GULU – Several residents of Gulu and Amuru districts in Acholi Sub-region are calling for the translation of informational materials into the Acholi dialect so that they understand the Parish Development Model [PDM] better.
The matter was raised during the recent regional consultative meetings on the implementation of the PDM in Amuru and Gulu districts whose people mainly speak their mother tongue Acholi as opposed to speaking English.
The meetings were organised by Forum for Women in Democracy [FOWODE], a non-governmental organisation that offers a platform for Ugandan women’s learning, networking, sharing experiences and advocating for gender equality and equity in decision-making process.
Solomon Nokrach, the regional coordinator of FOWODE said many of the PDM beneficiaries who don’t understand English are struggling to provide the appropriate information needed before they can receive PDM funds.
Nokrach said that as a result, apparently, technical officers are taking advantage of the situation to selectively enroll community members in the government programme meant to move 39 percent of Uganda’s population still in subsistence economy into the money economy.
“We found out that there is a general outcry from the public about PDM. People are not conversant with the programme because of the knowledge gap,” Nokrach said of the five-year programme that aims at boosting mainly commercial agriculture in sectors like coffee, bananas, piggery, poultry keeping, dairy farming, and fish farming among others.
Ballington P`Ongwec, the Bungatira Sub-county distrcit councilor said there is a need for the PDM Secretariat present the information in the simplest way possible so that the common man can understand.
According to P`Ongwec, there is a need for materials to be translated into local languages so that people can understand what is required of them as far as the implementation of the PDM is concerned.
“There are several technical issues in the PDM that the community members are struggling to understand. There is a need for community members who can’t read and write English to understand the PDM better,” P`Ongwec said.
When contacted, neither Sunday Nixion, an economist at the PDM Secretariat nor Joveline Kalisa responded to our repeated phone calls.
The PDM was launched in February 2022, and government began funding the programme to the tune of over Shs 1 trillion in the current financial year, with each of the 10,594 parishes in the country expected to receive Shs 100mln every year for income generating activities.
https://thecooperator.news/translate-pdm-guidelines-into-local-languages-govt-told/
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