For three years the Guardian newspaper, in partnership with the Panos Institute and Barclays bank, has been tracking an Amref/Farm-Africa project to improve the lives of the 25,000 people in Katine sub-county in Uganda. The Katine project is funded by donations from Guardian and Observer readers and Barclays.

The project is focusing on five key areas: education, health -including school sanitation- , water supply, governance and livelihoods. An important part of the Katine project is listening to its residents, finding out about their lives and giving them a forum to express their views, not only on the work of Amref and Farm-Africa in their communities, but also on the decisions made by Ugandan politicians in Kampala that could impact their lives.

All of the work going on in Katine is being captured through the written word, pictures, audio, and video, which is available on a multimedia project website. This web site serves a dual purpose of transparency and awareness raising:

• to show how donations are being spent and what impact is being achieved
• to discuss and raise awareness about the wider issues of international development.

By doing so, the Katine project aims to offer insight into the world of international development to the general public.

See also: Richard M Kavuma, A partnership approach to improving water coverage in Katine, The Guardian, 17 Feb 2010

Source: Leonard Kasule, The Guardian, 01 Feb 2010; WASH News Africa, 02 Mar 2010