Type of Change: Changes in policies, plans and strategies
Boundary Level: National
Summary/Theme: Applying participatory knowledge exchanges to change how policy monitoring is done in the public and private sectors for compliance with industrial waste and water discharge in Uganda
Ms. Stacy Natukunda, a Water Officer for Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment, attended a couple training programs offered by Nile IWRMnet. After attending a training on competitive proposal writing for IWRM projects, Stacy joined efforts with the Pollution Control Task force (PTF) to contribute to a strategic intervention for reverting the widespread non-compliance to policy regulations in industrial pollution, waste and water discharge. “I was more confident and inspired by the IWRM principle that says ‘water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels’, emphasized by one of the NILE IWRMnet trainer.”
Stacy shared with PTF colleagues her proposal on increasing collaborative knowledge exchange as a pathway to impacting policy monitoring in the country. “We started integrating this idea in the task force and disseminated the information to representatives of all key government agencies, civil society and private sector,” highlighted Stacy. Since then, the PTF team has established an information exchange and collaboration platform among key government agencies on legal provisions and regulations on wastewater discharge and pollution control. The platform has also facilitated the exchange of new technologies for wastewater treatment and management and has been promoted among stakeholders.
Throughout this process, Stacy remarked that “trust among stakeholders was built, awareness created, and they felt empowered to take compliance actions within their industry practices for water and waste discharge. I have seen policy and regulatory institutions as ‘enablers rather than policing agents’, reaffirming my motivation on collaborative action.”
