The Mifumi Project!

Established in 1994, MIFUMI has directly reached more than 50,000 women together with their children with comprehensive services in education, health-care, micro-enterprises and domestic violence advocacy. MIFUMI's greatest strength is being based in the countryside and undertaking grassroots -up approach to advocacy, the most important contribution being reform of bride price and domestic violence. We have a regional network and partners in Eastern Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and the UK. MIFUMI seeks to make every voice count particularly in tackling domestic violence, polygamy, child marriages and the arbitrary and unlawful action among justice delivery agents which is unfairly directed towards women seeking protection.

MIFUMI Uganda has more than 10 years experience of working within a human rights framework to address domestic violence in Uganda. This work has evolved a significant support base, which cuts across women's groups and organisations in the villages of eastern Uganda, Government of Uganda, the Media, Rights NGOs, and Faith organisations. Work with the Uganda police led to a joint resolution in 2003; with local councils to the Kirewa byelaw (2002); with grassroots networks to the bride price referendum 2001 and the current MIFUMI network which has more than 40 local organisations working on domestic violence and bride price. In 2006 MIFUMI started implementing policies on disability mainstreaming. MIFUMI is presently taking bride price to the constitutional court in Uganda. MIFUMI's Executive Director is the current Torch Bearer for the MDG3 in Uganda. She is an ASHOKA fellow and won the district woman of the year award (2007) in Tororo. MIFUMI is a member of the Uganda Women's Network (UWONET), and The Legal Aid Services Providers Network of the Danish Embassy. We collaborate with Amnesty International and The Aids Support Organisation (TASO) in Tororo. MIFUMI has made effective submissions to the Parliamentary legal affairs committee, and the law reform commission on the draft Domestic Relations Bill and the Domestic Violence Bill in Uganda. more...

Bride Price

The payment of bride price reduces a womans status to that of property so that she is not entitled to own anything in the home. If the relationship is violent and she is attempting to leave, culture demands that she returns the bride price paid for her yet she cannot afford the refund since she cannot own any property. Bride price is a critical issue of our time because the majority of poor people in Africa are subject to customary law whose main tenet is the subordinate position of women and no where is this more apparent than in marriage. This subordination is underscored by the practice of bride price and yet marriage is the primary site for women's struggle for self determination and equality. (Continued...)

MIFUMI held the world's first bride price referendum in 2001.

MIFUMI held the first international conference on bride price in 2004.

MIFUMI was crucial in lobbying for Uganda's first Local ordinance on Bridal Gifts in Tororo.

MIFUMI currently has a case before the constitutional court seeking to declare bride price unconstitutional. The judgement is eagerly awaited.

Domestic Violence

MIFUMI forms a growing community of grassroots women and human rights defenders with the principles of a woman centred approach to ending violence and abuse, empowering survivors to resist violence and demand their rights, ensuring effective action for the individual survivor, empowering communities to bear the burden of violence against women and hold perpetrators accountable for their behaviour and working with law enforcement officers to protect women.

MIFUMI has 11 advice centres throughout Tororo district offering counselling and support to women.

MIFUMI has a network of 20 organisation called the Mifumi Human Rights Defenders Network. We work in five districts in Uganda: Iganga, Busia, Tororo, Mbale and Soroti.
Our partners are: Theketheke Women's group, Be Just Women's Group (BEWOG), Frontline Aids Support Network (FASNET), Muwungano women's group, Women in Health Promotion and farmers Organization (WHPFO), Intergrated Disabled Women Activities (IDIWA), Akazalibwa Rural Agro-processors and Trainers Association (RAPTA), Musingi Rural Development Association (MURUDA), Friends Of Christ Revival Ministries (FOCREV), National Community Of Women Living With HIV / AIDS (NACWOLA), Happy Childhood Foundation (HCF), Busia District Network of people living with HIV / AIDS (BUSINET+), The Association For The Re-Orientation & Rehabilitation Of Teso Women For Development (TERREWODE), Aloet Community Development Association (ACODA), Teso Women Peace Activists (TEWPA), Teso Widows Development Initiative (TEWIDI), Doko Namabasa Rural Integrated Development Association ( DRIDA), Socio-Economic Interface for Violence Elimination (SEIVE), Uganda Gender Rights Foundation. more...

Mifumi Health Centre

Providing appropriate health care services with a focus on enhancing quality of life and protecting the rights of vulnerable people. Mifumi Health Centre was opened in 2001 as a direct response to the needs of the community. The main diseases encountered are, Malaria, Malnutrition, (Continued...)

HIV, Schistosomiasis, and Respiratory Infections and others. We support women by providing properly trained health workers and traditional birth attendants working with the community in a modern health unit. The unit provides maternity services including antenatal, delivery and post natal care, primary health care and laboratory services and addresses other health needs through information, education and communication and community out-reach services. Health Prevention: We prevent diseases taking hold through health education, HIV screening, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (of HIV), Nutrition counselling and intervention, Schistosomiasis screening, home outreaches and Malaria nets sensitization.

Curative Health Services: We have trained medical staff available for villagers 24 hours a day. In addition to diagnostic services we have a laboratory, pharmacy and maternity wing. We offer counselling for women suffering domestic violence and counselling as part of our overall HIV / AIDS work.

Domestic Violence and Health: We co-ordinate with Mifumi Advice centre and offer free medical treatment to our survivors. We are undertaking a district wide research into domestic violence and health and expect one of the outcomes to be a health protocol which will inform not only Mifumi Health Centre but all health centres in the country. This work will also feed into medical students training through our collaboration with Community-Based Education and Service (COBES).more...

Mifumi Primary School

Providing pre-school and primary education, particularly targeting the education of rural girls. This consists of two nursery classes and primary one. A further 10 classrooms have been completed. The classes have been equipped with furniture, textbooks and educational resources. The school has over 600 children. The school boast a Library, Community Hall, Staff Room and Administration block. Try walking through the school with our interactive walk through Enterprise Promoting the social and economic empowerment of women by providing them with loans to run small businesses. We are running a successful micro-credit scheme with the Nagongera Women's Guild - the largest women's network in the region. The project was initially funded by Comic Relief (1994) with further funds for additional loans and business training for the women coming from the British Government's Department for International Development (DfID). more...

Ethical Trading

We are also helping women farmers by purchasing their produce and making a finished product - OdiPlus. This is a mixture of Sim Sim and ground nut paste. We believe in ethical trading so we regularly give fairer prices to the farmers than the prevailing market prices. more...