The Need
Founded in 2000 by Kathy and Martin Smedley, Act4Africa combats gender inequality across sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on the Mayuge district within Uganda.
The World Economic Forum’s (2024) Global Gender Gap Index, ranks Uganda 83rd out of 146 countries (according to a 2024 Afrobarometer study). This inequality is a critical impediment to eradicating poverty and to sustainable economic and social progress.
Entrenched in rural African cultures, male control over finances and decisions leaves women with minimal power, trapping them into a vicious cycle of poor health, poor education, and little economic independence. This expected subservience curtails their ability to refuse unwanted sex or demand protection, escalating their vulnerability to sexual and domestic violence, sex work, and harmful relationships.
Tragically, this environment fuels the HIV crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicentre, with over 25.6 million people living with HIV. Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed, and each week, 7,000 young women aged 15–24 become infected.
In Uganda’s Mayuge district, where HIV prevalence reaches 10%, the crisis is closely tied to widespread rape, sexual violence, and a severe lack of sexual health services. Without access to these vital services, young girls and women are left highly vulnerable. In Mayuge, nearly 60% of the population is under 19, and 6% of girls aged 12–17 have already given birth.
These pregnancies often contribute to the rise in single motherhood due to HIV or absent fathers, forcing girls out of school and into poverty or exploitative relationships.
At the same time, many people in Uganda are also struggling with desperate poverty and the constant threat of hunger. Malnutrition affects around 29% of children. Inadequate harvest preparation and storage lead to the loss of up to 30% of crops. When harvests fail, families face both insufficient nutrition and its devastating consequences, including maternal and infant mortality, failure to thrive, and impaired physical and mental development.
