Funding Request: Advancing the rights of women and girls in Property inheritance and ownership rights In Northern Uganda Acholi-Sub-Region through a project entitled "VOICES RISING"

VOICES RISING

Rights, Safety, Dignity and Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls in the Acholi Sub-Region

The Acholi sub-region of Northern Uganda bears the deepest scars of the 20-year LRA conflict. More than 15 years after the formal end of hostilities, Nwoya, Gulu City, and Amuru remain among Uganda's most gender-unequal and economically marginalised areas. Women and girls face five interlocking crises:

•       Gender-based violence: Over 60% of women have experienced IPV. GBV is chronically underreported, institutional response is weak, and survivors face social stigma that compounds their trauma.

•       Teenage pregnancy: 27–34% of girls aged 15–19 across the three districts are pregnant or mothers, driving school dropout, early forced marriage, and lifelong economic dependence.

•       Land and inheritance dispossession: An estimated 80% of widows are evicted from family land under customary law, stripping them of their primary economic asset when they are most vulnerable.

• Economic exclusion: Women lack organised savings, production skills, and market access — despite readily available raw materials for viable micro-enterprises such as chalk, soap, and cosmetics.

• Digital exclusion: Fewer than 12% of rural women in Nwoya and Amuru use the internet; fewer than 30% use mobile money — disconnecting them from Uganda's rapidly digitalising economy and public services.

These crises reinforce each other. A woman who is dispossessed of land cannot afford school fees; a girl who drops out of school is more likely to experience GBV and early pregnancy; a GBV survivor without income cannot leave an abusive relationship. VOICES RISING addresses all five simultaneously and builds in the district government co-delivery that makes gains permanent.

VOICES RISING delivers integrated change across nine components, linking community empowerment, legal and institutional access, economic development, digital inclusion, and district government capacity into a single, mutually reinforcing programme:

A defining feature of VOICES RISING is that district government is structured as a co-delivery partner, not a passive stakeholder. Formal MOUs are signed with seven line departments per district (21 agreements total), each specifying minimum gender service standards, referral protocols, and data-sharing obligations governed by quarterly Service Delivery Scorecards and an inter-departmental coordination committee chaired by the CAO.

Within a £5,000 ceiling, this component focuses on the highest-leverage institutional activities: the SCDO in each district is a named co-facilitator of VSLA formation, signing CBO registration documents as the official district witness. SCDOs co-facilitate community dialogues, conduct joint social protection mapping to refer eligible women into SAGE, UWEP, and YLP programmes, and at programme close submit a Post-Programme Community Development Brief to the district budget conference embedding VOICES RISING's community structures in the district development plan. Each SCDO office receives core office supplies and field transport reimbursement. Deeper SCDO support activities are delivered through RENA staff under C7.

Within a £5,000 ceiling, this component focuses on the core clinical and outreach investments: 45 health workers at 15 partnering facilities receive WHO clinical GBV management training; all 15 facilities receive GBV supply kits (PEP, emergency contraception, evidence collection, and dignity kit) with one replenishment. Facility readiness assessments benchmark all 15 sites against MoH adolescent-friendly standards. 75 Village Health Teams are orientated to the VOICES RISING referral network and co-deliver monthly health outreach with WOSS staff. HMIS data quality is strengthened for reproductive health and GBV indicators. Broader DHO investments – facility improvement grants, reproductive health focal person salary support, and commodity tracker supervision – are delivered by RENA staff through C7.

Police SGBV Desks — survivor-centred SOPs, 24-hour case acknowledgement standard, and monthly joint case review. District Land Boards' gender sensitivity training and women's title fast-track procedure. District Education Offices' school re-entry policy enforcement vs. VSLA school supply agreements. Probation & Social Welfare child protection referral protocol. District Local Government — programme endorsement letters, gender-responsive budgeting workshop, co-chairing accountability hearings, and AWP gender budget line commitment.

RENA has worked in the Acholi Sub-Region for four years’ with a proven track record across all nine programme components:

Sustainability is designed in, not added later. VSLAs are member-governed from day one and registered as CBOs by Month 6. Enterprise Hubs transfer to community co-operatives by Month 17. Solar-powered WOSS digital infrastructure is designed for a five-year lifespan. The SCDO's community groups database and the DHO's improved clinical protocols and HMIS data quality are permanent institutional assets that require no ongoing donor funding to maintain. The interdepartmental coordination committee advocates for formal institutionalisation as a standing district gender structure before programme close.

For the full proposal, logical framework, detailed budgets, or to arrange a presentation, Executive Director, RENA — Initiative for Humanity, Gulu City, Uganda