Click here to watch the video of Faith and another video from Ugandan Human Rights Lawyer Sibongile Phiri discussing our work in Uganda.

Give JUSTICE this Giving Tuesday!  Help us reach our Giving Tuesday goal. 

From Dr. Angie Vredeveld, Founder & Director of RISE:

Hello everyone!  For the past year, our team has been working very hard to get a law passed against acid violence in Uganda.

We started a petition (which now has over 43,000 signatures!) on change.org to Demand the Government of Uganda Pass a Law Against Acid Attacks.

We consulted with a team of Ugandan human rights lawyers on what is needed to pass a law in Uganda.  Based on their advice, and thanks to your donations, we hired a researcher and statistician Johnson Owonda to conduct country-wide research on acid violence in Uganda.  Eight acid attack survivor peer researchers were hired to help conduct interviews.  We are in the process of writing up the results of that research, a situational analysis, which will be shared with members of the Ugandan Parliament.

One of our team members is currently on the ground in Uganda and starting to meet with members of parliament to encourage passage of this law.

The next step in the process is to host two large events.  The first event will be the launching of the situational analysis.  This will be a half-day event where acid attack survivors, members of parliament, medical personnel, police, and other community leaders will gather to hear about the results of our research.  During this event, we will make a case for a law against acid violence.  This event will be live-streamed and you will be invited!  The second event will be a stakeholders meeting, a full-day event where we will invite law makers to review the bill that has been drafted and propose any changes before we submit it to parliament.

Our goal this Giving Tuesday is to raise $1500 towards the costs of hosting these events.  (The hosting of the events will cost approximately $3000 total, but we have a goal of raising half of the money needed today.)  We realize it’s not quite as exciting as donating to a training program for survivors.  But we are confident that your donation will give JUSTICE to survivors who have gone so long without a law, who watch their perpetrators walk free.  Our survivor friends in Uganda are counting on us to host these events and make the final push for a law!  They’ve been my dear friends for many years now and deserve the justice this law will bring.  I would appreciate so much if you would donate to help RISE make the law a reality in Uganda.  Please donate here.

Thank you for entrusting us with your donations and support,

Angie