What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country, for example)?
The Uganda Rural Literacy and Community Development Association (URLCODA) was founded in 2009 by the Uganda Community Libraries Association (UgCLA). The community aims to provide information services via publications and special activities targeted at the needs of local populations. Most of the initiatives aim to promote literacy and are planned to be relevant to a set of predetermined objectives.
How was the initiative established? How was it implemented?
URLCODA is a non-governmental organization in the North-western region of Uganda, which coordinates a network of 16 community libraries in the region. The coordinating library is located in Lokotoro Village and serves as a meeting point for members to access information. The library provides resources related to improving rural livelihoods; it also runs programmes targeted at learning intergenerational skills. The working languages of the libraries are Lugbarati (the local language) and English.
The community library receives the materials donated by the UgCLA and the US Mission in Uganda and locally produced texts, such as primers from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and books on religious issues. The library also collects multimedia and aims to expand the collection of digital resources, magazines and periodicals.
The aim of the initiative is to support literacy, gender sensitivity, health and security, as the mainstays of a sustainable, peaceful society. The primary goal is to promote sustainable economic development through promoting literacy in rural areas. The initiative addresses core community challenges, such as high levels of illiteracy, poverty, and unemployment; diminishing quality of education; limited access to quality healthcare services; environmental degradation and food insecurity; as well as unequal access to resources in underprivileged social groups.
As one of the initiatives within URLCODA, the Integrated Intergenerational Literacy Project (IILP) was established to promote intergenerational literacy skills and socio-economic development in socially disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in the region, such as illiterate adults, HIV-positive people, out-of-school youth, orphans, and primary school pupils with low literacy skills (UIL, 2015).
Which stakeholders are involved in the design and/or implementation of the initiative? Which sectors do they represent?
The URLCODA provides information resources via printed publications and special activities to promote literacy within the local community.
The community also offers a wide range of targeted activities, such as children’s health reading camps, storytelling nights, elders book-writing workshops, annual intergenerational cross-cultural and multilingual literacy conferences, women’s football, and a village savings and credit scheme.
The URLCODA and UgCLA have established connections with the ALADIN Network (Adult Learning Documentation and Information Network) to support information sharing and capacity-building between libraries, documentation centres and information services in the area of adult and lifelong learning, including literacy.
What are the impacts of the initiative in terms of facilitating lifelong learning? Whom does it benefit and how?
Intergenerational learning programs deliver training in combined classes for adults and children together. This method proved effective as it empowers adults to act as social mentors, caregivers, and teachers. It also has a positive impact on the behaviour and performance of children at schools and in the communities.
The intergenerational literacy programs run by the URLCODA report significant achievements in training adults and children in four sub-counties in Arua district. Out of 800 intergenerational program trainees (300 children and 500 adults), most achieved basic literacy competencies by the end of the program. Five hundred seventy learners, out of 600 who took the literacy test, achieved the pass mark required by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
The project also reports the increasing number of women participants and the high success rates in program completion among women participants. Two hundred fifty mothers participating in the project were able to help their children with schoolwork after completing the literacy training.
URLCODA literacy learners participated in a series of book-writing workshops that resulted in producing a pictorial reader for beginners, entitled Buku 'Bani E'dozu Waraga Laza Onizuri. The book is used as a principal learning resource in 15 learning centres in Arua district.
Local teachers demonstrated their support for adult literacy by actively participating in the launch of the book. The collaboration between the formal school system and the literacy program encouraged further development cooperation and inspired other learners to join the program.
URLCODA also provides guidance and support to HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children in the area. The initiative aims at retaining pupils in primary schools. The community health literacy week, and other initiatives to promote awareness and access to resources for the underprivileged communities, provides training and resources to receive general health and HIV/AIDS education in the region.
References
UIL, 2015. Integrated Intergenerational Literacy Project (IILP), Uganda. [Online] Available at: https://uil.unesco.org/case-study/effective-practices-database-litbase-0/integrated-intergenerational-literacy-project-iilp [Accessed 24 May 2021].
UIL, n.d. Uganda Rural Literacy and Community Development Association (URLCODA). [Online] Available at: https://uil.unesco.org/partner/library/uganda-rural-literacy-and-community-development-association-urlcoda [Accessed 24 May 2021].
URLCODA, 2021. URLCODA Objectives. [Online] Available at: http://urulcoda.org/ [Accessed 24 May 2021].