UNDP- Strengthening Electoral Processes in Uganda (SEPU)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), together with other UN agencies, i.e. UN Women, OHCHR and UNESCO, have developed an electoral project to support the 2020/21 electoral cycle in Uganda. The project named “Strengthening Electoral Processes in Uganda (SEPU)” followed the recommendation of the UN Electoral needs assessment mission in March 2019 for the UN to support the 2020/21 elections in Uganda and for UNDP to lead in formulating an integrated electoral assistance project. The project seeks to respond to the various challenges earlier on identified by the EU election observers mission in their 2016 report, the Judiciary (supreme court ruling on 2016 elections), and the National Electoral Commission's own identified challenges as having adversely affected the quality and credibility of past elections in Uganda.The project is based on the intervention logic that inclusive, participatory, transparent elections are critical to sustain development gains and consolidate peace as the foundations on which development thrives; also, technically capable, independent and trusted governance institutions are essential for the conduct of credible, inclusive and peaceful elections; furthermore, elections is a conflict trigger which potentially results in violence and loss of lives; peacebuilding and conflict prevention approaches are critical to ensure peaceful and violence-free elections. UNDP submitted a project proposal to the Embassy of Sweden and to other development partners for the support of “Strengthening Electoral Processes in Uganda (SEPU)” project. The overall goal of the project is to improve the capacity and credibility of key institutions with an electoral mandate to promote credible elections, in 2020/21 and beyond, that significantly contribute to Uganda’s Vision of becoming a peaceful, secure and prosperous middle-income country by 2040. The specific objectives of the project are to: 1) Strengthen transparency and inclusion in electoral process; 2) Enhance institutional capacity for the Electoral Commission (EC) and other electoral stakeholders; and3) Improve peace building mechanisms.The project is implemented by UNDP in partnership with three other UN agencies, i.e. UN Women, OHCHR and UNESCO based on their comparative advantage and the need for complementarity of efforts: UN Women will lead on activities aimed at promoting inclusive participation in elections, especially for women, youth and People Living With Disabilities ; OHCHR will lead on human rights mainstreaming across all project activities and also human rights monitoring in the country during the entire electoral cycle; while UNESCO will support media capacity building and training including media training on conflict and gender sensitivity.The project targets and collaborates with national institutions to improve their capacity to deliver credible elections. These include; Electoral Commission of Uganda (EC), Uganda Police Force, (UPF), Judiciary/Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MoICT)/ Media Council of Uganda/Media and other non-state actors like political parties and a select number of civil society organisations working on elections.The project interventions are centered on three thematic outcomes with the fourth focusing on project management activities as follows; 1. Strengthened inclusion and transparency of the electoral process - 1,493,158 USD (21%)2. Enhanced institutional capacity for the Electoral Commission and other electoral stakeholder - 920,000 USD (13%)3. Strengthened dialogue capacities and electoral violence Early Warning and Rapid Response (EWER) system - 854,364 USD (12%)4. Effective and efficient project management, partnership formation, monitoring and evaluation – 2,097,116 USD (29%)