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A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

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Network

The recent Survivor Corps mission to Africa met with over 20 community-based groups. This page caries a brief summary of their work, and a contact. Our hope is to build an extensive network of survivor groups in the three countries by the end of 2009.




Uganda

Friends of Orphans
Founded by former child soldier Anywar Ricky Richard in 1999, Friends of Orphans (FRO) seeks to help child soldiers and abductees reintegrate into communities in Northern Uganda. The group provides counseling, free education, HIV/AIDS care, and training in conflict resolution techniques and human rights. Almost all staff members of the organization are former child soldiers themselves, and they use this shared experience to help the kids they serve to open up about their pasts and deal with the trauma.
Friends of Orphans has also organized the former child soldier community in order to get their voices and input heard at the Juba peace talks.
Contact: Anywar Ricky Richard

ISIS-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (ISIS-WICCE )
ISIS-WICCE is a Swiss organization that works with women in conflict and post-conflict societies.
The organization is named after the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis who symbolizes wisdom, creativity and knowledge. ISIS-WICCE started working in Uganda in 1995 on documenting the voices of women, building their skills, advocating for their rights, and networking among various women’s groups. In 1996, the organization visited Luwero to study how sexuality was used during the war, document the trauma, and provide and advocate for better mental health care. ISIS-WICCE runs an international exchange program where it trains women from conflict countries on human rights and conflict resolution and provides seed money for them to work on an issue in their communities.
Contact: Prossy Nakaye at +256 414 543 953

Platform for Labor Action
Platform for Labor Action (PLA) works with marginalized and undocumented workers, who make up more than 80 percent of the workforce in Uganda. It works mainly in the informal labor market with internally displaced persons, women working as street vendors, and child laborers. PLA uses a peer to peer educator program to reach out to child domestic workers – who comprise more than half of all child laborers in the country. PLA's work is concentrated in Lira, a town which was heavily affected by the conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army. With its help, 365 girls in the town have entered primary and secondary schools.
Contact: Lillian Keene-Mugerwa at +256 712 484 797

Refugee Law Project
The Refugee Law Project (RLP) is a legal clinic that has been working with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Uganda since 1999. The RLP combines direct legal services for refugees and asylum seekers with research and advocacy of human rights issues and education and trainings for other refugee groups. Through its work, the RLP has gained an international reputation as a critical and independent voice on matters relating to refugees and IDPs, as well as issues of conflict and transitional justice in Uganda. RLP is affiliated with Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Contact: Moses Okello at  +256 752 986 931

Spinal Injury Association
Founded in 2001, the Spinal Injury Association (SIA) provides psychosocial support to survivors of spinal cord injuries and their families, and raises awareness about the injuries and their effects.
The group also gives lessons in wheelchair usage for survivors and lobbies for construction standards in the country to include mandatory wheelchair ramps. SIA has also successfully lobbied for the creation of a spinal care unit at a hospital in Kampala. In Northern Uganda, the most common cause of spinal injury and paralysis is tuberculosis. Spinal injuries can also occur through vehicle accidents, construction accidents and harvesting accidents -- such as children falling out of mango and banana trees.
Contact: Angela Balaba at +256 312 263 918

Human Rights Network (HURINET)
HURINET is a network of 32 human rights organizations that conducts research and provides opportunities for collaboration among its members in Uganda as well as with human rights groups in other African countries. A Human Rights Fund established by HURINET has funded 78 human rights groups in Uganda, most of which are not members of the network.
Contact: Attn: Ndifuna Mohammed, National Coordinator
Plot 94, Old Kiira Road, Ntinda
P.O. Box 21265
Kampala, Uganda
+256 414 286 923

African Center for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims
The Center for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims(ACTV) provides medical services – including extensive psychological counseling – to more than a thousand torture victims each year. Eighty-four percent of the victims they work with are Ugandan, while the remainder come from neighboring countries. The majority of ACTV's clients were tortured by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army and are treated in the center's facility in Gulu. ACTV also does advocacy work, using testimonials and referrals to the Human Rights Commission to hold perpetrators of torture accountable.
Contact: Email ACTV or +256 312 263 918

Human Rights Focus (HURIFO)
HURIFO was formed in 1994 in response to rampant human rights violations in Gulu, where local people were forced to watch public executions by firing squad. HUROFO succeeded in curbing that practice five years later, and continued working to increase awareness of human rights in Uganda.
HURIFO trains local people to become volunteer paralegals, and investigates reports of human rights violations in the 53 refugee camps in the Gulu district. The volunteers document human rights abuses, provide mediation at the community level, refer serious cases to the appropriate agencies, and help survivors to access psychosocial counseling services.
Contact: James Otto or +256 471 322 59

Gulu District Disabled People's Association
The Gulu District Disabled People's Association is a network of survivor groups that seek to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. The network has 23 members – all disability groups – working in sub-counties in Gulu; and four district-level groups that focus on landmine survivors, disabled women, deaf women, and blind people. The association hopes to empower disabled conflict survivors to tell their stories, as well as ensure that their accessibility needs are not ignored as northern Uganda rebuilds. By creating their own narrative, the association believes survivors can dispel the myth that disabled people “had it coming” and eliminate some of the stigma they face. The association works to increase the political participation of survivors, as well as empower them economically.

Gulu Amaru Landmine Survivors' Group
The Gulu Amaru Landmine Survivors’ Group serves the needs of survivors of landmine injuries in the Gulu district of Uganda. The association has identified more than 800 such survivors in the Gulu and Amaru districts. Founded in 2005, the group developed a brick-making workshop that employs 18 survivors. The money is used to provide salaries to the 18 employees, as well as cover the group's administrative costs and develop new programs.
Contact: Stephen Okello


Rwanda

Association of Widows of the Genocide (AVEGA)
AVEGA's goals are to help widows work together to diminish the consequences of the genocide and help individuals take responsibility for rebuilding the country and their families. At AVEGA's monthly community meetings, widows share their experiences, and help each other cope with their new roles as both mothers and fathers to their children. AVEGA seeks to help its members gain the decision-making skills needed to support their families, as well as deal with the consequences of the conflict through trauma counseling. Rwanda's population is 70 percent female, and women head 50 percent of all households. To date, AVEGA has assisted 25,000 widows and their families.
Contact: Assumpta Umulungi at +250 085 201 22

Ibuka
Ibuka, which means “remember” in Kinyarwanda, is an umbrella group for all organizations working with genocide survivors in Rwanda. Ibuka was founded in 1995, and works on justice for survivors, documentation of the genocide, reintegration programs, and peace-building. Ibuka has 10 member organizations.
Contact: Benios Kaboyi at +250 084 239 68

Trust and Care
Trust and Care was founded in 2003 to carry on the work when Refugee Trust International closed its office in Kigali. The name, Trust and Care is an appeal for Rwandans to open up despite the prevailing notion in their society that people shouldn't talk about their problems. Staffed fully by volunteers, Trust and Care works on generating income, providing education and ensuring HIV/AIDS care for orphans, vulnerable children, and child-headed households. The group also pushes for reconciliation by bringing children of genocide victims and genocide perpetrators together.
Contact: Annet Mugwaneza, Coordinator
P.O. Box 2076
Kigali, Rwanda
+250 0851 3216

Association of Landmine Survivors and Amputees of Rwanda
The Association of Landmine Survivors and Amputees of Rwanda was founded by Wilson Rubanzana, who lost one of his legs in 1999 to a landmine injury. The group's program focuses on peer support to landmine survivors and aims to survey the five most mine-affected districts of the country and identify remaining minefields. The association also lobbies for rights for people with disabilities.
Contact: Wilson Rubanzana +250 0845 5086

Uyisenga N'Manzi (“Who is praying, God is love”)
Uyisenga N'Manzi works with genocide orphans, HIV/AIDs orphans, and girls affected by violence. The group operates an education program, an advocacy program addressing women and orphan property rights, a health program that includes psychosocial care and HIV/AIDS education, and an economic empowerment program that supports 39 cooperatives. The group serves 1,200 orphans and has two trauma counselors and one psychologist on staff. It is also starting a sponsorship program for Rwandans living abroad to support orphans.
Contact: Mukarubuga Ancilla, Advocacy, Education and Communication Officer
Kacyiru near King Faycal Hospital
P.O. Box 7257
Kigali, Rwanda
+250 585 462

Friends Peace House
Friends Peace House is a grassroots organization in Kigali dedicated to Rwanda's youth. People under 35 make up 67 percent of the population in Rwanda. The group advocates for government and civil society programs targeting youth, and seeks to engage youth in peace-building and economic development. Friends Peace House uses debates in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo as forums to confront the remnants of ethnic strife. The organization is also working to create dialogue between survivors and perpetrators of genocide and helping the survivors prepare to accept the apologies of perpetrators.

Umuhuza Isbl (“Bridge between People”)
Umuhuza Isbl focuses on conflict mediation training, especially in schools, and deals mostly with small children and infants. They run four main programs which include listening to victims of violence, community violence prevention targeting youth, conflict mediation training, and a day care.
The day care program, in a western district of the country, works on educating parents of children up to age 3 on good child care practices, and ways to respond to and change children's behavior They currently serve 180 families through twice-weekly trainings and home visits.
Contact: Kayitesi Mathilde, President
BP 1577
Kigali, Rwanda
+250 0853 9555

Handicap International
Handicap International is a French organization working in Rwanda to train orthopedists and prosthetic technicians and to ensure hospitals and prosthetic centers have the necessary equipment. The group supports a government scholarship program for prosthetic technicians in Tanzania and is developing a program to train technicians in Rwanda. Handicap International also focuses on making orthopedic and rehabilitation services affordable, and supports mental health, trauma recovery, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy prevention programs.
Contact: Marc Vaernewyck, Director of Programmes
BP 747
Kigali, Rwanda
+250 584 206


Burundi

Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH)
Founded in 2001, APRODH seeks to combat torture, sexual violence and the abuse of human rights of prisoners in Burundi. The group disseminates legal texts related to human rights and visit prisons to provide medical and social assistance. When prisoners are released, APRODH provides bus fares to transport them to their home provinces. APRODH has also trained prison guards on human rights and offers legal assistance to victims of sexual violence. APRODH’s activities take place throughout Burundi, with 30 staff members at the headquarters in Bujumbura and a monitoring team of 17 individuals – one in each province.
Contact: Pierre Claver Mbomina at +257 22 248 128. Email APRODH.

Association pour la Defense des Droits de Femmes (ADDF)
Since 2001, ADDF has worked with survivors of gender-based violence in 10 provinces in Burundi and provides a range of educational and income-generating services to women. The group’s adult literacy program has helped 2,500 women to date, and its graduates can join ADDF’s small business groups, which generate income through herding, small trades, grinding meal, sewing, or making handicrafts.

ADDF also runs two shelters for women and children who have been victims of domestic and sexual violence. The group trains women on Burundian law and international standards, and has been active in lobbying for the revision of the Penal Code as it relates to perpetrators of gender-based violence.

Association pour la Protection de Droits des Hommes (APDH)
APDH is currently involved in a three-party partnership with CARE (focusing on women’s health) and a reproductive health group, with APDH providing technical assistance on women’s rights. APDH trains local women’s associations on national and international laws, and is also training local authorities and linking grassroots groups to national level policy discussions. Through their program, women are being sensitized to denounce gender-based violence.

Centre d’Etude de Resolution de Conflits (CERC)
CERC was founded in 2002 and works on engaging civil society and building links between non-governmental organizations in East Africa. CERC is active in networking with other civil society groups, and provides counseling to survivors of violent trauma, including child soldiers and victims of gender-based violence. CERC was engaged in a campaign for street children and built a coalition of groups to try and address the issue. More recently, they have been involved in promoting the outcomes of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region.
Contact: Eric Shima at +257 77 77 18 70

Oxfam Quebec
Oxfam Quebec began operating in Burundi in 1995 providing emergency services such as rehabilitation of infrastructure and reintegration of people, and now primarily works on a project to help demobilized soldiers with disabilities. Using an approach called High Intensity Manpower, the project combines income generation, cultural events and conflict resolution activities. Oxfam Quebec seeks to build on the job or trade skills these soldiers already possess, and has also arranged free vocational trainings. The group is planning to launch a program to build disability-accessible housing once land becomes available for construction.

Association Tubiyage
Association Tubiyage is a theater group that promotes social justice messages through their performances. The group writes their own scripts addressing issues in individual communities, and solicits responses from the audience about the problems described in the play and potential solutions. Association Tubiyage is currently working on a program to raise awareness gender-based violence through the use of interactive theater. Other plays have dealt with human rights, reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis, and repatriation of refugees from Tanzania. The group is active in 5 of Burundi’s 17 provinces and hopes to expand. 

HealthNet TPO
Formerly the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, HealthNet TPO was the first organization to provide psychosocial services in Burundi beginning in 2000. The program is currently active in 12 of Burundi’s 17 provinces and offers both psychosocial care and psychiatric care. HealthNet TPO works with child soldiers, women who have been subject to sexual abuse, and orphans and vulnerable children. The organization also encourages local healthcare providers to improve the quality and accessibility of their services by providing funding tied to certain performance standards.

Trauma Healing and Reconciliation Services (THARS)
Founded in 2000 with the goal of “healing the nation,” THARS offers individual, family and group counseling services to people affected by trauma. The organization recently participated in a four-year program to integrate victims of torture back into their communities, and has formed self-help groups for torture survivors around the country. Currently there are at least 60 such groups with memberships of 20 to 30 individuals each. THARS is also working to sensitize local governments and local service providers, such as police and hospital employees, on how to work with victims of trauma and torture.
Contact: Charles Berahina

Community Leadership Center (CLC)
CLC was created out of a USAID Office of Transition Initiatives program to assist war-affected populations such as repatriates, internally displaced people and other marginalized groups. CLC has about 18 “master trainers” who work with a variety of partner organizations to develop training initiatives for conflict-affected communities.

Their programs have trained local government officials on good governance, helped conflict survivors attain professional jobs, eased the demobilization process for former combatants, and assisted with the privatization of the coffee industry.

Association des Femmes Juristes du Burundi (Association of Women Lawyers of Burundi)
Operating since 2000, AFJB’s mission is to protect and promote the rights of women and children in Burundi by harmonizing the country’s laws with international standards for the protection of women. AFJB runs three legal aid clinics where more than 6,000 women and children have received advice. The group has also trained 600 paralegals throughout Burundi. In its advocacy and lobbying work, AFJB analyzes existing laws and often lobbies the government to change the laws or develop new ones. AFJB submitted a draft of a law to allow widows to inherit property, and is currently working on redrafting the penal code to include a specific chapter on sexual violence.
Contact: Patricia at +257 78 82 15 94 or Claudine at +257 77 78 89 50. E-mail AFJB.

Association des Chretiens pour l’Abolition du Torture (Association of Christians for the Abolition of Torture)
ACAT is currently involved in a campaign against gender-based violence led by Amnesty International. The campaign involves five or six more local associations and targets perpetrators of violence and other war-affected populations. The campaign’s first phase is a six-month program to sensitize Burundians to the issue of gender-based violence.

ACAT is also involved in an anti-torture campaign that monitors detention centers and provides sensitization training for employees of such centers.

CARE International
Founded in 1945 to provide relief to World War II survivors, CARE has grown into one of the world's largest private international humanitarian organizations. CARE focuses on working with poor women on community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. In Burundi, CARE is working with the Association pour la Protection de Droits des Hommes (APDH) to provide services to victims of sexual violence. The group also runs a micro-credit savings and loan program that allows groups of women to pool their resources and offer loans to individual members.

Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA)
COPA is a peace-building organization that works by training member organizations on conflict transformation and trauma healing. These organizations, in turn, train community members on these same issues. In Burundi, COPA has more than 80 members – about 30 organizations and 50 individuals. COPA is also developing a leadership training program, “Linking Policy and Practice,” that will enable decision-makers and community leaders to interact.
Contact: Sylvere Nsengiyumva at +257 79 93 40 79

Ligue Iteka
Created in 1991, Ligue Iteka monitors human rights violations in Burundi. The group has several programs, including a domestic violence program funded by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development, and a judicial assistance program that provides legal counsel to women, children and other vulnerable populations. Ligue Iteka is involved in the planning for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Burundi and runs its own counseling program for survivors of human rights violations.
Contact: Chantal Niyokindi or +257 799 230 76

African Great Lakes Initiative
Part of the Quaker project Friends Peace Team, the Great Lakes Initiative was started in 1997 to encourage healing and reconciliation in Burundi. Through the Healing and Reconciliation in Our Communities program, people of the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups are able to meet together for workshops dealing with trauma, grief, anger management and reconciliation. So far, the group has hosted 100 such workshops throughout the country, and 2,000 people have participated. The Great Lakes Initiative also runs the Alternatives to Violence program, which focuses on former child soldiers, and a women's empowerment program.
Contact: Adrien Niyongabo, Coordinator
Burundi Yearly Meeting of Friends
B.P. 1189
Bujumbura, Burundi
+257 93 29 23

Association Bon Geste
Association Bon Geste was founded by Christin Ntahe in 1993 to provide orphans and street children a place to meet once a week and have a shared lunch. In addition to the weekly meetings, “Mama Christine” has also helped place orphans with their extended families, paid for school fees, and provided peer support.
Contact: Christine Ntahe

Search for Common Ground (SFCG)
Search for Common Ground is a U.S.-based organization working on a regional approach to conflict in Burundi. The group operates a radio station called Studio Ijambo, which targets government officials and other decision makers through monthly discussion panels. The groups also sponsors roundtables and other events for local people to interact and discuss issues, and has trained community leaders in conflict resolution techniques. SFCG runs a media network and a network of women's rights groups in Burundi.
Contact: Floride Ahiteungiye, Director of Programmes
B.P. 6180
27, Avenue de l'Amitie
Bujumbura, Burundi
+257 22 21 96 96

Association for Peace and Human Rights
Association for Peace and Human Rights works on four main programs, including human rights education, promotion of women's rights, peace-building with displaced persons and ex-combatants, and land issues. The association’s peace-building program seeks to address individual issues of marginalized people, and then work with the same people to jointly identify barriers to reintegration and move forward on common issues. The group is also working on a program focusing on unemployed and underemployed youth in Burundi.
Contact: Rene Claude Niyonkuru, President
P.O. Box 3220
Bujumbura, Burundi
+257 22 30 28 10


Great Lakes Region

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Beginning in 2006, American Friends Service Committee has operated a nonviolence and education program in the Great Lakes Region called Peace Education and Nonviolence. The program began in Rwanda, and expanded to Burundi in 2007. AFSC also provides emergency and humanitarian relief in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they operate a sexual violence education program. The group manages a dialogue exchange program with representatives from Rwanda, Burundi and Congo, where individuals can share experiences on common issues. It has also begun to work on programs to reintegrate perpetrators of the 1994 genocide into Rwandan society.

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