Ei-iE

The Ugandan National Teachers Union (UNATU) presented its strategic plan at an All Donors Strategic Planning meeting in Kampala in mid November 2008. UNATU, sensitive to its role as a vibrant civil society organisation, is streamlining its development programme to better respond to the needs of its members and the challenges of the Ugandan education sector.

Its priorities include teacher welfare and status, access to quality education for all, the impact of HIV and AIDS on education.

With an active membership of almost 70,000, UNATU has a strong mandate from Ugandan teachers. The union has become increasingly influential in education policy and other social development issues as the organisation has grown in numbers and strength.

Through the strategic plan, UNATU aims to rationalise the planning, reporting, accounting and monitoring of its development programmes so that they can be more effective. By shifting from project-based programming to strengthening UNATU’s development plan, the emphasis can be on clear and ambitious priorities based on needs.

UNATU partners – the Swedish teachers’ union Lärarförbundet, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, UNICEF and Action Aid International – are supportive of introducing an integrated approach. The concept of a five-year strategic plan was met with the “collective commitment of all the partners,” with the details to be agreed upon in the coming months.

The strategic plan proposes a model of partnership based on a consortium of partners supporting different core actions. According to Emanuel Fatoma, EI Africa Regional Coordinator, UNATU and its partners can “pool resources to respond to the challenges of education and develop at the same time a strong democratic union that will provide quality service to the members.”