Civil society strengthening in Uganda

Posted on 29 June 2009

Strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations to participate in MeTA is a critical part of the two year pilot phase. Government officials working in the health and medicines sector and pharmaceutical company representatives, are well acquainted with the medicines industry and the complexities of the medicine supply chain. Many civil society organisations working at country level may not have the same levels of knowledge and understanding of these complex processes.

A critical part of MeTA’s approach is to provide support to civil society organisations through training and workshops. This means they can participate fully in the multi-stakeholder process and sit round the same table as the public and private sector with good levels of knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure this process works effectively.

Workshops and training are taking place in each of the countries. HEPS-Uganda, a coalition for health promotion and social development, is coordinator of the MeTA civil society coalition in Uganda. They organised a four-day civil society organisation capacity building workshop in Uganda from April 26-30, 2009.  The workshop is the second in a two-year programme. The role of civil society organisations in MeTA Uganda is to monitor health outcomes, disseminate information, represent the needs of poor and socially excluded people and promote social justice. Forty five participants representing 29 civil society organisations and the media took part in the workshop.

Sessions included examining technical issues such as access to medicines, pricing, availability, and promotion of medicines, and human rights and medicines. Participants also had opportunities to look at understanding policy processes and advocacy relating to medicines, how to write effective policy briefings and effective communication and working with the media.