Skip to main content

Cookie settings

We use cookies to ensure the basic functionalities of the website and to enhance your online experience. You can configure and accept the use of the cookies, and modify your consent options, at any time.

Essential

Preferences

Analytics and statistics

Marketing

Kibaale District: SPACEUG - Community-Driven Civic Space Monitoring and Participatory Democracy Platform

Avatar: Official proposal Official proposal

“SPACEUG: Community-Driven Civic Space Monitoring and Participatory Democracy Platform” helped create a participatory digital infrastructure that enables citizens, journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations to collectively monitor civic space conditions and strengthen democratic accountability in Uganda. Developed by Rural Smiles Foundation, the practice responds to growing challenges affecting civic participation, including threats, intimidation, and restrictions faced by activists and community leaders. In many rural areas such as Kibaale District, mechanisms for documenting and responding to civic space violations are limited, leaving communities without safe ways to report incidents or contribute to democratic oversight.

SPACEUG addresses this gap by providing a secure digital platform where users can report civic space incidents, access referral support, and contribute to a shared evidence base on threats affecting democratic participation. The platform combines civic technology with grassroots engagement, ensuring that citizens are not merely beneficiaries but active participants in safeguarding democratic freedoms.

The initiative was developed through consultations with civil society organizations, community leaders, and human rights defenders, and builds on lessons from the Inclusive Democracy Accelerator offered by People Powered. These participatory design processes ensured that the platform reflects the needs and realities of grassroots actors.

Beyond the digital platform, the practice includes civic engagement workshops, community dialogues, and partnerships with civil society networks and local authorities, including Kibaale District Local Government. Through these activities, more than 150 civil society actors and community leaders have been engaged in participatory monitoring of civic space.

By combining digital reporting tools, grassroots participation, and collaborative advocacy, SPACEUG demonstrates how civic technology can strengthen participatory democracy and enable communities to actively protect civic freedoms and democratic participation.

Learn more: https://threat.spaceug.org 

https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc1854.pdf 


QR Code

OIDP's official logo

Kibaale District: SPACEUG - Community-Driven Civic Space Monitoring and Participatory Democracy Platform

QR Code

Confirm

Please log in

The password is too short.