ARRD

About African Response to Relief and Development (ARRD )

The African response to relief and development (ARRD) is an initiative by the refugees in Uganda with an aim to respond to the critical unmet needs of the refugees and their host communities. Created as a grassroots refugee-led organization with objectives to, identify, plan and implement the agreed actions that fill gaps in refugee services not already being addressed by the UNHCR and her agencies. The gaps are those that can be filled locally by the refugees and their host communities themselves with their available skills. The organization works with the community members implementing ideas generated by them and hence our programs addresses those unfilled gaps among the most vulnerable communities across the region. ARRD was registered by the Uganda national bureau for non-governmental organization in June 2018 with permission to operate country wide.

Our Vision
The Vision ‘‘we strive to create local opportunity, growth, and impact in every grassroots communities in the region’’.
Our Mission
This mission is “to make a positive impact on the under privileged and vulnerable communities through initiatives that encourage young people, (women & Youth) to be the drivers and controllers of their own future, create access and opportunities for new innovative ideas that drive sustainable production for grassroots development.”
Our Goal

Our goal is ‘‘to create access to social and economic opportunities towards empowering underprivileged and vulnerable communities (refugees and their host communities) particularly youth, Women and Children.’’ To achieve this goal, ARRD works by mobilizing and recruiting women and youths into self-help groups through which the women and young people engage in various socio-economic activities. As an organization, ARRD believes that young people are the future and in order to reach the child, the woman as the custodian of the child has to be accessed first”.

ARRD COREVALUES

Accountability

Integrity

Dignity

Equal opportunities

ARRD Projects

These project activities were either not addressed or partially addressed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), other international organizations, or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that might already be receiving international funding. With local support, the local organization carried out the following activities

35 women and school dropout girls trained in catering and food-management skills;

24 women and youth directly benefited from psychosocial Tot training;

47 women and youth were trained and equipped with entrepreneurial skills;

16 youth and adolescent girls trained and skilled with ICT knowledge;

22 Urban refugees and their host youth colleagues trained in book-making skills;

Various activities carried out with support of ARRD

Techniques on Book making

Skills training workshop for refugees and
their host youth colleagues on book making

Physical skills training

The picture above is a women group photo taken after being trained on how to operate peanut butter graining machine

Maintaining peaceful coexistence

Above is taken during traditional dance for
peaceful coexistences among the refugees and their host communities organized by ARRD and supported by South Sudanese in Diaspora

GBV training workshop

Group photo taken after GBV training workshop together with the ARRD executive director carrying a little girl at the left

Entrepreneurship skills training

Entrepreneurship skills training workshop
for refugees and their host community youth in the refugee settlements in West
Nile region of Northern Uganda