of the private sector, among others. It is open Monday Improving public awareness and education
to Friday 0830–1600 hours, apart from public holidays. A common shortcoming of people in the environmen-
The services provided have expanded beyond those asso- tal and other scientific fields is assuming that the public
ciated with a traditional library to include a bibliographic understands the usefulness, relevance and applications
system; a directory of experts in the field of environment; of their work. It is possible to have a network, with good
and a metadatabase of national institutions involved in products that nobody uses, because they have no knowl-
the management of the environment. edge of them or worse, because they do not understand
them. It is therefore necessary to develop and implement
NEMA has also supported the establishment of Envi- an outreach strategy that would enhance awareness,
ronmental Resource Centres in 26 districts. These were knowledge and effective use of the EIN.
equipped with shelves, tables, chairs, books, a photo-
copier and Internet connectivity. A television set was Currently two types of products have been developed
also provided to enable viewing of environmental videos. to enhance public awareness: intermediate products
Unfortunately, video cassette recorders (VCRs) were not and packaged technical information. The intermediate
provided and so the television sets are not being used as products have included thematic maps targeted to spe-
anticipated. The focus is now on strengthening these Re- cific problems, with answers to particular questions.
source Centres. Support, in the form of data, journals, The packaged technical information has included fact
publications and other information materials have been sheets, policy briefs, videos on topical environmental
provided by various organisations including the collabo- issues, and television discussion and documentary pro-
rating EIN institutions. Others have been donated by grammes. Public awareness through television and radio
UNEP, UNDP, and the World Resources Institute. has proved important in improving the knowledge base
of Ugandans, based on local content, issues and exam-
Demand for the use of the Resources Centre at NEMA is ples. With a literacy rate of 69 per cent (UBOS 2006)
growing. The current space of 56 m2 is hardly enough to many Ugandans cannot access environment informa-
accommodate the 50–100 users who register daily to use tion because of language or geographical barriers such
the centre’s facilities. But this is set to change. In August as physical distance or location. Geographical barriers
2008, NEMA management approved plans to expand this relate to the practicalities of expecting a community
to 113m2 and these improvements should be completed member to travel all the way to sub-county headquarters
in the first half of 2009 (Wamala 2008). to access information. A study carried out in Masindi
and Mbale districts discerned that many users feel that
At the districts, the Resource Centres are ineffective and the information contained in the Resource Centres is for
only opened on demand. Although space has been allo- those of higher literacy levels (Gowa 2001). Yet public
cated for them, the reality is that this space is inadequate awareness can be improved through better access to in-
or at times inappropriate. In Mbale, for instance, the Re- formation through the use of innovative and available
source Centre doubles as the office for a member of the technologies like FM radios broadcasting in the local lan-
support staff, implying that when out of office, it will be guages. There are many FM radios that can be used for
locked. But also, space that would otherwise have been this purpose. By March 2008, the Uganda Communica-
used to house information materials is instead used to tions Commission reported that 173 FM radio stations
store filing cabinets and other office paraphernalia. were operational (UCC 2008).
The reasons for this lack of effectiveness are simple. As An empowered community at a sub-county, parish or vil-
one moves from the centre to the local level, there is more lage will be better able to pass on development messages
emphasis placed on the provision of social services as op- or to participate in monitoring and management of the
posed to environment management programmes (Turya- environment. Currently, the public education department
tunga 1998). The reality is that competition with major of NEMA has programmes on 5 FM radio stations and one
district priorities impedes implementation of environ- country-wide television station. At the districts, financial
mental programs, with initiatives such as resource cen- resources are usually the impediment as programmes
tres being relegated to the bottom of the activity list. Giv- have to be paid for, and air time is expensive. In Mbale
en the role of information in development, this needs to the example was given that it is easier to access funds to
be addressed urgently, possibly through the appointment fuel a car belonging to the environment department, than
of dedicated managers, ideally with IT/internet capability, to run a radio programme (Nakayenze 2008).
to manage such resource centres (Nsimire 2008). It may
also be advisable to combine efforts with other sectors at The SOEs have also proved to be invaluable in support of
the district level in order to jointly manage these centres learning in the formal education sector. During the pro-
and increase the nature of services they can provide. This duction of the SOER 1994, it was observed that students
may also assist in resource mobilisation from the district from the Makerere University Institute of Environment
financial envelope. and Natural Resources used the drafts extensively before
The Uganda Case Study 19
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