Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) in Partnership with Agricultural Innovation System Brokerage Association (AGINSBA) have leveraged an already existing platform called m-Omulimisa (Luganda for mobile extension agent) originally designed for agricultural extension purposes and customized it for use in monitoring and reporting service delivery in the Northern districts of Oyam, Kole and Apac.Under a project supported by Indigo trust, m-Omulmisa is helping to bridge the gap between communities and their respective leaders.
How it works:
To use the platform, community members must register using a specific keyword such as KIC (short form for Kubere Information Center – a computer center run by WOUGNET in Apac district). In the registration message, a person types the keyword, their district name, their sub-county name, their name and sends the text to 8228. The system then sends a confirmation message that they have been fully registered. For instance KIC Apac Ibuje Apio Mercy Lilian. To report any service delivery issues, a community member types a text message beginning with any of these keywords: WOUGNET, WUGUNET and NGEC. They then describe their issue in any language and send to a toll free short code 8228. For example, Ngec the health at ibuje has no drugs.
Upon sending, the text message is delivered to a web-based platform where the system admin based at Kubere Information Center (KIC), Apac district, forwards it to the respective duty bearer(s). The duty bearers are leaders at various including sub-county, district and national level. The admin does not only stop at forwarding the issues through the system but they also follow up the issue(s) forwarded to the respective duty bearer(s) through other means such as phone calls, physical visits etc. and will inform the community member that submitted the report on the progress of the their complaint(s) until it is finally resolved. Depending on the sensitivity of the issue(s) raised, the admin can decide to share the telephone number of the complainant with the duty bearer along with the forwarded text message or not.
In partnership with local authorities, the admin can also send updates on any new information such new public projects, budget allocations etc. to community members registered on the system. Within three days of its launch, over 150 people have registered and over 40 issues have been reported. These range from bad roads, to the poor state of health centers to suspected cases of defilement.
Although we have customized the system to be used in reporting service delivery issues, it has not negated its e-extension purpose. Therefore, community members can still use the system to ask any agriculture related questions using their language specific keyword such as Apeny for Lango or Lapeny for Acholi and receive answers from extension officers and experts free of charge. The e-extension service is available across the country and we have language specific keywords to deal with Uganda’s heterogeneous lingual landscape of more than 40 languages.
See more at: http:www//wougnet.org/2016/07/wougnet-press-release-new-sms-platform-m-o...
Comments
Brilliant development!