KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) has partnered with UNESCO to implement the UNESCO-Aschberg Project and the Open Digital Roadmap which aims at improving the status of Artists in Uganda.
The two projects which have been running since February are being implemented within the frameworks of UNESCO’s internationally-renowned statutes and programmes on culture, notably the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
According to Naumo Juliana Akoryo, Commissioner for Culture and Family Affairs at the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development, the projects are aimed at strengthening the process of data collection and analysis to provide evidence through comprehensive digital archives and studies on the status of the artists.
“The projects will ensure a new law is documented through consultations with a number of Government Agencies and Artists and raise awareness of Government Policy makers and other stakeholders on the status of the artists through five regional dialogues and National Dialogues,” she said.
The project will also build the Capacity of 10 Government Agencies in Cultural programming through Policy briefs to inform the provision of measures in their annual plans, programs and projects.
She said in Uganda, however, unfavourable regulatory frameworks; limited skills amongst practitioners and limited access to the global market among a host of other challenges have long prevented the local sector from realising its full potential.
Rosie Agoi, the Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO said many artists find themselves falling out of the profession and therefore this particular project comes to address the culture of professionals, particularly women, vulnerable in the face of economic disparities. These projects will no doubt boost the sector.
“The sector needs to be boosted because it takes time to put ideas together even if the frameworks are provided. It takes human resources, it takes financial resources to be able to do some good bankable sellable projects. So, if we do this, the opportunities are there,” she said.
The project activities will include; development of principles for the new Law, capacity building workshops for film practitioners, Community Screenings for Promotion of Local Content digital platform, regional Stakeholders Consultations and capacity building for MDAs.
The ministry will work with two Ugandan culture industry experts Amos Tindyebwa, a cultural policy analyst, and Polly Kamukama, a film lecturer at Makerere University to deliver on the two projects.
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