Who We Are

The Association of Refugee Women in Uganda (AORW-U) is a women’s rights organization comprised of women refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Somalia. It operates as a not-for-profit and is led by refugee women. AORW-U initially started as a self-help group for a few women refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who could meet once a week to discuss their well-being in Uganda.

However,  it expanded to include women refugees from Burundi, Rwanda, and Somalia. The organization’s main objective is to strengthen locally-owned systems for addressing Gender-Based Violence by transforming socio-cultural norms, rebuilding family and community support systems, designing effective services, working with legal systems, documenting abuses for advocacy purposes, and promoting resilient livelihoods through economic empowerment programs.