The State of Guernsey’s Overseas Aid and Development Commission has awarded a 1-year grant (starting November 2024) to Network for Africa to support 246 people with mental illness/epilepsy and their carers in 14 self-help groups (SHGs) in Agago District, northern Uganda with training in sustainable employment skills and livelihoods to lift them out of poverty.
We will work with our local partner BNUU who has been providing mental health services in Agago District since 2017. The primary purpose of the project is to reduce the poverty of 246 people with mental illness/epilepsy (PMIEs) and their carers. The participants are poor and marginalised, live in poverty-stricken, rural communities where they struggle to meet their basic needs. This grant will facilitate a sustainable improvement to their lives, by providing them with a hand-up through training in starting, managing and growing small income generating activities (IGAs). We will provide the start-up items for their income generating activities (IGAs), whilst continuing to monitor their mental health and providing support where necessary, to prevent relapse and ensure positive outcomes for their livelihoods. We will provide seeds for vegetable gardens, to improve food security with the added benefit of them being able to sell any surplus to generate extra income. By providing the participants with livelihood and mental health support, their basic needs will be met and their average income will increase by a minimum of 30% after a year, breaking the cycle of mental illness and poverty. We have a model that works and a bespoke training programme developed.
This project aligns principally with SDG1 (No Poverty) and SDG3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), and also with SDG5 (Gender Equality), SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG10 (Reduced Inequalities).