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Mothers' Union Family Life Programme - Uganda
Mothers’ Union Family Life Programme (FLP) builds on community members’ own life experience, creates dialogue and mobilises collective problem-solving through capacity-building via trained voluntary facilitators. It aims to transform the lives of communities in Uganda by bringing people together in learning and action groups to tackle common daily life issues. The programme builds strong families, unites communities, and enables participants to grow and prosper through collective action.
Implementation
The programme was created in 2003 by local communities, alongside Mothers’ Union Uganda. The basic model has changed over the years through direct collaboration between the communities and the Trainers. Today the programme comprises:
- Phase 1: Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop - in order to build capacity in facilitation and to maximise effective use of the Family Life Programme Operational Guide, written by Mothers’ Union Uganda in close collaboration with local communities. The guide covers areas in: group dynamics, health and hygiene, home-based care for PLWHA and their families, community greening (including soil and water conservation), food security, human rights, parenting, and participatory monitoring and evaluation.
- Phase 2: is a ‘sensitization’ process - the concept of community mobilisation and the opportunity for training is introduced to each community in the target areas. This is the methodology used for all global Mothers’ Union development programmes, and is a tried and tested approach to ensure full community ownership. In each community, a group facilitator will be recruited on a voluntary basis and trained by the regional FLP Trainer on facilitating self-selected group formation and fostering a participant-led learning environment.
- Phase 3: group formation in each community – leads to collective problem-solving of the specific self-identified needs across the different sectors of the community. The community self-identified needs are addressed through group facilitation in reference to the relevant thematic areas as per the FLP Operational Guide.
Impact
Behaviour change has been identified within the following areas through close monitoring by facilitators, support steering committees and FLP Trainers across Uganda;
- Participants’ increase their ability to identify community needs, collective problem-solving and self-initiated actions for change.
- Participants’ confidence and capacity to evaluate and take advantage of opportunities is increased, encouraging and inspiring change, in order to improve their situation.
- Empowering community members to create sustainable income generation activities, saving schemes and economic development which improve family stability and bring higher standards of living.
For example, communities address lack of natural resources and establish model gardens. Group members share their knowledge and newly grown resources, initiating exotic seedling exchanges enabling higher yields. The also provides a variety of vegetables with high vitamin content to improve health and nutrition.
The programme targets the most disadvantaged communities in Uganda with participants comprising women, men and young people. The most vulnerable of these are particularly encouraged, such as widows, PLWHA and disabled persons, to participate. The programme benefits families irrespective of religion, race or tribe.
“In partnership with the Ministry of Gender and UNICEF, through the Family Life Programme (FLP), communities in Luwero and Bukedi Dioceses are carrying out Community Dialogues. Malaria, Sanitation and Hygiene as well as Maternal Child Health have been the major issues to deal with in these”.
Sarah Kasule, Family Life Programme Trainer and Coordinator
“Before Family Life Programme... We had no toilet, vegetable garden or rubbish pit and our stove was not efficient. We would throw rubbish everywhere in our compound, didn’t boil water and we didn’t manage our banana plants well. The Family Life Programme gave us knowledge and skills to improve our health and sanitation. We now have good latrines, we boil our water, we grow vegetables and bananas. We have 50 chickens and 10 cocks. We plant coffee and have a merry go round with savings of 150,000 Uganda shillings. I have learnt a lot about love and unity.”
Janet, Kitany women’s group, Sebei
Future
This year has seen the development of the first formal written draft of the Family Life Programme Operational Guide, through consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including the current target communities. Mothers’ Union Uganda are leading this consortium in the creation of the first contextualised manual for the programme after 6 years of reactionary facilitation and relevant training being implemented.
The aim is to create a training package and operational manual which will be readily available and more accessible across the globe once relevant structures, including monitoring and accountability tools, have been locally developed, allowing further cross-sharing and training to take place between Mothers’ Union internally.
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Reg Charity No.240531
