FAQs

UWESO is an indigenous, non governmental development agency concerned with improving the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children affected by the demise of their parents and/or guardians.

The Uganda Women’s Effort to save Orphans (UWESO) was founded in 1986 by Ugandan mothers mobilized by Mrs. Janet Museveni the First Lady of Uganda to provide relief aid to needy children left parentless by the civil turbulence of the early mid-1980s, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic in war-torn areas of the Luwero Triangle which in today’s districts includes Luwero, Mubende, Kiboga, Nakasongola, Mpigi, Wakiso, Mukono and Kayunga.

UWESO’ implements its programs following a principle of making the family and community first line of response to ensure that children receive the love and care they require within a family setting. To support this UWESO provides a comprehensive and holistic package aimed at empowering the OVC and their caregivers as well.

UWESO’s target beneficiaries are orphans and other vulnerable children and their caregivers.

We work through grass roots community groups called clusters each made up of around 30 households meeting once a week. We work to mobilize and support these groups to enable them meet the needs of OVC within their communities.

UWESO works across Uganda with active programmes in the following districts; Lira, Apac, Soroti, Kabelamaido, Katakwi, Kumi, Mbale, Mbarara, Rukungiri, Bushenyi, Ntungamo, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Kibale, Mukono. Wakiso, Masindi, Nakasongola, Masaka, Rakai and Ssembabule

UWESO cares for children within their communities and families by providing the following interventions to the OVC and their caregivers; - Ensuring Socio economic Security for the OVC caregivers through savings and loan associations (SLAs). - Ensuring food security and nutrition for OVC caregivers - Provision of Education and child protection services to OVC - Provision of Health services.

UWESO identifies the neediest OVC within a community through its OVC caregivers cluster groups, the community leaders and local authorities with approval of the Government of Uganda. These children are some of the 2 million Ugandans who have been orphaned and made vulnerable due to AIDS, poverty and wars.

UWESO is funded internally through income generating activities and externally by international donor agencies and private sector organizations.

We contribute directly towards some needs where appropriate such as school fees and provision of shelter but largely help communities to look after their own orphans.

When you decide to Sponsor a child, you are partnering with us to ensure that each child accesses education. If you want to sponsor contact UWESO. In Uganda, only a fifth of the country’s population has access to a secondary school education. The majority of these belong to families from the urban areas which also have enough money to send children to school. Many children long to continue with their education after finishing primary school but there are parents unable to pay for their secondary education. The introduction of Universal Secondary Education only helped a small fraction of Uganda’s children to access free secondary school education. UWESO aims to partner altruistic professionals in Uganda and abroad with secondary school students in need of school fees sponsorship for at least one year. Children who are part of the program attend the Migyera UWESO Training Institute (MUTI), UWESO’s dynamic vocational and secondary boarding school. UWESO recognizes that many of these children require more than just school fees to achieve academic success.

Interested Young professionals can choose to make payments towards a child’s school fees for secondary education for a minimum of one year and basic school requirements such as sugar, soap, and toothpaste. Community members and guardians are required to support the sponsored children by providing the necessary scholastic materials. The professionals are only asked to donate the equivalent of 200,000/= per term for a minimum of 3 terms. A profile of the sponsored children which includes photographs is availed the sponsor on request.