About Us
We are a movement of empowered, resilient women building a vibrant and hopeful future in Northern Uganda.

Our Community

At African Women Rising, we are fueled by the sense of hope and opportunity found in the communities we work with in the Acholi region of Northern Uganda.

We work in areas where the need is the greatest. People in Acholiland are still grappling with the legacy of two decades of brutal war, which forcibly displaced the entire rural population for years and devastated the local economy. This history of armed conflict has left Northern Uganda, where the violence was most intense and longest lasting, with the country’s highest rates of poverty, food insecurity and illiteracy.

The region also bears the brunt of Uganda’s refugee crisis, which UNICEF ranks among the fastest growing in the world. Uganda is host to the most refugees of any African nation, receiving constant, simultaneous streams of people fleeing conflict, hunger, and extreme poverty from South Sudan, the DRC, Burundi, and other neighboring countries. Most of Uganda’s 1.6 million refugees have settled in the rural north, many in the communities where AWR is based. The vast majority are women and children under the age of 18.

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Where We Work

African Women Rising works in 79 villages across the Northern Ugandan districts of Gulu, Lamwo and Omoro, as well as Lamwo’s Palabek Refugee Settlement, housing primarily refugees from South Sudan. Together, these areas are home to tens of thousands of families who are overcoming a past of war and displacement by actively building a peaceful and prosperous future.

Acholiland, Northern Uganda
Total population of Acholiland
1.8 Million
Acholi families whose primary source of income is subsistence farming
85%
Percentage of Acholi population living in poverty
68%
AWR’s current coverage of households in three program districts
15%
PALABEK REFUGEE SETTLEMENT
Founded
2017
Total population:
70,000
Population of women and children:
83%
AWR’s coverage of refugee households in Palabek:
20%

Our Team

We Empower Women After War

The African Women Rising staff, board, advisors and directors are all people passionate about global women’s empowerment. Our board members and advisors are experts in gender equity, regenerative agriculture, global health, community development, land rights, food security and poverty alleviation. Our 200 person staff in Uganda are from the communities where we work. Their lived experience and site specific knowledge is critical to our success. Many of our staff members are previous AWR participants, and we train and employ refugees to conduct programs in the refugee camp. We strongly believe in building the capacity of staff and provide financial support for education.

Staff at AWR’s Gulu District Headquarters
Meet the Team

Linda Eckerbom Cole

Executive Director and Founder

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Lakot Miriam Kibwota

National Finance and Administration Director

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Anena Proscovia Ruth

National Program Director

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ADVISORY BOARD

Our Partners

Our network of supporters have helped us to empower women and children in Uganda and beyond.

Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister
The Republic of Uganda,
Office of the Prime Minister
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
Trōcaire
Additional Partners
Pulice Family Trust
WWW 
Foundation

In The News

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African Women Rising serves as a catalyst for thousands of women and girls in Northern Uganda, giving them the support they need to live their lives with dignity.
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