Usalama Fund

'Usalama’ is a Swahili word for safety. CivFund is not only concerned about doing no harm through our programming, but we also ensure that the partners that we work with are doing all they can to keep people in their communities safe. Usalama Fund supports efforts towards actively preventing harm, harassment, bullying, abuse, and neglect. The fund is also concerned about our ability to respond to safeguarding issues when they arise. Through Usalama Fund, CivFund aims to strengthen civic engagement in Uganda by contributing to efforts to ensure that actors in this space do no harm to the communities they seek to serve.

Why safeguarding is important to us:

a)     At CivFund, we acknowledge that abuse, harm, and neglect are wrong and that we have a duty to do something about it.

b)    At CivFund, we know that abuse, harassment, and harm can happen to anyone – young or old, staff or partners, and may sometimes go unnoticed.  

c)     Information is power: When those we serve understand safeguarding and their right to be safe, people who have nowhere else to turn are protected.

d)    Building trust: As a safe organization, we are alive to the fact that safeguarding practices can help us build trust with and among our partners, clients, donors, and stakeholders.

We place a high premium on learning and documentation from lived experiences. For this reason, Usalama Fund supports learning and strengthening internal safeguarding capacities of civil society organizations working with vulnerable groups including children, and adults at risk. Our goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment, where everyone is respected and valued and to create learning opportunities from which others can learn safeguarding as a way of life.