank account for the operation of the small enterprise should be established.

11        SUO enterprises must operate within local laws.

12        SUO must have a sub-committee in-charge of the loan revolving fund or the credit scheme in force. It should also develop by laws which are acceptable to all the parents.

 SUPPORTING THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY

Believing that the family is the best place for the child to grow this office will  put its emphasis on structures that strengthen the family unit.

POSSIBLE ACTIONS

-           We shall prioritize the affiliation of family and community based SUO.

-           SUO will encourage income generating activities at the family level

-           SUO will support family counseling and guidance

-           In their programming, SUO will strengthen the family nucleus as the provider for child survival, development and protection.

SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENTALLY APPRORIATE DEVELOPMENT.

Environment and development cannot be divorced as they are closely interrelated. Man’s unwillingness to balance the two has led to massive destruction of environment. We have witnessed in the recent year the effect of severe environmental degradation on children. The poorest of the poor children are mostly affected by this kind of phenomena. Parents of such children are either landless or have very small and often fragmented pieces of land. The rich top soil is usually stripped and very little food can be grown leading to malnutrition. Some people use toxic chemicals for spraying the crops and not only poisoning the air but also drinking water and further spoiling the little food available. Over grazing in pastoral land and especially near water ponds is a common feature among the pastoralists’ communities. Trees are ever being cut to provide the much needed wood fuel and shelter.

POSSIBLE PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

-           help each family develop an environmentally sound house hold e.g. clean house, do water harvesting, practice kitchen gardens, improve sanitation, suitable income generating activities to make a sustainable unit.

-           Support environmentally sound programmes.

-           Develop an education and awareness raising programme for children in schools e.g. through pled crow Magazine development by CARE Uganda.

-           Encourage the development and use of natural manure.

-           Support establishment of woodlots, social forests in public land.

-           Encourage pastoralists to keep the right number of livestock

-           Encourage agro-forestry practices.

-           Encourage parents and children to participate every June 5 on World Environment Day.

ADVOCACY FOR CHILDREN RIGHTS

SUO has already taken a lead in supporting the UN convention of the Rights of the Child.

SUO is therefore committed to supporting the Rights of Children in this country.

POSSIBLE PROGAMMING ACTIVITIES

In all our programme activities we organize and advocate for the best interest of the child.

-                    Educate Ugandan children on contents of Convention on the Rights of the Child.

-                    Educate child care workers, teachers and parents on the Rights of the Child.

-                    Publicize the Convention on Rights of Child to the general public.

-                    Continue in support of activities by the National Alliance on Advocacy of Children’s Rights in Uganda.

-                    Strengthen the SUO task force formed in 2010 on the Rights of the Child.

-                    Organize regional workshops to publicize the Convention

-                    Sponsor the production of 10000 copies of Children’s magazine explaining the Convention

-                    Liaise with work book (exercise books) printers to publish the Convention on the back cover of the books to spread the word to all Children in Uganda.

 PROGRAMMES TO MEET PROTECTIOIN NEEDS

CHILDREN UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCE.

As a recognized child development agency in Ugandawe shall Endeavour during this decade to reach out and assist children who are needy but are beyond our arears of operation and service delivery. These include for instance: refugee children, abandoned children and children with AIDS.

POSSIBLE PROGRAME ACTIVITIES

-                    Advocacy

-                    Awareness raising and education

-                    Identifying sources of funds

-                    Referring Children to agencies that can assist.

EMERGENCY PLANNING AND MITIGATION

DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY

An emergency is a situation of hardship and human suffering arising from events which cause physical loss or damage, social and or economic disruption with which the country or community concerned is unable to cope alone. It may result from natural disaster such as earthquake, drought, war or civil unrest.

The poorest members of the community tend to suffer most from the effects of a disaster whether natural or unnatural. The poor are already living on the margin of subsistence and lack the reserves to cope with disruption. Any disaster response must take into account first and foremost the needs and feelings of the victim of disaster, not the logistics requirements of relief agencies and governments.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

Preparation for disaster should include the following information:

-                    History of the disasters, disaster preparedness by government, local authorities, UN agencies and NGOs.

-                    Prediction-its early indicators e.g lack of rains

-                    Sources of locally obtainable supplies and expertise.

-                    The procedures of all organizations likely to participate in a disaster programme should be obtained.

MITIGATION

The most effective form of disaster mitigation is development. Reducing the vulnerability and poverty of individuals and communities makes them more likely to be able to survive and confront a disaster.

DISASTER RESPONSE

-                    One can response to drought through improved agricultural practices and environmental protection and conservation

-                    The response to floods is through clearing drainage systems and ensuring the top soil is always covered by crops, trees or grasses that do well in such areas.

-                    Networking with specialized agencies like Uganda Red cross, Oxfam and AMREF will facilitate provision of food supplies, medicines and training in health and nutrition.

Other responses may include ensuring reasonable shelter, availability of safe drinking water, improved sanitation and articulate communication