ODA Justification statement

1. Which country/countries on the DAC list will directly benefit from this proposal:

This research project will focus on Uganda categorised in the least developed countries with
an estimated population of 45 million people.

2. In this statement you should indicate whether the country/ies you have selected above
will continue to be ODA eligible for the duration of the research. You must also set out
how your proposal is directly and primarily relevant to the development challenges
(Sustainable Development Goals) of these countries and must explain how you expect
that the outcome of your proposed activities will promote the economic development
and welfare of a country or countries on the DAC list.
Please also explain what the pathways to impact are and what success for this project
would look like.

Uganda, like many African countries, faces major challenges in providing quality and
accessible basic education for children. Majority of the children do not attain the
competencies needed in life. For example, UNICEF reports that, less than 40% of the
children are literate at the end of primary school in Uganda. Uganda will continue being an
ODA eligible country

Given the high economic burden, illiteracy has created in the developing world; utilisation of
innovative pedagogy will improve the education outcomes. The proposed research project
will apply indigenous Ugandan stories and legends to enhance the teaching of literacy among
children. We intend to seek collaborations with research groups in Uganda.

We have already reached out to two institutions in Uganda which train early childhood
educators and children that is Ernest Ultrasound and Education Institute and Peak
Kindergarten respectively. These have shown great enthusiasm to work with us. We will
continue to engage other groups to expand our network. Funds for research activities will go
to the identified institutions. The activities will include baseline survey, compilation,
digitalisation of the stories and assessing impact on literacy levels. We will harness the
research and professional expertise of academics, collaborators and partners to improve
literacy levels among children. We will join ECUREI research team trainings to support their
learning during the site visits. Our expertise in cultural and performing arts will benefit the
Ugandan researchers as we discuss the project components.

A direct outcome of this research project will be the digitalised stories that will be shared
around the schools in Uganda to help the children improve their literacy levels. Additionally,
the project will increase the local knowledge expertise among the Ugandan partners.