Robert Stalone Buwule, Margaret Ssebunya and Gyaviira Kisitu
The purpose of this paper is to review the approach used by the Ugandan Government in implementing the Covid-19 mitigation model and establish whether it did not expose…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the approach used by the Ugandan Government in implementing the Covid-19 mitigation model and establish whether it did not expose government’s failure to soundly protect and respect all her citizens’ right to health during the first four months of the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was qualitative focusing on a population of households of vulnerable and chronically ill patients in Mukono and Wakiso districts of Uganda. The sample was identified through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Purposive and snowball sampling was chosen for this study to select unique informative cases which were subjected to in-depth interviews.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens of Uganda experienced severe and increased shortages of food, increased cases of ill-health, compromised ability and mobility to access health services as a result of the government's Covid-19 mitigation model.
Research limitations/implications
The data collection exercise was conducted during the Covid-19 lockdown when the mobility was restricted to only essential services so data was collected in the two districts of Mukono and Wakiso in Uganda.
Practical implications
Pandemic mitigation models ought to be people-centred executed by a multidisciplinary team which are empathetic towards the views of disadvantaged communities and thereby cultivate a culture of care over time.
Social implications
Public health models and policies work more effectively if they are contextualized to work for both the high and low classes of people across the whole spectrum.
Originality/value
Given this awareness of the Covid-19 mitigation model, this paper unveils the immediate consequential effects of the model considering the manner under which it was formulated and implemented in the Ugandan society. While the government implemented the model in exercise of its obligations, contextual factors had advance limitations to the efficacy of the model. Most significantly, among the expectant mothers, the old, the sick with terminal illnesses, the physically challenged and hunger-stricken families with no daily sources of income.
Details
Keywords
Robert Stalone Buwule and Stephen M. Mutula
University libraries are not only crossroads of scholarly communities but are also now connecting business proprietors to places, institutions, and resources that support business…
Abstract
University libraries are not only crossroads of scholarly communities but are also now connecting business proprietors to places, institutions, and resources that support business growth. Therefore, through creating new formal and informal partnerships, university libraries can create friendly environments where external users like small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can work together to access and use research and innovation (R&I) information for the sustenance and growth of their business ventures. Vibrant and reengineered university library partnership programs can go a long way in engaging national, regional, and international business growth activities.
This chapter reports on a study carried out on Ugandan university libraries and how they can serve SMEs with their university’s research output. The purpose of the study was to investigate the need for restructuring university library partnerships in order to serve SMEs better through their R&I information services. The study used an exploratory research design and used questionnaires and interviews to collect data. This chapter reports on available formal and informal innovative university libraries’ partnerships with different organizational levels of SMEs; the communication and organizational structures between university libraries and SMEs; shared visions, missions, standards, and policies of Ugandan university libraries and SMEs; and the roles and collaborations with professional library bodies such as the Consortium of Ugandan University Libraries (CUUL), Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA), and the International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL), among others.