Since its inception, Imagine Her has been dedicated to providing young women, girls, and youth in Uganda with a robust innovation skillset and essential resources to create sustainable social ventures and social impact in Uganda. Through its three-tiered and innovative programming, the organization has implemented a human-centered impact model, equipping young women, girls, and youth in rural communities with the skills needed to address critical challenges in climate change, food security, and sustainable rural housing.

It is fortunate that Imagine Her's work and programs are aligned with the theme of International Women's Day 2024, which is "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress." This theme emphasizes the significance of investing in women to create prosperous economies and a healthy planet. This is precisely what Imagine Her focuses on, making it an ideal organization to support.

Approximately 87% of the population in Uganda, particularly women and youth, rely on the minority working class for their economic sustenance. This is mainly due to multiple barriers such as unemployment, which is further compounded by the fact that 80% of this group resides in rural areas. As a result, this situation leads to disenfranchisement, thus aggravating the challenges associated with lower socioeconomic status.

Notably, young women, girls, and youth – particularly those in rural areas with lower socioeconomic status – suffer an outsized impact from climate change and food insecurity. Without the skills and resources needed to overcome these barriers, women, girls, and youth are trapped in a cycle, unable to access economic opportunities, quality education, and healthcare services.

This International Women’s Day 2024 finds Imagine Her on its 2024-2026 strategic plan route – aiming to scale its impact threefold through a holistic gender-lens and social entrepreneurship empowerment model. The goal is to systematically empower more young women and youth in Ugandan rural communities, enabling them to overcome economic dependence and champion sustainable development.

At the heart of Imagine Her’s solution is social entrepreneurship, realized through three programs tailored for both in-school and out-of-school girls, young women, and youth.

For out-of-school young women and youth, the Social Enterprise & Innovation Program invests in their potential as builders of transformative solutions in climate, food security, and sustainable rural housing. This is achieved through a 3-month accelerated MBA-style program, providing practical tools, training, mentorship, and start-up financing. Participants develop, test, and launch their ideas using design thinking methodology and adaptive leadership principles.

Educational programming for in-school girls and youth includes the Becoming Program, offering tailored experiential learning, social entrepreneurship, and adaptive leadership training. This program aims to improve academic outcomes and retention among girls in sugarcane-growing communities, while also strengthening teachers' capabilities through gender pedagogy training and empowering caregivers through livelihood improvement initiatives.

The Career Pathways Program focuses on transforming university education in Uganda, equipping semi and final-year students with marketable skills and preparing them to enter the job market or start their own ventures. This involves design thinking methodology, tailored experiential learning opportunities, and skills training in adaptive leadership and design-driven entrepreneurship, along with mentorship from field experts.

To date, our programs have impacted over 5,000 young women, girls, and youth in Uganda. The Social Enterprise & Innovation Program has trained more than 900 young women and youth as social entrepreneurs across five cohorts all working towards solving climate change, and food insecurity issues. Monitoring shows that, six months after launching their ventures, participants' average annual income reaches $1,800.

Each social venture created by program participants employs, on average, three community members, generating a cumulative total of 2,352 jobs within their communities. Moreover, the program has directly reached over 5,000 community members through products and services provided by social entrepreneurs and their ventures.

The Becoming Program has provided digital education access to 2000+ school-going girls in rural Eastern Uganda, empowering 640 girls with quality education and achieving a 40% reduction in dropout rates. 60% of beneficiaries have gained proficiency in at least one 21st-century skill.

These impactful statistics underscore Imagine Her's commitment to creating positive change by empowering women, girls, and youth, aligning with the theme of "Invest in women: Accelerate progress" for International Women's Day 2024.

Overall, intentional investment in rural girls, young women, and youth is a huge untapped opportunity that has monumental potential to drive sustainable development and economic growth and propel our chances to reverse the current worrying trends in the climate, education, and food security sectors.

For us, empowering rural women, girls, and youth is crucial for building a prosperous, equitable future. This will accelerate progress in achieving gender equality, ensuring decent work for all, eradicating poverty and hunger, and taking effective climate action.

To realize our vision for 2026, we aim to triple our impact by adopting a comprehensive gender-focused and social entrepreneurship empowerment model. We plan to achieve this by providing systematic and intentional skills training and financing opportunities to social entrepreneurs. Additionally, we will promote equitable and high-quality education for girls through learning, skills development, and partnerships.

By expanding into rural communities, we aim to cultivate investment skills among young women and youth, empowering them as catalysts for positive change.

As we celebrate International Women's Day 2024, Imagine Her invites everyone to invest in creating transformative change in Uganda. Together, we can build a prosperous, equitable future, achieve gender equality, eliminate poverty and hunger, and address climate challenges. Join us in empowering rural women, girls, and youth as catalysts for positive change.

Written by: Moureen Aguti
Communications & External Relations Associate
Imagine Her