This brief from Twaweza draws on a survey of 2,432 Ugandans aged 15-35. It finds that they have a much greater sense of general self-efficacy than of political self-efficacy, perhaps reflecting mistrust of the political system. Almost a third of respondents say they have taken action to address community issues. Self-efficacy appears to matter more than gender, age, and socioeconomic status in whether or not young Ugandans take such action.
Self-efficacy is defined as one’s belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations. Young Ugandans report average self-efficacy levels compared with people in other countries. Yet their general self-efficacy is considerably higher than their perception of their ability to engage with and influence political processes.
Self-efficacy appears to matter more than gender, age, and socioeconomic status in whether or not young Ugandans take action to address the most significant problems affecting their communities. This suggests that interventions to increase self-efficacy might play an important role in convincing people to take action to address the problems they face.
Despite nearly half of respondents saying they would turn to their local government officials for help in addressing problems in the community, only 28% report having done so. Of those, 68% said that it helped. Of those who have not done so, 58% say they would consider it
