UNATCOM makes solid case against proposed merger 

After 60 years of existence, the government has recommended the Uganda National Commission for UNESCO (UNATCOM) to become a desk as opposed to operating as a semi-autonomous body.

However, its officials are concerned that by reverting to a desk, UNATCOM will lose its visibility and impact both regionally and internationally, let alone its competitiveness for projects, writes YUDAYA NANGONZI.

Every country on the attainment of independence may apply for membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural  Organization (Unesco).

Upon completion of the process, the country is invited to set up a National Commission by its conditions. Uganda became a Unesco member in November 1962 and established a national commission for Unesco (UNATCOM) in 1963.

However, during the recent celebrations to mark 60 years of existence at Speke Resort in Munyonyo, UNATCOM officials expressed their displeasure with the government to reduce their operations to a desk.

In his keynote address, the UNATCOM board chairperson, Prof Eriabu Lugujjo, said whereas he entirely agreed with the government’s justification to target wasteful expenditure, the commission should be left to operate as a semi-autonomous body.

“There’s a 2014 Unesco Act that was assented to by the president that UNATCOM should operate as a semi-autonomous body. Why are they pulling us to operate as a desk that we were 50 years ago?” Lugujjo asked.

The impending merger was meant to take place on July 1, 2023, but due to financial constraints, the government pushed it to July 2024. Discussions are ongoing with the ministry of Public Service to implement the cabinet resolution on the Rationalization of Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) to eliminate functional ambiguities, duplications, and overlaps among government institutions.

Lugujjo called for a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of the commission as a lot will be lost if the status quo is changed.

“If you reduce UNATCOM to a desk, it means all the past work will go to waste. The government should be guided that if your national commission is not strong enough, you can’t get anything substantial from Unesco headquarters. This is because the team you send to Unesco reflects the needs of the country and competencies of the people you have to articulate issues in Paris.” Lugujjo, also the executive director of the Uganda Vice Chancellors Forum, said he once chaired the International Commission on Science twice – thanks to UNATCOM’s strength to recommend him.

UNATCOM TRAJECTORY

According to Lugujjo, the commission started its work in earnest with one Joseph Magoba who had just returned to Uganda from the US where he served as a students’ Advisor. His international experience enabled him to forge the needed links to enhance Unesco programme areas.

The commission transformed from a one-man desk from 1962 to 2006 to a department within the education ministry to date. On June 21, 2014, an  Act establishing UNATCOM as a semi- autonomous body was assented to but unfortunately, the Act has never been operationalized.

The secretary general of UNATCOM, Dr Rosie Agoi, said the last 60 years have seen immense growth for the commission but also times in which its mandate was harder to fulfill than in others. She commended the first secretary generals for a tremendous job, considering the limited resources – especially with minimal staff capacity.

Agoi explained that UNATCOM has diligently played its role of liaison, coordinating, negotiating, initiating and accountability to both the government and Unesco. Going forward, peace and sustainable development are still an item to deal with and it, therefore, makes both Unesco and UNATCOM more relevant than ever before.

Commenting on the proposed merger, Agoi appealed to the government to reconsider its decision.

“We may be called a desk, but we pray it is just a name. If we get anything less in 2024 especially structurally, we shall have done UNATCOM a disservice and we may get into lamentations. We need a harmonious status quo,” Agoi said.

She added: “If we are a desk, we should have adequate structures because dealing with five programs of Education, Culture, Natural Science, Social and Human Science, Communication and Information and working with nine line ministries and UN family, among others, I don’t know what the structure of a desk would look like.”

The third deputy prime minister, Rukia Isanga Nakadama, who represented the president at the celebrations, pledged to submit the concerns of UNATCOM officials to the cabinet for review.

Meanwhile, Unesco was, among others, credited for the establishment of a planning unit in the Education ministry, the National Curriculum Development Center, and for supporting the Education Policy Review Commission that produced a report from which a government white paper emerged.