Uganda
Facts About Uganda
- Life Expectancy: 54.93 years
- Number of refugees: 1.3 million
- Population: 41.8 million
- Access to Safe Water: 79%
- Literacy Rate: 78.4%
- Infant Mortality Rate: 59.21 / 1000 live births
- Rank in Human Development Index: 163 of 180
Why Uganda?
Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world.
In 1988, a rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) began terrorizing Uganda, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than 1 million people. Many Ugandans ended up living in camps that lacked food, clean water and sanitation. Thousands of children also fell victim to the war, abducted by rebel groups to serve as fighters.
Following a peace agreement in 2006, Ugandans have been working to rebuild their lives and restore their communities.
Uganda is also host to over 1.3 million refugees. Most recently, the country has seen an influx of almost 1 million refugees from South Sudan, due to armed violence and political unrest since July 2016.
WE International’s Response
WE International began its work in Uganda in 2006, although the WEI CEO was leading teams there since 2001.
- Distributed 300 micro-loans to help empower people.
- Aided in the rescue and rehabilitation of over 75 women and girls’ survivors of sex trafficking.
- Mobilized over a 100 people to serve doing sustainable projects.
- Launched a feminine hygiene initiative that taught hundreds of women and girls about their bodies and how to make reusable pads. This is a critical program as it helps to keep girls in school. In Uganda, like in many underdeveloped countries, girls often fall behind in school due to lack of sanitary products during menstruation. This program has enabled them to participants to stay in class.
- Most importantly gave 100’s of Ugandan and westerners and the opportunity to build relationships, share life, understand each other better, and have their lives bettered knowing one another.
Congo DRC
- Population: 89.6 million
- People in need: 19.6 million
- People internally displaced by crisis: 5.5 million
- Rank in Human Development Index: 175 of 189
Why Congo DRC?
The Democratic Republic of Congo, has spent decades in the grip of violent bloody conflict and economic unrest. The DRC is ranked the fifth most vulnerable country in the world. Security has severely deteriorated since 2017, displacing over 5 million people and leaving 19.6 million in need of humanitarian assistance.
Sexual violence against women and girls is a critical problem in Congo, some have sadly referenced to it as the rape capital of the world. Early marriage and pregnancy cause girls to drop out of school, making it harder for them to earn a living later in life. Over half of women over 15 report that they have experienced physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime.
Many girls and boys do not attend school to begin with, despite the declaration of free education in 2019. Any instruction children do receive is often of poor quality.
Congo has the largest displaced population in Africa with more than 5.5 million internally displaced persons, including 3.22 million children in 2020.
WE International’s Response
WE International committed to addressing injustice and poverty in Congo in 2016
- WEI has funded fistula surgeries of 4 girl survivors of sex-based violence, namely rape. Congo is one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. Through our partner organization, WEI seeks to play a viable part in ending and rescuing women and girls from gender-based violence.
- WEI is committed to expanding its WE Empower, micro-loan entrepreneur training program in the eastern, most affected region of the DRC.
- Providing funding for legal counsel and medical assistance of survivors of sexual assault.
- Is currently working to establish micro-loan and entrepreneur training programs in eastern Congo.
Lebanon
- Total population: 6.1 million
- People displaced by crisis: 1.5 million Syrians (1 in 4 people)
- Rank in Human Development Index: 80 of 188
Why Lebanon?
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Lebanon has taken in some 1.5 million Syrians who fled their homes for safety. The war in Syria has seen at least 500,000 people killed, including more than 55,000 children.
With no formal refugee camps in Lebanon, Syrians are living in cramped apartments, unfinished buildings, and tents. The vast majority of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty. Displaced women and girls are at increased risk of violence and exploitation in daily life.
WE International’s Response
- WE International committed to helping women and girl victims of sexual based violence in Lebanon in 2018, through a partner organization that is primary focused on Syrian women and girl refugees from the devastating war in Syria.
- WEI has funded various programs that help women and girls needing restoration from the post traumatic stress of rape and losing loved ones during the war.
Philippines
Why Philippines?
Comprising a string of islands located in the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. In 2019, 21 typhoons and a series of earthquakes displaced hundreds of thousands of people. These natural hazards not only destroy homes and livelihoods—they also affect the physical, psychological, and social well-being of children.
When one of the strongest storms in recorded history slammed the Philippines in 2013, more than 6,000 people lost their lives and 90 percent of homes in the hardest hit areas were damaged or destroyed.
Besides being prone to natural disasters that affect the security of children, the amount of poverty and certain cultural practices make children vulnerable to sex trafficking. UNICEF estimates 60,000 to 100,000 children in the Philippines are involved in prostitution rings. In 2017, there were an estimated 46,000 reports of online child sexual exploitation.
WE International’s Response
- In 2013, one of the strongest-ever recorded storms to make landfall hit the Philippines. WEI Philippines distributed thousands of bottles of water, food, and blankets and other relief supplies.
- Helped start and support a birth-to-five daycare in Tondo, Smokey Mountain Philippines.
- Partnered with Young Focus, a dutch NGO providing tutoring and school sponsorship for children of the local Tondo, trash dump community.
- Currently WEI offers financial support to an aftercare center in Cebu, Philippines.