What We’ve Learned in 20 Years of Community Empowerment
Twenty years ago, ARUWE began as a small community-based initiative with a simple goal: to support women in rural Uganda to improve their lives. What started with three small grants has grown into a nationally recognized NGO impacting hundreds of thousands of women, girls, and communities across Uganda. We’ve walked with communities through seasons of hardship and growth. We’ve witnessed quiet resilience and bold transformation. And we’ve learned a few things along the way.
1. Change Happens from the Ground Up
Lasting change doesn’t arrive in a truck or a training. It grows slowly from conversations under trees, from women forming savings groups, from parents supporting their daughters to stay in school. Our most impactful work has always begun with listening, trusting communities, and co-creating solutions together.
2. Empowerment Is a Process
Empowerment is not about handing out tools or offering training once. It’s about creating the space for women and girls to claim ownership, build confidence, and shape their own paths. From land rights to reproductive health, we’ve seen the difference when women are not passive beneficiaries but active decision-makers.
3. Integration Creates Real Impact
We’ve learned that no issue stands alone. You can’t talk about girls’ education without talking about menstrual health. You can’t train a woman in business without ensuring she has land and legal protection. Our integrated, rights-based approach — combining health, education, livelihoods, and climate — has led to deeper, more sustainable outcomes.
4. Small Starts Matter
Some of our most transformative programs began with very little a few seeds, a single safe space, one VSLA group. These small, well-supported beginnings build momentum that changes communities. It’s a reminder that meaningful change doesn’t always start big, but it always starts somewhere.
5. Partnership Is Everything
Over the years, we’ve worked alongside donors, governments, grassroots groups, and most importantly the women and girls at the center of our mission. These partnerships have been key to sustaining our work, scaling our impact, and navigating difficult times like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking Ahead
As we reflect on the past 20 years, we carry these lessons into the future. Our commitment remains the same: to walk alongside rural women and girls as they rise, lead, and build stronger communities.
There’s still much to do but the foundation is strong.
