Uganda
August 12, 2014
Published by Shagufe Hossain at Aug 12 2014
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Around 20 girls sit in a small room, decorated with messages about leadership, reproductive health and family planning along with pictures they have drawn themselves. This is a BRAC Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) club. This particular club called Bwebajja is located in a semi-urban area, under BRAC’s Kajjansi branch in Uganda. Huddled together, the girls look up at us, muzungus (foreigners) with awe and anticipation. They know who we are. They know BRAC. They call it “Blaca.”
January 5, 2014
Published by Emma Jehle at Jan 05 2014
Uganda is the youngest country in the world. But in safe spaces far from family pressure and male attention, girls are turning the energy of youth into a forc
April 3, 2013
Published by Dr. Kaosar Afsana at Apr 03 2013
100,000 in 1990 to just 194 in 2010, while other indicators like neonatal and under-five mortality have also fallen.
While those numbers are still too high (in many developed countries, the rates for all are in single digits), the change is still staggering. Bangladesh is close to reaching the fourth and fifth of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals regarding child and maternal mortality.
March 15, 2013
Published by Nicola Banks at Mar 15 2013
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This blog post is an abridged version of a case study featured in Problem or Promise: Harnessing Youth Potential in Uganda, recently published by BRAC and The MasterCard Foundation.
March 13, 2013
Published by Santhosh Ramdoss at Mar 13 2013
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I remember well the worn-out look in the boy’s eyes when he approached and asked, in a hushed yet clear tone, “Sir, I really need a job. Can you please help me? Your company?”
March 8, 2013
Published by Renée McAlpin at Mar 08 2013
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“What I most regretted were my silences.” – Audre Lorde, The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action
In honor of International Women’s Day, we use the words of Audre Lorde, a self-described black lesbian poet, who spent the better part of her life advocating for female empowerment and equality. Through solidarity and individual self-awareness, Lorde recognized the innate power of women in overcoming oppression. Her words are the embodiment of empowerment, not only for women but marginalized groups from all walks of life. She firmly believed that “it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence.”
January 30, 2013
Published by Scott MacMillan at Jan 30 2013
I wrote recently about the impressive return on investment calculated by one World Bank economist based on the per-girl cost of BRAC’s girls’ empowerment clubs, Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents. Numbers are one thing, but what really hits home are the results in terms of people’s lives – people like Olivia Kyomuhendo, age 22.
January 18, 2013
Published by Scott MacMillan at Jan 18 2013
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If you want to help spur the economy and improve people’s lives over the long term in a place like Uganda – the youngest country on earth, with a median age of 14 – then you have to talk and listen to young people like Brenda Masika. That’s one of the key lessons of BRAC’s partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, which has enabled a speedy scale-up in a country facing a massive youth bulge.
November 9, 2012
Published by Bandele Adeyemi at Nov 09 2012
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Accountants across various sectors of the Ugandan economy gathered yesterday evening at a ballroom at the Kampala Serena hotel, waiting for the announcement by the Council of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) of the Financial Report of the Year.
November 6, 2012
Uganda celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain on October 9th, with revelry on the Kololo Airstrip in the centre of Kampala, the capital city. Dignitaries from several African countries were on hand to join Ugandans for the celebrations, which ended with a free concert by the country’s top entertainers.
July 25, 2012
Published by Bandele Adeyemi at Jul 25 2012
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BRAC Uganda microfinance borrower, Lydia Nojaki Birungi, 43, won the bronze prize in the 2011 Citi Micro Entrepreneurship Awards. Lydia, a BRAC small enterprise borrower since 2009, was recognised by Citibank and The Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU) for her entrepreneurial ability. Lydia runs an agrochemicals business in Kasese and also farms a 15-acre plot of land that provides food for a large section of her community. Lydia received a certificate and a prize of 1.5 million UGX ($600) from Citibank. She plans to invest her winnings in her business.
June 27, 2012
Published by Bandele Adeyemi at Jun 27 2012
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Uganda’s Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka unveiled the country’s budget for the financial year 2012/2013 earlier this month, disclosing an allocation of UGX 10,710.6 billion or $4.284 billion for government expenditures. The government’s top three areas of focus are Works and Transport, Education, and Energy and Minerals, with the sectors commanding 15.3%, 15.2% and 13.5% of the budget, respectively.