Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, structural transformation was driving a decline in poverty, despite a slowdown in average economic growth over the last decade. The transformation was characterised by a reduction in the total workforce employed in agriculture and a take-off in industrial production, largely in agro-processing. Notwithstanding shifts to higher productivity jobs, per capita real GDP growth decelerated to 1.3% in the five years prior to the COVID-19 crisis, from 2.2% between 2010 and 2015, as population growth climbed further to 3.7% per year. Furthermore, poor people remain highly vulnerable to shocks, as seen in the temporary rise in poverty following the 2016/17 drought.

Following the shock of COVID-19, there have been widespread firm closures, permanent layoffs in industry and services, a rapid slowdown of activity particularly in the urban informal sector, and a movement of labour back to farming. Household incomes have also fallen, which is concerning given the high levels of vulnerability to poverty, limited social safety nets, and impact this might have on human capital development and Uganda’s capacity to benefit from its demographic transition.

Heavy reliance on low productivity agriculture (about 25% of the economy, 50% of exports and 70% of employment) also contributes to income volatility and stagnation. To keep up with growth in the labor force, the economy needs to create at least 700,000 jobs per year, which far exceeds the 75,000 jobs that are currently created each year. Raising incomes further will also require improving productivity in agriculture and opportunities for absorbing excess labor into more productive employment in industry and services.

Our interventions are designed to achieve significant, holistic improvement through economic and social programmes that help children, women, youth, elderly, and people with disabilities reach their full potential. BRAC Uganda takes a participatory, community-based, and inclusive approach to designing context-specific, impactful programmes. Our interventions in urban, rural, and refugee settings prioritise the equitable participation of all groups, particularly women and youth. We work directly with communities, keeping their voice and their story at the centre of our interventions.

Our Programmes

Early Childhood Development

BRAC Uganda implements an Early Childhood Development approach also known as “BRAC Play Lab”. Our Play Labs promote child development through play. The goal of the Early Childhood Development project is to ensure improved access to quality early childhood development, by ensuring child friendly and safe environments at the family and community level and have lifelong impact on the lives of the children in developing their cognitive, social, emotional and motor skills. The play-based model addresses the importance of play-based learning as a hallmark of strong early childhood education using low-cost yet high impact models.

Early Childhood Development

Education, Empowerment and Life Skills for Adolescents and Young Children

BRAC Uganda with support from Norad implements the EELAY [Education, Empowerment and Life Skills for Adolescents and Young Children] project which aims to empower adolescent girls both socially and economically to enable them to deal with issues of self- esteem, domestic violence and unemployment. The project also focuses on improving life chances of children and empowering young girls through access to educational opportunities in Uganda through skills training, apprenticeship using the ELA model. The project also aims to reduce youth unemployment which currently stands at 78% countrywide.

Education, Empowerment and Life Skills for Adolescents and Young Children

Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme

BRAC Uganda has identified humanitarian response capacity building of refugee settlements as a critical priority that is achieved through partnership and enabling local ownership. Principles of inclusion, diversity and do no-harm are integrated in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme; it operates with special focus on persons with disabilities, women, children, older-people, and youths.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme

Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents

BRAC implements one of the largest youth empowerment projects through the Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) model. We create opportunities for adolescent girls to achieve social and economic empowerment by establishing safe spaces known as ELA clubs, for youth aged 12-24 years. ELA programme is facilitated by community mentors in safe spaces where adolescent girls can socialise away from the pressures of male dominated society. Mentors are trained to deliver content on topics like sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, life skills and financial literacy to support adolescent girls in successful transitions to adulthood and employment. The overall goal of the ELA project is to empower adolescent girls to achieve social and economic empowerment and become agents of change in their families and communities.

ELA AT SCHOOL

While the ELA model focuses on both out of and in school girls, the ELA at school project only targets girls in school. The project is implemented in a school setting/ premises rather than community spaces; while the mentorship component involves using female teachers as mentors rather than peers. The ELA at School project aims to establish a viable, cost-effective pathway to scale for the ELA model and seeks to understand how participation in an ELA school club contributes to socio economic empowerment and overall relationship between the two components.

Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents

Health

BRAC’s health programme, seeks to complement government efforts by empowering Community Health Promoters (CHPs) to focus on children and mothers to ensure that people from the most disadvantaged communities can access critical health care and live healthy and productive lives. These CHPs are all women, picked from communities to serve their own.

Health

MasterCard Foundation Scholars Programme

With support from The Mastercard Foundation, we conduct a secondary school scholarship programme that started in 2012, with a target of supporting over 5,000 youths from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve quality secondary education. The programme goal is to support these youths to achieve positive social economic transformation, to groom them into next generation leaders who are committed to giving back to their communities. The selected youths receive a comprehensive scholarship that includes; financial support i.e., tuition, uniforms, pocket money/ monthly stipend and transport, scholastic material as well as school peer support, teacher mentors and tutoring support.

MasterCard Foundation Scholars Programme

Microfinance

BRAC started microfinance in Uganda in 2006, as a part of BRAC Uganda’s social development programmes. It transformed into a Tier 2 Credit Institution to become BRAC Uganda Bank Ltd in 2019. BRAC Uganda Bank Ltd has the largest network of banking services in the country, providing inclusive financial services for low income communities to build sustainable livelihoods.

Microfinance

Technical and Vocational Education Training

The Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) project was introduced to address transitional challenges faced by The Mastercard Foundation secondary scholars including limited career guidance and limited awareness of available opportunities for further education and in the world of work. The project also promotes transition to more vocational training that builds technical skills of scholars to be more practical, innovative and employable youths.

Technical and Vocational Education Training

Ultra-Poor Graduation

BRAC Uganda is implementing the Disability Inclusive Graduation (DIG) project under the Ultra-Poor Graduation programme in four districts in Northern Uganda. Our DIG project aims to help 2,700 people aged 15-64 years living in ultra-poverty, of whom a minimum of 405 (15%) people are with disabilities. The participants undergo training on managing livelihood assets, improved agriculture practices, and group savings. Our set of interventions also include providing a monthly stipend and livelihood assets to enable participants to start their own businesses after their training.

Ultra-Poor Graduation

Youth4Business Entrepreneurship

This project aims to increase engagement of youth (18-35 years) in dignified economic opportunities as well as increase employment and livelihood opportunities for 7,500 economically active youth boys, girls, and young women in the districts.

Youth4Business Entrepreneurship

OUR IMPACT

42.7m

reached through COVID-19 awareness raising and infection prevention and control activities

4,082

community health promoters working under health programme

5,445

youths supported to successfully complete secondary education

400

youths provided with recovery kits to boost their businesses that were affected by COVID-19

Contact us

BRAC UGANDA
Plot 880, Heritage Road, Nsambya
P.O: Box 31817 (Clock Tower), Kampala, Uganda
T: +256 (0) 714 274201, +256 (0) 700861747
E: bracuganda@brac.net