About the foundation

Overview

CFUG Foundation is a community-based organisation founded in 2019. It emerged from practical community support during the COVID-19 lockdown and has progressively organised that work into programmes on women’s rights, social protection, livelihoods, civic participation, skills development and community resilience.

The foundation works primarily with women and girls in urban and semi-urban communities. That includes adolescent girls and young women, female sex workers, refugee and migrant women, single mothers, women in informal and roadside businesses, stay-at-home mothers, women in low-income settlements, and other women facing barriers to economic opportunity, safety and participation.

Origin

The roots of the organisation are in grassroots solidarity. During the lockdown, members of the founding group mobilised resources for women whose livelihoods and household welfare had been disrupted. They provided essential household items to female sex workers, single mothers and women operating roadside businesses, many of whom had limited income and few social-protection options. Scholastic materials were also contributed to families in low-income settlements so children could continue learning at home.

Those months showed the value of an organised, community-led response that joins immediate support to longer-term empowerment. The group then structured itself to scale social interventions for women experiencing economic exclusion, gender-based discrimination, unsafe livelihoods, limited access to information and services, and barriers to exercising their rights.

Institutional approach

Core objectives

1. 01

   Promote women’s rights, dignity, safety and meaningful participation in social, economic and civic affairs.

2. 02

   Strengthen economic resilience through entrepreneurship, vocational skills, financial literacy, savings and access to opportunity.

3. 03

   Prevent and respond to gender-based violence, technology-facilitated abuse and other violence and discrimination affecting women.

4. 04

   Increase awareness of legal, health, economic and civic rights among women and other underserved groups.

5. 05

   Build the capacity of women-led groups and grassroots actors to organise, advocate and respond.

6. 06

   Support refugee women, adolescent girls and young women, female sex workers, single mothers and informal workers to reach information, skills, networks and services.

7. 07

   Develop partnerships with community groups, civil society, government structures and other stakeholders for inclusive development.

Who the work is for

Priority is given to women and girls who experience economic, social or structural barriers. The foundation’s communities include refugee women, adolescent girls and young women, female sex workers, sexual minorities, single mothers, women in informal employment, women in low-income settlements, and other underserved women.

Geographic focus

Programmes concentrate on Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono, Arua, Kabale, Jinja, Mbale, and on the urban and semi-urban communities around them. The registered working office is at Kings Gate, Kabalagala, Kampala.

Governance and people

The foundation reports a membership of 123 people and programme reach of more than 500 beneficiaries. It is moving from a grassroots formation toward a structured and accountable civil-society organisation, formalising governance, staffing, financial management, programme planning, monitoring and reporting in line with the requirements that apply to non-governmental organisations in Uganda.

That includes transparent resource management, safeguarding, responsible implementation, documentation of results and accountability to stakeholders. Registration with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau and the National Bureau for NGOs is the institutional frame for expanding the work and for partnerships with government, development partners and civil society. When that registration is complete, the public identity will be aligned under the name CFUG Foundation, alongside the founding name Care For Us – Uganda.

Strengths partners can rely on

• Grassroots origins and direct experience with women facing economic and social vulnerability.
• Delivery of community-based empowerment, rights and livelihoods activities.
• Practice in training, mobilisation, advocacy and public awareness.
• Relationships with women’s groups and community-based partners.
• Experience across adolescent girls and young women, female sex workers, refugee women and women on low incomes.
• A commitment to participatory, rights-based and community-led programming.
• Growing systems for programmes, monitoring, finance and organisational accountability.

Direction

The foundation intends to consolidate its field experience into programmes that increase economic resilience, strengthen protection and rights awareness, widen access to skills and finance, and amplify women’s voices in community and civic processes. Partnerships, resource mobilisation, the capacity of women-led groups, and evidence drawn from community experience are the means for that next stage.

Identity