Contexts that need humanitarian interventions such as the Karamoja cluster have multiple actors, ranging from national and local level governments to the political elite, women and youth groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), religious organizations, private sector actors, traditional authorities, regional bodies, and so forth. This multiplicity of actors with diverse interests and resources produces power relations that ought to be understood if development actors such as the Cross-Border Community Resilience (CBCR) Activity are to have meaningful impacts on the ground. Hence, thinking and working politically is an integral part of programming in the NGO sector.

The Cross-Border Community Resilience (CBCR) Activity acknowledges the value of applied political economy analysis (APEA), hence the Activity’s commissioning of this report that explores the Karamoja cluster’s APEA within the scope of the Activity. In simple terms, this APEA report is useful in the CBCR’s endeavor to work in a politically aware manner in the Karamoja cluster, as well as deliberately using data, analysis, tools and tactics to achieve politically practical results. More specifically, it is my considered opinion that this APEA report supports the CBCR in a) understanding the context in which the Activity will operate (or thinking politically), and b) understanding how to navigate the risks and take advantage of the opportunities within the context to achieve Activity objectives and results (or working politically).

This APEA meticulously achieves the aforementioned objectives by 1) identifying facilitators and disruptors in the implementation of activities, according to the project’s approach, 2) identifying the most controversial issues / topics (within the scope of the project) in decision making and in the implementation of planned activities, and 3) identifying windows of opportunity for the project to have an impact on decision-making and implementation. The APEA further explores how the CBCR Activity will interact with the socio-economic and political conflicts in the Karamoja cluster, and concomitant challenges and opportunities for conflict-sensitive programming.

Therefore, the plethora of actors in the Karamoja cluster are rightfully identified in relation to their potential in either facilitating or disrupting the implementation of the CBCR Activity, given their power positions and interests. The information on controversial issues in decision making and in the implementation of planned activities, and windows of opportunity for the project to have an impact on decision-making and implementation are similarly valuable insights for the CBCR’s programming, as well as those of other important parties such as government and non-government actors in working and thinking politically in the Karamoja cluster, regardless of their areas of intervention