Strengthening Coordination Mechanisms with NGOs in Terego District Local Government, Uganda

Uganda

May 12

Written By Sophie van Haasen

Terego District Local Government

Chairperson

Saka Wilfred

Start of Project

03/01/2026

End of Project

Ongoing

Overview

Terego District Local Government (DLG) commits to strengthening coordination, collaboration, compliance, and information sharing mechanisms with non-governmental partners including local and international NGOs; civil society, community based, and refugee-led organizations; and private sector actors to improve equitable and effective service delivery for refugees and host communities. This initiative will strengthen implementation and enforcement of existing policy frameworks governing NGO operations by integrating partner interventions into Local Government Development Plans, formalizing partnerships through Memoranda of Understanding, improving planning and reporting, and strengthening coordination with the District NGO Monitoring Committee (DNMC) to reduce duplication and improve service delivery.

To accomplish this, Terego DLG is rolling out a virtual partner coordination system, which will integrate functions of the DNMC and Sub-County structures, while supporting capacity-building and structured engagement with local government officials. It will enhance coordination, reduce costs, promote partner participation, and provide a unified interface for improved planning, reporting, accountability, and decision-making.

This approach strengthens the role of local governments, partners, and community actors as primary responders, advancing the localization of refugee response and migration management while laying a foundation for the sustainable transition of refugee-targeted services into Terego’s local systems.

Expected and Achieved Impact

Strengthening compliance and coordination: ensuring partners align to integrated refugee response and management plans, local government priorities and processes to deepen localization and transition for efficient delivery of services to refugees and host communities with minimum duplication and maximum resource utilization.
Enhancing responsiveness to the service needs of refugees and host communities: The Local Governments, Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs) and other partners integrate community service needs through coordinated, targeted data-driven service delivery in a coordinated manner that maximizes resources for effective service.
Enhancing local capacity: empowering Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs) and CBOs through targeted trainings to deliver structured interventions that promote social cohesion and peaceful co-existence between both refugees and host communities.

Lessons Learned

Through operationalization of the DNMC, Terego district has been able to provide a better oversight and coordination of partners, integrate partner activities into the district plans and budgets, register CBOs, RLOs, and more easily formally engage partners through MoUs, mobilise partners for engagements based on clusters, themes, and purpose, and also update partners on the districts activities and priorities.
Following a capacity building initiative by VNG International, Terego District profiled NGOs and initiated MoU formalization contributing to compliance and an increase in the local revenue (service tax) collection.