FUNDING AND RESOURCING THE YVSP

INTRODUCTION

This chapter puts forward some broad conceptual issues about the question of funding and resources for the Youth Volunteer Service Program. It looks at the current context in terms of resources which could be available from within government, the private sector, non-governmental organisations and international donors. It then briefly outlines the experience of youth service Programs in other countries. Finally, it recommends principles and strategies to guide the resourcing of the Youth Volunteer Service Program. The recommendations in this chapter relate closely to the recommendations made on Programs and incentives in Chapter Three and institutional arrangements in Chapter Four.

The Ugandan government presently has five priorities in terms of the national budget: investment in infrastructure, developing human resources, sustained economic growth, defense and security and job creation and agricultural development. The General public administration and the Roads sector took the largest share of central government recurrent and development expenditure accounting for 48.1% and 44.5% respectively. This was followed by the Defence which took 15.3% of recurrent expenditure, 2012/13 financial year.

The principles and Programs of the Youth Volunteer Service Program proposed in this document have been developed in a manner which is consistent with these priorities. In fact this conceptual framework locates Youth Volunteer Service Program squarely within the ambit of the key development priorities identified by government.

A detailed costing of the Youth Volunteer Service Program has not been carried out. A thorough research process is required to cost the Program conception contained in this Policy Framework during the pilot phase. What is being worked on currently are costs for pilot phases to create awareness through mobilization, communication and publicity, research and recruitment.

Current Context

Government Funds Available to Development Agencies

Article 38 of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda embeds the right of every Ugandan to engage in peaceful activities to influence the policies of government through civic organizations. Additionally, the Local Government Act 1997 specifically provides Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) including Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) with an important role in service delivery at community level. Furthermore, Government through its overarching policy framework, the National Development Plan (NDP), recognizes Civil Society as an important factor and influencer in the promotion of grass root democracy. In addition to traditional humanitarian and social service delivery role that the NGO sector compliments government, their role in improving accountability of public institutions and promoting demand for public services by marginalized groups is central to national development.  This therefore led government to form the NGO Board so as to provide an enabling environment for empowerment of the NGO sector.

To ensure that the needs of many service-providing non-governmental and community-based organizations are not neglected, government has been involved in establishing an arrangement to provide appropriate guidelines for operationalization of the NGO policy at line ministry and lower levels of district administration consistent with the government principles.

Section Two of the Green Paper has identified the roles which non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations will play in the design and implementation of the Youth Volunteer Service Program. This suggests that the Uganda National NGOs Forum will be crucial to the ability of the Youth Volunteer Service Program to harness the capacity of these and other organizations.

Private Sector Funding

Private sector organizations support development initiatives through corporate social investment grant making and through specific initiatives.

Non-governmental funding Youths-in-Service Programs

The amount of funding available through non-governmental organisations is very limited, and their scale of operation tends to be small. In focus group discussions, non-governmental organisations indicated that if they were to significantly expand their operations, they would have to design completely new strategies and modes of delivery.

International Donors

A wide range of international foundations, trusts, foreign embassies and intergovernmental bodies, such as the United Nations agencies, are active in Uganda and will be approached for support of the Youth Volunteer Service Program. However, a great deal of foreign funding is now made available to Uganda through bilateral agreements between governments, and this would determine in large measure how these funds are to be accessed.

Membership Fee

Funds shall also be collected from membership as annul subscription. This shall be effected by the National Board of Directors and the fee shall be proposed.

Principles for funding the Youth Volunteer Service Program

The following principles will inform the resourcing strategies of the Youth Volunteer Service Program:

a)     That the Youth Volunteer Service Program be seen as one of the instruments through which government is able to achieve its national objectives for reconstruction and development through the youths.

b)     That a distinction is made between core funding and programmatic funding for the Youth Volunteer Service Program.

c)     That three year funding in line with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, is provided by government for the core costs of the Youth Volunteer Service Program in order to ensure that it is able to undertake its medium and long-term planning and coordination functions.

d)     That new Funds are created for the Programs of the Youth Volunteer Service Program within the government budget, if not then existing resources be accessed.

e)      That in seeking funds for Programs, the Youth Volunteer Service Program employ a mix of strategies outlined in the next section.

In terms of these principles, the following definitions apply:

a)     Core costs: the operating costs of the National Directorate Headquarters, consultancies from organisations and individuals, research, marketing, and advocacy.

b)     Program costs: recruitment of participants, staffing, and operating costs of the youths service Programs (including stipends, transport and any other incentives for participants, food and accommodation, insurance, equipment for service provision, education and training, etc.).

Strategies for Programmatic Funding

Strategies for resourcing Programs of the Youth Volunteer Service Program will incorporate the following components:

a)     Leveraging resources from existing line budgets and from funds through appropriate working and programmatic relationships with government departments.

b)     Stimulating institutional action to undertake community service Programs, especially in the secondary and university education and tertiary training sectors, and encouraging funding policies which support such action.

c)     Devising a range of partnerships including:

                               i.            Interdepartmental partnerships with one or more government department through which new initiatives are launched in which the partners have joint goals, or through which the Youth Volunteer Service Program is able to add value to Programs which are already running.

                             ii.            Institutional partnerships with secondary education and university education and training institutions for the provision of education and training to support the Youth Volunteer Service Program objectives, or for the provision of community service opportunities as part of the curriculum.

                          iii.            Partnerships with local government through which youths service can be integrated with district infrastructure development projects.

                           iv.            Public/private partnerships where private sector organisations agree to provide funds to government initiatives.

                             v.            Regional partnerships through which youths service Programs could be launched and jointly supported by the respective governments and international donors.

                           vi.            International partnerships between countries seeking to support particular development initiatives and for which bilateral aid may become available.

d)     Joining forces with other government departments to influence policy initiatives from the point of view of Youth Volunteer Service Program.

e)     Stimulating community-based initiatives, possibly through small grants, which are then able to leverage contributions from local government or local business.