Stopping Corruption Requires Collaboration, Contributes To Ending Poverty and Sets The Prosperity For All Pace : A National Integrity Award Report

Figure 1: Public Health Steering Team-Uganda (PHSTU) during the National Integrity Award "Stopping Corruption Requires Collaboration, Contributes To Ending Poverty and Sets The Prosperity For All Pace"

Period: 11th July 2023

Venue: Hotel Africana

 Date:  11^th July 2023

Targeted Places/Oganisations:

Frontline, Political and Management Services

 

Objectives

a)      To define the parameters of integrity.

b)      To show-case identified persons who have exemplified integrity

c)      To connect integrity, the fight against poverty and how these are connected to corruption.

d)      To showcase evidence of inequality, public debt and countering corruption.

e)      To enhance community-level creation of reward and recognition mechanisms to uphold integrity.

f) Leverage opportunities for people to access to services that meet their individual needs.

g) Facilitate communities to control habits that uphold integrity.

Participants or stakeholders make up:

In essence this is a community-driven effort. But on this occasion, ActionAid hosted several other organisations, identified persons who uphold good conduct and integrity in their fields of service or communities.

Expectations:

1.      Hosting the Event: ActionAid’s ability to host and conduct the National Integrity Award Event at the Hotel Africana.

2.      Key Note Speech: Revolved around personal decisions to maintain integrity. Integrity fosters reputation, respect and motivates individuals to remain upright. This has ripple effects that links resources to addressing needs or issues which translate as better life outcomes

3.      Oversight to Ensure Better Use of Public Funds: The different examples from various speakers and nominees pointed out how Uganda’s ministries did not effectively use for instance COVID-19 Funds. There are societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which ranged from provision of basic materials like food, water, medication, masks, sanitiser, oxygen and airtime. However, there are those who misused the funds to line up their own pockets. This had negative impact on the Health & Mental Health and Long Covid. This further affected Education and led to income losses, affected the future of work and use of Public Funds in Uganda.

4.      Guest of Honour Speech: The Honourable Aciro Florence, a Nakawa LC (III) Councillor who is the National Citizens' Integrity Awards 2023 Event guest of honour opened the session officially. She called on all of us to engage in productive, be courageous about what we do to contribute to wellbeing. We can do it anywhere and still be relatable, meaningful and relevant. My take home is that we have to be humble, empathetic, consistent and results oriented. Integrity is within the small and big acts we do to contribute to the common good.

5.      Critical Mass of Reward Mechanisms: There is a unique experience of joy when nominees are brought to the stage of recognition. The action of recognizing productive work and the act of awarding rewards are humbling, educative and celebratory. We are glad for systems and structures through which it is possible to say thank you to many who selflessly contribute to the common good.

Achievements and Lessons learned:

1)         Congratulating and recognising those involved in upholding integrity, high standards of conduct, programming and transformative work.

2)         The luminary emblem, distinguished champions who were chosen to inspire many others during the National Integrity Awards Event include: Hon. Kassiano Wadri Ezati, Ms. Akello Edith, James Ocen of Alik Health Center, Mr. Bakak Ronald Andrew (RDC, Kabale), Dr. Moses Ocwedda, Hon. Andrew Aja Baryayanga, Hon. Hellen Adoa Abeku, Dr. Moses Wambi and Professor Balunywa.  These are drawn from the Frontline, Political and Management Services.

 

Way forward:

1.         Integrity is upheld when communities collaborate to ensure there are systems and structures of good conduct, reward and recognition for good deeds.

2.         The ActionAid Organisation called upon all members of the communities to uphold good conduct as this is linked to poverty eradication.

 

 Concluding remarks and Recommendations:

ActionAid and several other organisations in Uganda have shown that in collaborating it is possible to address corruption. The Frontline, Political and Management Services are extremely visible in the lives of people. Denial of services means negative effects in the lives of people. There is a connection between misuse of funds, inequality and poverty in Uganda. In being part of the systems and structures upholding good conduct and integrity, this contributes to poverty eradication mechanisms. Misuse of funds, leads to public debt. It means that people fail to access and maintain social services. This in turn impacts their health and life outcomes. According to studies, when public debt grows too much or too fast, communities cannot fend off the impact of cascading crises on development. These include the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and climate change. An unequal financial architecture leads to inadequate access to financing or services that can otherwise improve life outcomes. It is in the interest of communities to uphold good conduct, integrity and proper use of funds.