Quality education is central to a vibrant and competent civil society. In East Africa AKDN seeks to develop skilled and dedicated teachers through professional accreditation programmes. During training workshops, in addition to improving their approach to classroom learning, teachers construct games and toys from inexpensive, local materials.
AKDN / Lucas Cuervo Moura
Quality education is central to a vibrant and competent civil society. In East Africa AKDN seeks to develop s...
AKDN / Lucas Cuervo Moura
AKU nursing graduate Juliet Kigonya founded Nurses' Concern for Adolescents in 2012. The organisation goes to schools in Wakiso and Kampala to promote sexual and reproductive health education amongst youth and sensitize them to the dangers of drug abuse.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
AKU nursing graduate Juliet Kigonya founded Nurses' Concern for Adolescents in 2012. The organisation goes to ...
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
This page is also available inUganda | Civil Society
A strong and vibrant civil society harnesses its people’s strengths and enables them to guide their own community’s development. It plays a vital role in economic development, poverty reduction and the promotion of pluralism. Several of our agencies help build civil society, including the universities and the independent media outlets. In particular, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)’s programmes build capacity, improve governance and support the development of civil society.
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The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) works with 150 Parent Teacher Associations and School Management committees
AKF works with several civil society and community-based organisations in the West Nile region of Uganda in education, financial inclusion and youth empowerment. In partnering with local civil society actors, the Foundation builds the capacity of community-based groups to respond to development challenges, allowing them to continue addressing the needs of Ugandans long after a project ends.
Education
AKF is working with Partners in Community Transformation (PICOT), Needy Kids and Hear International, three local education-centric civil society organisations, to strengthen education systems, improve learning outcomes, raise awareness of challenges facing girls’ education and mainstream gender in pre-primary and primary schools. AKF also works with three Head Teacher Associations and 150 Parent Teacher Associations and School Management committees in the region as part of its whole school approach to education programming. Through this collaboration, we are encouraging school communities to develop and implement gender-responsive school development plans, foster supportive learning environments and share best practices for teaching and classroom management.
Financial Inclusion
AKF also works with the Community Organization for Rural Enterprise Activity Management (CREAM), a civil society organisation based in Arua District, to implement a financial inclusion project aimed at supporting community-based savings groups. Together, AKF and CREAM are linking remote communities to formal financial institutions. This increases community members’ access to credit and the safety of their savings. Over 20,000 people have benefitted to date.
Economic Opportunity
AKF partnered with PICOT to implement an intervention aimed at improving social and economic opportunities for youth aged 15-30 in Koboko District. With support from the local district government, AKF and PICOT enhanced an existing adult education programme from 2016 to 2020 to give vulnerable young women and men employability and life skills aligned with market needs. Just over half of the 1,723 youth who completed their training found employment within a year.