In December 2017, the Support Association for self-help in Uganda (SSU) was granted a grant of DKK 399,999 from the Civil Society Fund for the project “Vulnerable Households Empowerment and Civil Engagement Promotion Project Kanungu”, ref. 17-2126-MI-Oct, briefly called the VHECEP project. The total budget of the project was DKK 414,719. It ran from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019 and was carried out in collaboration with partner organization Mend the Broken Hearts Uganda (MBHU), which was responsible for local implementation. The role of the Support association, in addition to supervision and administration, was to disseminate human rights and principles of equality as well as to provide input to improved cultivation methods. The project was based on the good results and experience gained in the Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children’s Households Development Project Kanungu , which ran in 2016 and 2017. Compared to this project, vulnerable households and the rest of the population in eight new villages were included, as was legal advice, violence. towards women and children and improved agriculture were included as aspects with special focus.

Project summary:
With this two-year development project, the Self-Help Support Association in Uganda and Mend the Broken Hearts Uganda were able strengthen the most vulnerable households in the very poor Kanungu and make them self-sufficient while also making the local people aware of their rights and able to assert and respect them. Citizens have actively engaged and developed action plans to demand services and compliance with rights for themselves, minorities and vulnerable groups. Authorities and leaders were involved and influenced to increase accountability. In 30 villages, a total of 512 households with orphans and vulnerable children were organized into self-help groups, which will helped them to start and run self-selected sustainable income-generating projects and savings-loan activity. In this way, households were given resources to take good care of the children and fulfill their rights. The groups bonded together in overall structures and thus gained a strong network and a powerful voice in civil society.