AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

• To increase access to education,
  health care and sustainable living through income generating projects for
  everyone with a need.
•  To promote health education on Sexual and
  Reproductive Health and Rights and HIV Prevention (SRHR/HIV) among young
  people in both schools and rural communities.
• To promote integrated systems for
  alternative use of energy sources in institutions and communities in the
  region and beyond.
• To empower Persons with
  Disabilities (PWDs) with resources and information that helps them realise
  their potential and live an inclusive life

• High levels of
  Poverty a cross many households;
• Alcohol, Illicit drug
  Consumption among many young people/Youth and men, this has resulted in to
  insecurity, theft in most parts in Teso Sub-Region;
• High rates of
  Unemployment among Youth and Women,
• People are planting
  Marijuana, Cocaine in their gardens; this is a threat to the entire Teso
  Sub-Region;
• Peer social unruly
  and criminal youth social group popularly known as “Okadibong,”this youth social grouping got intertwined in Teso
  Sub-Region and they spend their time smoking, drinking and consuming
  illicit drugs, source of theft, high cases of insecurity and pregnancies
  on young girls;

• Local Leadership
  betrayal .Many people now in the Teso Sub-region do not trust their
  elected leaders simply because of poor service delivery, they do not hold
  central and local governments accountable, people have no confidence
  again;
• Weak grass root
  Civil Society Organizations  not
  empowered, they are supposed to
  be  the bedrock of Democracy in any
  society;
• High Illiteracy
  levels attributed to high school dropout rates ;
•  Limited Civic Education  Initiatives to empower people with
  citizen and state obligations ;
• Poverty/Frustration/Idleness
  among youth and men , they spend time gambling , drinking and playing in
  the Trading centres instead of participating  in 
  household economic activities resulting in to  poverty which as negatively affected
  socio-economic household progress;
• Corruption  has stiff necked   all public Institutions’ ,yet  CSO’s the  end 
  users  are  not 
  effective to check  state
  power,  demand for  the rule of the law, people’s equality,
  the empowerment for  people  in the defense of fundamental
  natural  human rights ,
  accountability, and social and moral fabric of the society  is weakened  and lost. Grassroot CSO’s cannot
  encourage citizen activism in solving practical problems, fostering
  tolerance and inclusiveness.
• Citizens ownership and participation in
  governance is very low, most Ugandans 
  – the majority of whom reside in rural communities  are illiterate – still lack basic
  knowledge of their rights and responsibilities; they remain unfamiliar
  with ways of participating actively in decision-making at the local level
  and holding their elected officials accountable, this is highly witnessed
  in the Teso Sub-Region. The problem is further compounded by village local
  council leaders majority cannot read and write and yet they are peoples
  elected representatives;
• Political
  Representation: There is increased perception by local people in the Teso
  Sub-Region that local governments are in reality mere appendages of the
  central government and that most politicians get into office principally
  to help themselves to public resources and privileges;
• Limited
  Stakeholders Participation, majority of parents, worst in most rural
  settings many parents have given up , there is no parental and Childhood
  Bonding ,break down in moral and family social values children are  left alone and sent to schools without
  any relevant scholastic materials in the end , this has contributed to
  bigger percentages of  early school
  dropout rates in young boys and girls ,boys going to play in the trading
  centres, gambling, sports betting ,fishing for those near the landing
  sites like Serere District, smoking , drinking and stealing and girls get
  early pregnancies;
• High
  incidences and cases of Gender Based Violence, Domestic Violence , Sexual
  Violence , human rights violations and abuses , high disease burdens
  –HIV/AIDS & Hepatitis B virus in many households in the Teso
  Sub-Region, men live polygamous lives, they have abandoned their spouses
  –women and children and majority of households in the Teso sub-region  now live in the deprivation trap of
  Poverty;
• Land
  conflicts , Grabbing of land & Sell , serious problem in Teso
  sub-region, partly contributed by high population growth rate, many young
  people are producing , yet they are still dependent on their parents ,
  many have no stable household incomes to sustain  their livelihoods and welfare , it is a
  big problem in the Sub-Region if not mitigated ,will lead to  a calamity in nearby future;
• Many
  of the above incidences have chronically and negatively weakened
  socio-economic development in the Teso Sub-Region, major sectors like
  Health and Education are weak, this have greatly and largely contributed
  to poor Education Performance in the Teso Sub-Region and needs to be reversed
  and revitalised through strategies identified in this proposal.

• Vulnerability in
  many households, majority of parents or guardians cannot provide their
  children with basic scholastic materials;
• Duty attendance ,majority
  of rural teachers dodge their lessons and abandon their learners (low
  pupil teacher contact  hours),no
  love and commitment to their job; 
• No feeding program
  in most primary Government schools, yet the children leave their homes
  even with empty stomachs;
• Child labour which affects  pupils 
  learning, worst in the girls’ education ,this means that 2 in every
  5 children in class in the Teso Sub-Region are  engaged in some economic activity, this
  explains why most learners report late 
  to start their lessons, this severely  is affecting schooling programme
  activities, causes delay in the lessons execution;
• The lack of
  separate toilets for girls results in absenteeism and still remains a
  challenge to girls’ education, Teso Sub-Region and Uganda at large;
• No regular
  assessments given to pupils , teachers fear the big numbers  of pupils in class and many
  teachers  are poorly motivated ;
• Poor /Inadequate
  school Infrastructure like shortage or limited classrooms, no Libraries
  where pupils and teachers can research , read and improve their knowledge
  ,limited staff accommodation/staff houses, limited staff rooms ,limited/
  fewer desks , fewer/poor sanitary facilities  and non existing Teaching learning aids
  in most schools in the Teso Sub-Region;
• Pupil to Teacher
  Ratio, shortage of staff personnel, majority of primary schools in the
  Teso sub-region, do not have full number of teachers, this has affected
  the quality and performance in the Education Sector;
• Quality of teachers
  /personnel is low, there is generally decline in the education standards
  in Uganda, this affects the quality of teachers produced ;
• No Career Guidance
  in most rural schools ,there are no role models  who come and give a motivation to pupils
  and teachers;
• Inadequate  and Low supervision and  inspections by the district and sub
  counties due to poor funding;
• Government releases
  in Education is limited/small Resource envelop  allocated  to the Education sector
• High levels of  absenteeism  from learners  due to 
  no family and parental bonding with children, most men are drunk
  during the day, failure of most parents to provide essential scholastic
  education materials to their children , many absentee on this grounds ,
  the pupils see no relevance of studying/staying at school and there are
  also no role models in Teso 
  Sub-Region to encourage the children, the break down in family
  virtues , morals and values  is
  lacking ,majority of parents  spend
  their time drinking and leave the children alone to struggle with their
  mothers ;
• Absenteeism from
  teachers is largely by contributed to poor monitoring and supervision by
  head teachers, parents and Governance Systems and structures in schools, these
  are supposed to enforce and bring compliance to the Teachers Code of
  Conduct;
• Limited
  stakeholders participation, SMCs, PTA& BOG, Leadership and Roles are
  lukewarm in most primary schools, most of these Goverance and Management
  structures are defunct and non –Functional.

This is
contributed by the low levels of literacy in those mandated to monitor ,
supervise and enforce  transparency,
accountability and Effective Social Service Delivery;

• Integrate/Mainstream
  the teaching School Curriculum with 
  humanities like 
  Leadership and Goverance, Conflict Resolution, Accountability,
  Transparency, Justice/Rule of the Law; Human Rights, Good Goverance, Pro-
  Democracy (Participatory), Advocacy, Counselling and Guidance, Social
  Policy, Community Economic 
  Development (Livelihoods), Charity work/Volunteering ,all  these 
  will improve service delivery and instil moral standards, values, passion
  and love to duty (Patriotism);
• No Refresher
  Courses/Trainings/limited Capacity Building for teachers to update their
  knowledge and skills besides their teaching content, many teachers have
  obsolete content delivered  to
  pupils(emphasis now on Vision 2040, SDGs);
• No
  electricity/Solar Provision in most rural setting schools, pupils and
  teachers cannot read, research and improve their learning opportunities;
• Social factors such as forced early marriage, and preference of
  boys over girls have largely limited girls’ access to education in many
  rural areas in the Teso Sub-Region and Uganda at large. Other factors that
  have compounded the problem include outmoded customs, lack of schools in
  some rural areas, and a high level of ignorance on importance of girl
  child education;
• High levels of indiscipline 
  among the teachers and learners;
• Role conflict among some schools, this has killed staff morale to
  deliver effectively;
• Unsafe School
  Environment –Loitering animals ,birds , bats  in classrooms ,smelling and cracked
  classrooms, staff rooms , some schools lack female teachers, girls are
  unattended, all these  affects the
  learning of the pupils in classrooms and have contributed to poor
  performance  and early school
  dropout in girls;

•  UN-Office
  of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for Human Rights promotion