ToroDev’s Johnstone Kumaraki gives a Press Release on the Launch of the ToroDev/RJF Monthly Press Conference & Tracfm Polling Initiative on June 26th, 2014 at ToroDev Office, Fort Portal
ToroDev with support from National Endowment for Democracy & the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER) supported the initiation of the Rwenzori Journalists’ Forum in 2012. This broadcast and print media forum has been, since two years, re-organizing itself to become a viable, relevant and independent institution to champion the voices of local citizens in the Rwenzori region. Also to note is that, ToroDev, in partnership with Rwenzori Journalist Forum (RJF) ToroDev has also been training radio journalists selected from the 13 FM radio stations based and broadcasting in seven districts of the region on promoting public accountability for improved service delivery broadcasting.

Today also, we have a great opportunity to launch the Tracfm Polling Initiative in partnership with Tracfm, a non-profit ICT for Development Organisation based in Kampala and The Netherlands. This initiative will allow local citizens to interact with their leaders on issues that really matter to then as far as service delivery is concerned. It is totally a cost-free Citizen-leader interaction on the side of the local population. ToroDev and Tracfm are responsible to meeting the cost of this interaction. What the local person needs to do is to listen to a local FM radio station every day and get the issue/topic/question being discussed, and then send his opinion/comment to ToroDev and partners. They will collect this data together; publish this information and what the majority people in a community/district/sub-county will be saying will be forwarded to the specific leaders for attention.
ToroDev Monitoring & Evaluation team tracks the impact of Advocacy Forums
In April 2014, ToroDev M&E team held a monitoring and Evaluation activity to track the impact of the Advocacy Forums and rural monitors in monitoring service delivery and demanding accountability from the local leaders in the districts of Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko. The activity acted as a way of motivating, encouraging, strengthening and empowering the Advocacy forums and rural monitors, and assisting the project team to study and know the activity plans, needs, challenges, achievements, changes and future plans of the advocacy forums and the one hundred and twenty (120) rural monitors.

Members of Kasese Youths and Women’s Forum.
During the activity, ToroDev M&E team found out that women and youths are now finding it more interesting and benefiting to join advocacy forums so as to work hand in hand with their local and political leaders in an organized way. “We joined the forum to fight for the rights of women in Kasese District and the entire Rwenzori Region because despite great strides made by the international women’s rights movement over many years, women and girls in Kasese and Uganda are still exposed to marriage at an early age and trafficked into forced labour and sex slavery. Women are denied education and participation in politics.
Around the villages in Kasese District, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth is needlessly high, and women are denied the right to make deeply personal choices in their private lives.
As a way of advocating for our rights, we joined Kasese Youths and Women’s Forum”, said Masika Flavia, the Chairperson of Kasese Youths and Women’s Forum.
During the activity, ToroDev M&E team also found out that advocacy forums have continued to hold accountability meetings with their local leaders. “As forum members, we meet three times a month so as to handle people’s issues. During the meetings, we also discuss how to present our issues to leaders or on radio and we also first hold an internal meeting before calling for a bigger meeting with leaders”, said Tibenda Steven, the secretary of People’s Rights and Forum for Development in Mugusu Sub County, Kabarole District.
