Since 2010 Manafwa district has been faced with
landslides that have continuously caused massive destruction of the environment, loss of lives and property.
Environmental analysts have attributed
this to a
number of factors like poor methods of farming, deforestation, excessive rain
which make the soils weak
that it develops
cracks for water to easily
percolate through.
Empowered
with knowledge and
skills on environmental rights advocacy
and the rights based approach to environmental Management by Uganda Muslim
Rural Development Association (UMURDA), Ms.
Namutosi Noreen embarked on two tasks to address this historical environmental
challenge; sensitizing the communities in Bukusu Sub County where she is
attached on their rights to
a clean and healthy environment and how they can engage with duty bearers to demand
for this safe and clean environment. From the several community sensitization
meetings conducted at parish level, Noreen successfully created community awareness
on their right to a safe and clean environment and on environmental Management.
This was evidenced in the Communities’ ability to approach their respective
parish councillors, tasking them to push the sub county council to provide them
with tree seedlings for planting. “We
need to fill this bare land with green cover to reduce the risks of landslides
and save our own lives and property now that we have been educated on our right
to life and environmental management” asserted a community member.
Namutosi
also engaged the sub county leadership of Bukusu Sub County on environmental
rights and protection. She held various discussions about the same with the sub
county environment committee, Sub County Chief and Community Development Officer
(CDO). This compelled the Council and sub county authorities to lobby Manafwa
District Local Government to provide seedlings to the community. In response
the sub county distributed 2700 tree seedlings to several institutions and
community members for planting; 8 Primary schools, 1 Secondary school, 2 Mosques,
and 3 Churches received 150 seedlings each and about 30 community members also
received 20 seedlings each for planting.
 |
| Noreen inspecting the tree seedlings |
In
another development, Ms Namutosi Noreen identified community environment
concerns and shared them with the Bukusu CDO and Sub County Chief and advocated
for the inclusion of these concerns into the Sub County Development Plan and Budget
for FY 2012/13. Concerns were integrated into the Sub County Development Plan
and Budget for FY 2012/13 and implemented. All these efforts
have increased the level of awareness on the fundamental citizenry rights to a
clean and healthy environment and also ushered in a new era of an empowered-informed
and vigilant community able to demand for their entitlements and take charge of
their lives and environment.
This
action by Namutosi Noreen of UMURDA has also attracted and strengthened collaboration with strategic partners
to the benefit of Busuku Sub County. For example ECO-TRUST one of UMURDA’s
development partners came in to train the community members on tree planting.
It also distributed seedlings and pesticides for spraying on the reportedly
affected seedlings. The pesticides were handed to the sub county environment
committee which worked with the community and ECO TRUST to spray the affected
trees planted by the district on Mukoma hill.
 |
| Noreen, ECO TRUST&community members planting tree seedlings |
With
more trees planted and more people on board supporting environmental
management, coupled with increased community awareness and vigilance to protect
and manage the environment, the risks of very dangerous and destructive
landslides are lessening by the day and hope is being restored to the formerly
degraded environment and hopeless people of Manafwa District, Busuku Sub
County. It should be noted that similar successful efforts have been undertaken
by other human rights activists in the sub counties of Butta and Mikoto all in
Manafwa District.
UMURDA
is an Independent development Fund- IDF grantee implementing a Rights Based
Approach project in the land slide prone districts of Bududa and Manafwa. The
project aimed at building the capacity of rights holders to engage the duty
bearers so as to improve service delivery in their respective areas with the
hope of realizing an improvement in governance and service delivery through e
involving communities in the planning process of the Local Government at all
levels and a number of community issues included in the development plans and
budgets respectively for implementation.
