RWECO is a civil society watchdog on good governance and is a public policy lobby agency that is committed to contribute to the improvement of the quality of governance in the country by empowering citizens to actively participate in their own governance; promoting constitutionalism and the protection of human and people’s rights; and facilitating meaningful and principled engagement between the rights holders and duty bearers on critical issues that affect human and democratic development.
RWECO is founded on the philosophy of promoting good governance. This is because RWECO believes very strongly that poverty is mainly due to a governance question. Therefore, any poverty eradication action should be rooted in addressing governance. In addition RWECO holds that the quality of governance will only improve when citizens actively participate in the democratic processes and demand greater accountability from duty bearers who should also in turn respond actively to the citizens’ demands.
Mandate
RWECO’s mandate is to mobilize grassroots, coordinate and strengthen civil society efforts to build civic competence to influence pro-poor government planning and feedback processes and human rights promotion in Uganda
Vision
“RWECO envisages a peaceful, democratic state with prosperous citizenry”.
Mission
To enhance the civic competence to demand for voice and accountability in governance and service delivery through meaningful and principled engagement between citizens and the state”.
In pursuit of this mission, RWECO shall be guided by and works to promote and protect constitutionalism, rule of law, frugal public management, economic empowerment, livelihoods improvement and social justice at all times
Overall Objective of RWECO
a) A consortium of CSOs contributing to attainment of the National Objective of strengthening Good Governance, Defense and Security by empowering citizens and coordinating civil society in Uganda to actively and sustainably demand for transparent and accountable leadership and use of public resources.
b) The envisaged outcome of this goal is an empowered citizenry, transparent and accountable public institutions, and reduced misuse of entrusted powers by political leaders and public servants. This will result into equitable access to public resources and increased household incomes.
Objectives of RWECO
a) To enhance civic competence on voice and accountability in the Rwenzori region and beyond so citizens can effectively engage duty bearers and demand for equitable social services.
b) To coordinate capacity building of the RWECO members and constituents in citizen empowerment on constitutionalism, human rights and good governance.
c) To undertake and/or coordinate advocacy activities on major policy issues at regional, national and international levels.
d) To mobilize resources and enhance internal systems for the RWECO members including accountability, public support and sustainability.
Core function of RWECO
• Coordination of member activities.
• Research and advocacy on governance, human rights, corruption, livelihoods improvement, social justice and related issues.
• Building the capacity of the citizenry and civil society.
Core Values
Independence and interdependence of member organizations, transparency and accountability, unity, respect for each other, respect for the rights, culture and dignity of men and women involved in or affected by the actions of RWECO, constitutionalism, professionalism and ethical conduct, meaningful and principled participation and collective action and responsibility.