Building Capacity for Sustainable Development in Fragile States (SDGCap)

A capacity development program that operated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Somalia. The program aimed to lead a broader development agenda in Africa through health and well-being, and support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Key facts:

The program has been implemented during 2021-2023 with financial support from Sida. Read a Final Report
It is a cooperation between Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, Makerere University in Uganda, Benadir University in Somalia and University of Kinshasa School of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Read news about SDGCap

Fatima Ali, Secretary Faculty of Political Science, Benadir University. Photo: Dalmar Tahliil.

SDGCap in media

Meet Irene Wanyana

Irene is a project lead team member for the Building Capacity for Sustainable Development in Fragile States (SDGCap) project within the Centre of Exellence for Sustainable Health. In this video she is presenting some of the activites involving youth engagemnet for sustainable development in Uganda.

Theory of Change

The projects’s theory of change (ToC) is based on an actor focused approach capturing the pathways of change for the targeted actors and institutions in the program. The pathways of change in the ToC have the ambition to capture the general change process and specifically changes in behavior and action of each of the targeted actors.

It also describes the envisioned collaboration between different actors in the multi sectoral platforms which forms the basis for the whole project. The focus is on the expected change in behavior in the participants as a consequence of them participating in the platforms and other joint activities.

Impact

The intended impact of the program is to reach improved health and wellbeing and reduced poverty and gender inequalities, with improved institutional capacity in Africa towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda.

Activities & Outputs

The project activities consist of trainings, workshops, networking and research exchanges to develop capacity in areas such as evidence-based decision-making, multisectoral work, implementation knowledge and visualization and use of data.

The output is that the targeted actors have knowledge and capacity to work towards reaching relevant SDGs.

Outcomes

The program has five expected outcomes one for each targeted actor (as can be seen in the ToC figure) and one for the collaboration in between them, the multisectoral platform which is: cross-sectional cooperation, collaboration and knowledge sharing is strengthened across health and non-health stakeholders in Uganda, Somalia and DRC towards realizing 2030 Agenda.

Publications and reports

Egbende, L.; Helldén, D.; Mbunga, B.; Schedwin, M.; Kazenza, B.; Viberg, N.; Wanyenze, R.; Ali, M.M.; Alfvén, T. Interactions between Health and the Sustainable Development Goals: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sustainability 2023, 15, 1259.

Adem R, Nor H, Fuje M, Mohamed, A, Alfvén T, Wanyenze R, Guled, Biday M, Viberg N, Helldén, D, Linkages between the Sustainable Development Goals and health in Somalia; BMC Public Health 24, 904 (2024)

Wanyana I, Helldén D, Ndejjo R, Murzabekov M, Alfvén T, Wanyenze K, Viberg N, Finding Linkages Between the Sustainable Development Goals Is Key to Attaining Health and Well-Being for All: A Semi-Qualitative Participatory Approach in Uganda. Accepted in bmjph-2023-000529.R1.

Final Report of the SDGCap project

Project team

Nina Viberg

Project coordinator at CESH with broad experience in health policy and management. Nina Viberg is a licensed pharmacist with a PhD in Global Health from Karolinska Institutet.

Irene Wanyana

Project manager, health informatics officer, researcher and lecturer at Makerere University School of Public Health. She has a background in information technology, computing, and public health.

Rawlance Ndejjo

Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health at Makerere University School of Public health where he participates in teaching and supervision of students.