VOICE OF HUMANITY UGANDA

Who we are:

Our organization is called VOICE.

That means: Voluntary Organisation for Innovative Community-led Empowerment.

VOICE was founded as an informal community-action group in 2012 by 7 people comprising 1 man and 6 women. The main purpose of the group was to oppose discriminative violence, killing, burning of huts that belonged to refugees from South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo across slums of Gulu city and nearby rural villages. In 2012, war broke out in South Sudan, when President Salva Kiir disagreed with his Vice, Dr. Riek Machar. Ugandan Army invaded South Sudan, purportedly to subdue a genocide which the war was descending into. In reprisal, South Sudanese killed many Ugandan migrant workers and business people.  When news of the killings in South Sudan reached Uganda, local youths in Uganda begun to burn huts, beat up and kill the refugees, loot their properties in revenge across northern Uganda. The 7 founders of  VOICE gathered under a mango tree in one courtyard, watched the atrocities going on and shared a common feeling of unhappiness  because innocent refugees were punished for a crime they never committed!. The refugees had no connection to what was happening to Ugandans in South Sudan! The VOICE founders to risks.  First, Police were alerted to intervene in saving the lives of the refugees, which even included those from DR Congo. Secondly, was a behind-the-curtain mobilisation for local slum dwellers to open their doors for the refugees to hide. The third action, was to feed victims of the violence indoors. Then after a week, the group convened local communities to condemn and stop the extra-judicial atrocities against the refugees. Thereafter, the group formed themselves into what later became VOICE,  that moved from door to door to build peace and change the mindset of local communities to be positive towards the refugees. Unfortunately the violence kept spreading across northern Uganda against women-headed families and refugees from DR Congo, who were perceived to be friendly to the South Sudanese. Community meetings in which refugee and families discriminated against, were invited to share out their grievances. These weekend meetings built trust, confidence and stopped the atrocities. Many people begun to join the group during the meetings which begun to discuss problems that affected entire communities.

VOICE was an informal organization. When Local Authorities saw that the community meetings attracted many people, they begun to attend them  where they would disseminate information about government programs too.  In 2013, the group was funded to construct low-cost shelter which is a dire problem for the refugees and their hosts, through The Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu as a fiscal sponsor because the group had no bank account then. 

In 2015, another round of funding built 25 more low-cost shelter for beneficiaries. However at this time, VOICE got registered as a charity , with a bank account so needed no fiscal sponsor. 

VOICE grew from 7 founders to now 360 members across all slums in the 4 Divisions of Gulu City, and surrounding rural villages. Beneficiaries comprise very vulnerable widows, poor women, child-mothers, youths, orphans, abandoned children, disabled persons and the elderly who were disadvantaged by 23 years of war in northern Uganda and hosting refugees from South Sudan and DR Congo on their land or neighbourhoods. The beneficiaries formed 12 groups with own elected Executive Committees under bye-laws drawn by themselves.

In 2016 The Netherlands Albert Schweitzer Foundation funded anti-malaria campaign to rehabilitate dilapidated pit latrines which bred mosquitoes that transmitted malaria parasite. 25 large pits were covered, sanitary pit latrines and urinals in two schools were constructed across Gulu City.

In 2020, Ms. Andrea Grun, a German volunteer came to work with women in VOICE groups. She funded start-ups for self-employment skills and livelihoods support for refugee families from South Sudan, and Ugandan host communities. The support begun by two groups, and now revolves to 8 other groups across Gulu City and surrounding villages.

In 2021 VOICE implemented a 1 year project to increase food security to vulnerable families with support from The Kootje Foundation of The Netherlands. An end-of-project report is being compiled already.

VOICE members work on voluntary basis to support activities that benefit them and communities they live in. All beneficiaries participate in project activities, including decision-making on what to do or not.  At the moment, wrote project proposals to help educate children of refugees and host communities who are not attending school because they can not afford fees. VOICE believes that education is a perfect tool for positive change. Educating children will reduce negative mindsets that promoted violence and gender-based discrimination among communities.

The children will be agents of peace in their own countries. Education will also help to increase employment and family income from the employment.

Another plan aim to address maternal and child mortality arising from lack of knowledge and skills for women and young mothers to manage their own maternal health and address malnutrition for their children. Beneficiary women, child-mothers and caregivers will be trained to make cheap sanitary pads from recycled paper wastes on their own. Beneficiaries will be trained to manufacture cheap children's food from local food varieties to address child mortality from malnutrition  on their own, rather than depend on expensive food supplements sold on the market.

VOICE actively promote local communities to receive vaccination against Covid-19 virus. At the moment a lot of mis-information and dis-information scare away local communities from getting vaccinated. Continuous focus to prevent HIV/AIDS, ebola virus, hepatitis B are also be promoted. 

VOICE would like to address gender-based injustices and social exclusion of marginalised groups, many of whom are its members. This plan promote access to justice for abandoned children and young girls who endure rape on the streets and slums because they were born while in rebel captivity during war. These children do not know their biological parents, are out of school, homeless and keep loitering around villages. The children live on streets doing theft, drug addiction, alcoholism, hire-killings and robbery.

VOICE plan to support communities in northern Uganda to promote environmental sustainability because the negative impact of climate change is evidently driving poor communities to high risks of food security, poverty and unemployment. Poor families rely on wood fuel and charcoal for domestic energy, which promote indiscriminate destruction to natural forests. Poor sanitation and solid waste management contaminates natural water sources which communities depend on because they have no access to piped water. Promoting sustainable organic smallholder farming will address household hunger, increase income and employment yet will save watersheds, save wetlands and streams from contamination and siltation. 

VOICE welcome collaboration with like-minded persons, entities and partners to achieve goals which clearly promote realisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Email us !