Welcome to Uganda Debt Network

What does the acronym UDN stand for?
UDN was first formed in 1996, as the Uganda Debt Network, thereby creating the acronym UDN. It was an ad hoc coalition of organizations and individuals to campaign for debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor countries (HIPCs) initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 1998, UDN was registered as a non-governmental organization (NGO) under the NGO Registration Statute and started operating. In 1999, UDN was incorporated as a Limited Liability Company with no share capital under the Company Law 1964.

What is Uganda Debt Network? Why was it created?
Uganda Debt Network is an advocacy and lobbying coalition of non-governmental organizations, institutions and individuals. When the organization started, its primary focus was to the campaign for debt relief. To date, UDN has four main programmes namely: a) Community participation and Empowerment b) Policy Analysis and Social Economic Research c) Budget Advocacy Initiative and d) Governance and Rights. These areas have enabled the organization, its constituents and stakeholders at higher levels of advocacy and policy influencing and have shaped its mandate, purpose and mission.

What is the main mission of UDN?
The overall mission of the UDN is: “To have a prosperous Uganda, with equitable development and a high quality of life for the people”.
What are UDN strategic Objectives?
UDN is driven by the following strategic goals that also inform its vision and mission

Ensure that Uganda emerges from being s debt-burdened, poor country and embarks on the road to sustainable development, growth and poverty reduction
Ensure that macroeconomic and budget polices are participatory and incorporate the concerns and interests of poor people
Mobilize the public to ensure accountability and transparency in policy formulation and planning and in the utilization of public resources
Ensure that UDN becomes an effective lobbying and advocacy organization, able to mobilize civil societies to influence policy planning at national and local levels

Community Participation and Empowerment Programme: This aims at increasing citizens’ (especially the poor and the marginalized) participation in policy design, planning, formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the utilization of saving from debt relief and other public resources and policies, for improved quality in the delivery of public services
Policy Analysis and Social-Economic Research Programme: This undertakes a research on the impact of external and national debt on poverty reduction strategies and suggest alternatives for equitable development
Budget Advocacy Initiative Programme: This advocates for pro-poor budgeting, prudent budget management systems and citizens’ participation in the budget process
Governance and Rights Programme: This aims at fighting corruption, abuse of office and wastage of public resources to improve governance. The programme also deals in human rights advocacy
Public Information Centre. This is a support programme responsible for communications
Institutional and Organizational Development Programme: This is another support programme responsible for administrative work

Become an active member and supporter and contribute ideas and articles for UDN publications.
Promote the objective and values of UDN and contribute funds

How Do I become a member?
Membership is open to the public. A subscription fee is charged for membership, which defers according to type of organization or individual as shown below.

Type of membership		Membership fees (annual)	Endowment Fund (payable once)	Voting Status
Full members	Individual	100,000	200,000	Voting
Full members	Insitutional	300,000	500,000	Voting
Affiliate members	Individual	50,000	-	Non-voting
	Institutional	250,000	-	Non-voting
	Grassroots groups	25,000	-	Non-voting
	Youth and students	10,000	-	Non-voting
Honorary members	Individuals	Optional	Min. 100,000	Non-voting
Honorary members	Corporate Organizations	Optional	Min. 500,000

How do members benefit from UDN?
All registered and paid members eligible to attend the Annual General Meeting. However, for purposes of election, only full members are eligible to stand and be elected to office. In addition all the registered and paid members are entitled to a complimentary copy of all UDN publications.
How do I pay for the membership?
Payment can be both by cheque or cash in Ug. Shs. All cheques should be written in the names of Uganda Debt Network. Cash or cheque payments must be paid at the UDN Secretariat Offices and a receipt is obtained. A form duly filled and signed by the applicant must accompany all Payments. Members who pay for three years in advance receive a discount of 15%. This means that when you are submitting the registration forms and payment you deduct the discount amount. In case payment is received without deduction, the amount is calculated as a calculation to the endowment fund.

What has UDN achieved since its inception?
Over the past years, UDN has engaged in a series of dialogues with various organs of the Government aimed at clarifying the various issues concerning good governance, management of public resources and the pressing need to reduce high levels of poverty in our society. Below are some of the recognizable achievements:

UDN has empowered citizens to deepen their understanding of government policies, which has enabled them to effectively hold their leaders and other public servants to account.
Working with community groups has built the capacity of citizens to enable them to become active participants in local governance, and has enhanced community monitors’ ability to articulate policy and governance issues.
The close working relationships existing between UDN and key government agencies like Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity has enabled UDN to have a platform in policy making forums, and to access key information.
The strategic alliances between monitoring committees and various councils and departments have facilitated community monitoring work.
The UDN policy Review Newsletter has continued to be a source of high quality policy analysis and debate for both policy formulators, implementations and the entire public.
UDN actively contributed to the second revision of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) in 2003/04 as a member of the CSO Working Group that produced the CSO Paper on the PEAP. The paper influenced the content of the PEAP and as published for wider dissemination to the public.

UDN has been at the forefront of the campaign for open, accountable and transparent government. The organization is a founder member of the Anti-

Corruption Coalition of Uganda (ACCU), which was set up in 1999 as a loose alliance of civil society organizations and individuals to campaign for a corruption-free Uganda. UDN hosted the ACCU Secretariat for the first two years after its inception. Since 2003, ACCU has become a fully registered and autonomous organization with its own Secretariat offices and has become a strategic partner of UDN in the anticorruption crusade. UDN has facilitated the formation of other strategic allies and partners such as the Eastern Region Advocacy Coalition (ERAC) and Busoga Anti- Corruption Coalition (BAC) in the fight against corruption at the local level.

As part of its anti-corruption activities, UDN undertakes a series of public education activities both at national and local levels. The impact of this campaign at the grassroots contributed immensely to the formation of the Community Based Monitoring and Evaluation Systems (CBMES) that is now being replicated by other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in different districts. At the national level, the campaign influenced the enactment of the Access to Public Information Act by Parliament in December 2004.

Who do you work with?
UDN has established close working linkages with key stakeholders that include

Central and local governments
Grassroots organizations
The media
Civil society organizations
International CSOs

Is UDN a donor agency? If yes, how can one access funds? And if no, where do you get funds to administer your work?
No, UDN is not a donor agency. It attracts its funding support from various organizations. These include: