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SESCO UGANDASupport Effort for Sustainable Communities

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE

INTRODUCTION

SESCO Ugandais a non-profitorganizationthat advocates forand empowers under-privileged individuals, households and communitiesto achieve and maintainlivelihoodsthat are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.Itwas founded by Ugandan musician Sophie Gombya in response to the miserable situationofmillions of poorUgandans – particularly children and women – who leadwretched lives, without even the most basic of life necessities.

SESCO Ugandais a community-based initiative which isfocused on mitigating the impact of extreme poverty, ill-health, hunger and climate change, to improve their livelihoods for sustainable, vibrant communities.Our work targets vulnerable children, youths and women, among others.

MANDATE

Vision: All people of Uganda sustainably live in dignity, free from poverty, hungerand ill-health.

Mission: To empower under-privileged individuals, households and communities to overcome poverty and realize decent livelihoods that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.

Objectives

1) To supportchildren, women, households and communities affected by extreme poverty, hunger, ill-health, disaster and social injustice.

2) To enableyoung people to overcome the challenges that come with adolescence, and counsel, guide and mentor them to recover from the challenges of adolescence and to succeed in life.

3) To mobilize and empower under-privileged and vulnerable individuals, households and communities against extreme poverty, hunger, ill-health, disaster and social injustice.

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4) To engage state and non-stateactors,partners and stakeholders at all levels to realize decent livelihoods for vulnerable people at the grassroots level.

Core values

1) Compassion 2) Sustainability3) Community-centered

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

SESCO Uganda Non-Executive Director counsels an adolescent girl at Kaleke Kasome orphanage in Mpigi district

Many youths are unable to make it through school and become successful in life due to failure to ably deal with a host of challenges that come with adolescence. They lack adequate motivation in school, they have low self-confidence, and are unable to manage relationships, resulting into negative peer influence, substance abuse, early pregnancy, etc.

The Counselling and Mentorship Program provides information, training and guidance to children, youth, couples and partners to achieve success, harmony and common understanding at personal, household, business and community levels.

The Program inspires young people, through dialogue, coaching and mentorship, with self-confidence, motivation, life skills,leadership skills, and sexual and reproductive

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healthinformation. We give young people career guidance and academic counselling. The Program supports and empowers young peopleto avoid/overcome negative peer influence and habits, addictions to drugs, tobacco, gambling, crime, etc. We empower young people to make responsible reproductive health choices and avoid HIV, unintended pregnancies and early marriage.

The Program counsels couples and community members against gender violence, violence against children, property and business wrangles and other forms of disharmony at household and community levels.

Non-Executive Director Ms Sophie Gombya appears BBS TV to discuss Sesco Uganda’s contribution to the national HIV response at the community level

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SESCO Uganda team during a support visit to Kaleke Kasome orphanage in Mpigi

LIVELIHOODS PROGRAM

The Livelihoods Program empowers and works with vulnerable populationgroups at the grassroots level to improve household incomes and food security, promote good health, address gender-related vulnerabilities that cause women and children to suffer disproportionately from poverty, and gender-based violence.

Program objectives

The Livelihood Program contributes directly to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Goal 1&2):

SDG Goal 1: To end poverty in all its forms everywhere, SDGGoal 2: To end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and

promote sustainable agriculture.

Target population groups

Our interventions against poverty and hunger are focused on populations that are most in need:1) Orphans and widows,2) People living with and affected by HIV, 3) Individuals and households in extreme poverty,4) Unemployed youth,5) Sex workers, sexual andethnic minorities, and other socially excluded groups.

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Sweet papers in greenhouse belonging to Namulaba Women’s Development Group

SESCO Uganda Non-Executive Director Ms Sophie Gombya participates HIV counselling and testing at CPS Kampala

Interventions addressing vulnerability

The overall aim is to achieve decent livelihoods, strengthen resilience (against social, economic and environmental risks), and broaden livelihood opportunities.

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Our work in agriculture is based on the recognition that it is the largest source of income and jobs for poor rural households, and that women comprise more than half of the agricultural labor force in Uganda.Food security and nutrition challenges have in recent years been compounded by population explosion, natural disasters, conflict, climatic variability, and soil depletion.

SESCO Uganda’s interventions in agriculture are not only aimed at improving food security and nutrition, but also as means to improving individual and household incomes and mitigating the impacts of population explosion and climate change. We are keen on protecting the natural resource base on which agriculture depends through soil-conserving agriculture and farmer-managed regeneration of trees and forest cover.

SESCO Uganda team hand over pesticides and fertilizers to members of Kisoboka Women Development Group, a VSLA in Ngogwe, Buikwe district. The members are united by the fact that each of them has a child living with HIV under their care

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Members of Namulaba Women Development Group pose with fertilizers and stationery received from SESCO Uganda

A piggery belonging to Kyampisi Group in Mukono district

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Community training at Nabbale subcounty headquartersm in Mukono district

FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM

Financial literacy1 is relevant for everyone in a modern society regardless of income level, education, age, location or gender: For example, everyone needs to understand how to draw up and live within a budget, to understand why and how to save, to borrow responsibly and to avoid becoming over-indebted, to make informed choices between different financial products and services, and to plan ahead for old age. Unfortunately, many people in Uganda do not have the knowledge, skills and confidence to be able to do these things. As a result, many of those who could afford to save do not do so; many people are heavily over-indebted and many people are not benefiting from financial products and services which could help them to lead more prosperous lives. This provides the motivation for the SESCO Uganda’s Financial Literacy interventions.

The purpose of financial literacy training is to teach people concepts of money and how to manage it wisely. It offers the opportunity to learn basic skills related to personal financial management, savings, loan management, investment, insurance, planning for old age/retirement and financial service providers.

1The term “Financial Literacy” is defined as having the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage one's finances well, taking into account one's economic and social circumstances, where: “Knowledge” means having an understanding of personal financial issues; “Skills” means being able to apply that knowledge to manage one’s personal finances; and “Confidence” means feeling sufficiently self-assured to make decisions relating to one’s personal finances.

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SESCO Uganda mobilizes communities to form and run grassroots Savings, Loan & Investment Groups. We support each group to write a constitution and operational guidelines; to be formally registered with Local Government authorities; provide them with stationery to keep their records; build the capacity of members and leaders in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership skills; facilitate them to identify and successfully exploit investment opportunities; and link them to partnerships, markets and other opportunities.

Through these groups, ordinary community members develop a savings culture,build entrepreneurship skills, and accesssmall loans to generate sustainable, environmentally-friendly income generating activitiesas individualsand as groups.The purpose of these groups is to provide simple savings and loan facilities in a community that does not have easy access to formal financial services.

A savings meeting in progress, Ngogwe, Buikwe district

Each group is composed of 10 to 60like-minded, self-selected individuals. Groups meet weekly and members save small amounts through the purchase of shares. The price of a share is decided by the group. At each meeting, every member is encouraged to purchase between 1 and 5 shares. The share-price is set by the group at the beginning of the cycle and is fixed for the entire cycle (usually one year). Cycles normally run for one year and members agree on whether to share, invest or keep their savings and income at the end of the cycle.

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The main difference is that the VSL methodology is a better organized and more accountable system that even the least literate, least influential member of the group can understand and trust.Savings are kept by the members themselves and with agreed security provisions for the savings. SESCO Uganda provides support to the group to secure their savings.

SESCO Uganda team with members of Kisoboka Women Group in Ngogwe, Buikwe

Groups usually hold annual elections. The roles and responsibilities of the steering committee (three persons) are clearly defined, with deliberate attention being paid to protect the group from being dominated by a single individual.

The system is very simple, but the result is powerful. In a VSLA, saving is flexible across members and over time. Members do not have to save the same amount as each other; and they do not have to save the same amount at each meeting. Also, by saving more frequently in very small amounts, the poor can build their savings consistently, contributing to improving their resilience.

Members can borrow up to three times their individual savings for a maximum period of three months in the first year and loans may be repaid in flexible instalments at a monthly service charge determined by the group.Each group may also have a social fund, which provides members a basic form of social insurance. The social fund serves as a community safety net and may serve a number of purposes – such as emergency assistance, festivals and funeral expenses – for the entire community, including group members and non-members.

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The status of the loan fund announced, agreed by all members, and noted in a notebook at the end of each meeting. In order to track the individual savings and loan liabilities of its members, SESCO Uganda provides each member with a simple passbook that is appropriate for groups with limited literacy and numeracy skills.

SESCO Uganda team with members of Kijjo Development Group, Nabbale, Muokono district

The materials, passbooks, loan fund and social fund of the VSLA are maintained in a lock-box, which is safeguarded by the group box-keeper between meetings. The lock-box has three padlocks and the keys are held by three members of the group who are not members of the Management Committee. The system is robust and ensures that there can be no manipulation of the group’s passbooks or funds outside of group meetings.

At the beginning of each cycle, members conduct new elections, review their bylaws and review the terms and conditions that apply to savings, loans and the social fund. The share value and loan service charge can never be changed during the cycle.

In order to ensure group members are well versed in how to invest their loans, SESCO Uganda works with each group to provide basic entrepreneurship training and mentorship to enable them start-up and sustain environmentally sustainable income generating activities (IGAs). Each VSLA group is tasked with developing their group business plan in addition to their individual investments. After agreeing amongst themselves and with SESCO Uganda, the group receives matching start-up capital to fund their investment.

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SESCO Uganda provides stationery and other materials and support to VSLAs to save, borrow and successfully run their groups

GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT AND STAFFING

SESCO Uganda was founded by Mrs Sophie Gombya, who serves as Non-Executive Director; she is supported by a five-member Board of Trustees comprised of distinguished eminent persons providing an advisory and oversight role.

The Secretariat is based in Kampala and headed by the Chief Executive Officer, who oversees the management of the organization, supervises staff.

The CEO is supported by a team of staff and volunteers comprised of the Finance and Administration Officer, Programs Officer, Project Officers, Field Officers and Community Agents.

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Members of Kikakanya Group share basic supplies from SESCO Uganda

For more information, please Contact:Richard HasuniraChief Executive Officer0783 816819; richardhasunira@gmail.comSESCO UgandaEquatoria Building, William Street, Kampala P.O. Box 930, Kampala, UgandaTwitter: @SescoUganda