MITYANA. The government of the Republic of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has rolled out a hands-on project to equip civil servants in the districts of Mityana and Mpigi with modern Information Technology (IT) skills.
KOICA will implement the three-year project together with Better World and the World Canaan Movement from Korea.
Launching the project at Mityana District headquarters , Ms Lee Kwiwoon, the field manager Better World & World Canaan Movement, said the project will improve efficiency of the targeted 247 civil servants at the district, sub county and town council levels .
“We aim at enhancing accountability and capacity of local government officials in IT by leveraging the expertise of Korean volunteers,” she said
Ms Kwiwoon said a total of 100 Korean volunteers ,including the eight who were deployed in January ,will be deployed in five batches, with each group working on-site for three months.
“The volunteers will provide tailored IT training for local government officials at district, town council, and sub county offices, while also supplying basic IT equipment and software to improve digital infrastructure,” she said
Beyond government offices, Ms Kwiwoon , said the project will also cover community outreach activities aimed at extending IT education to locals including farmers ,children ,and youth in an effort to bridge the digital divide and promote digital literacy in the two districts .
Ms Martha Khabuya , the KOICA Volunteer programme manager ,who represented the country director Ms Jihee Ahn ,said the needs assessment survey they carried out in the two beneficiary districts revealed that many civil servants still lack the necessary IT skills .
“The needs assessment survey revealed that many civil servants in the two districts lack computer skills .Take the example of parish chiefs, the government gave those tablets to monitor progress of Parish Development Model programme , but many still face challenges to file reports. Even those who claim to know IT, they are actually having basic knowledge,” she said
She said the success of this pilot project will inform their decision to roll it out in other districts where KOICA operates. “We want to see change in the communities where we operate so that when we roll out our rural development project which is in pipeline, civil servants have IT skills and can ably implement it ,” she said
Mityana District deputy chief administrative officer, Mr Jackson Byaruhanga commended the Korean government for the initiative and urged civil servants to dedicate time and learn the skills to improve service delivery.
“It is true many of our employees still lack the necessary computer skills yet a computer is a simple gadget to learn. I am sure once they change their mindset, they will grasp the skills easily,” he said
KOICA is the implementing agency for official development assistance of the Republic of Korea and has been operating in Uganda since 2010.
The agency is actively involved in development projects in Uganda, particularly in areas like healthcare, agriculture, and capacity building, with recent news highlighting Korean funding for cancer treatment initiatives and support for Ugandan businesses seeking to tap into the Korean market.