5.0 COMMUNITY BASED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

The existence of an intimate and ultimate cheap means of contact between the grass-roots (receivers of policy fruits) and policy Gurus in the Nation and world at-large, works towards KCF’s objectives of strengthening the Uganda Government efforts to engineer self-generating development. This leads to qualitative and quantitative improvement of the lives of the people.
When the community manages information, they make informed decisions on what is best suitable for them. Better bottom-up flow of information makes rural communities capable of monitoring and evaluating projects in their localities.
KCF has been training the Local council 1 communities in Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools where problem identification and problem solving initiation is done by the grassroots themselves. Policy Development and Policy Monitoring are areas highly cherished by KCF.
KCF has been working with Local Government and with the participatory tools well assimilated by community workers, the LC1 communities came up with Action Plans that ended up being adopted by the S/County authorities that put them in 3 year Development plans (a document that is more like a Shopping mall for all development initiatives for the area.)
KCF also shares development information with Sub-counties’ planning personnel.
KCF working with the grassroots came up with a conclusive, Orphan- orphan Caretakers database that has been used to attract some socio-development Samaritans like UNICEF.
KCF shares information with similar bodies especially at Forum Meetings, KCF links itself to grassroots through a bevy of 277 volunteers that are at the grassroots and a dedicated well-trained staff. The information on development issues is disseminated to the poor in the area through village meetings, workshops, seminars, worship place communications, notice boards and gossip.
KCF is registered at the Local, District and National level and makes maximum use of District Community Development resources.
There is no Internet facility in Kassanda North constituency. The area has no publication whatsoever and the newspaper vender sells only about 78 copies of the Ugandan Daily Newspapers in this area (Kassanda population: 58,324 and Bukuya 63,093).
There is need to:
*           To consolidate the Community Based Information management System and set up Record books with planning process initiation and monitoring specific objectives.
*           Ensure Bottom-up and Up-bottom development planning issues.
*           Open the constituency to the Internet world.
*           Set up a quarterly publication on development issues in the region.
*           Set to reduce the under-utilization of government resources.
*           Create environment for participatory and gender sensitive contribution to policy development.
*           Set-up Information Centres, running a quarterly publication Newsletter that bases on a bevy of Village and Parish (Community Information Clerks - CICs ) to gather and disseminate development information thereby mobilizing communities to act more vigorously in policy development and monitoring.
*           There is need for free access to the Internet by the government technical planners and leaders
*           This involves trainings in ICT and Information systems for Leaders, managers, knowledge workers, operators and users in the area

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