In 2001, a group of Bahá’ís in Uganda decided to help achieve the Ugandan government’s goal of reducing illiteracy, in response to the UN Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015). This initiative was the start of UPLIFT Uganda.

The aim was to help villagers in West Nile to learn to read and write. West Nile was chosen because adult illiteracy was well above the national average. This was particularly true for women.

During the initial year (2001), UPLIFT provided literacy training to 600 learners. The numbers soon increased to 3.000 learners annually.

During 2007-2010, UPLIFT Uganda received funding from the Norwegian Bahá’í community, after having successfully been approved by Norad.

After Norad funding ended, UPLIFT continued to receive financial support until 2012 when “Friends of UPLIFT” was formed as a non-profit organization in Norway.  Since then some 1,500 villagers have been trained each year. In total some 30,000 villagers have been trained to date, of which 75 – 80 % are women.

Recently, UPLIFT Uganda transformed to UPLIFT West Nile, bringing the organization and it’s activities closer to the grassroots in West Nile.

Friends of UPLIFT has secured project funding (2023 – 2027) from a Norwegian women’s umbrella organization called “Focus Women. The UPLIFT West Nile project is one of several projects funded by Focus Women in Eastern Africa, with framework funding being provided by Norad, the Norwegian Development Agency.

During this project period UPLIFT West Nile will continue literacy training, linking it to capacity-building for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).

4,000 women and some men (10%) will receive combined literacy and SRHR training. At least 1,200 girls will be informed about SRHR and offered a HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer later on in life. UPLIFT West Nile board members, coordinators and mentors will be trained on SRHR by midwives from the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union, based on a signed collaborative Memorandum of Understanding.