Connect, Invest, Empower
We're a verified U.S. nonprofit with 40 years of experience and a four-star charity rating, with the Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT) to promote education, health, and human rights for rural girls. Since 1987, URDT has empowered over 100,000 women and girls through educational programs.
The African Food and Peace Foundation (AFPF) focuses on uplifting marginalized girls and women in Africa by providing educational opportunities and fostering leadership, particularly through the African Rural University for Women. Our community programs train in agriculture and entrepreneurship, helping to tackle hunger and poverty while enabling young women to become community changemakers.
We Don’t Give Aid — We Build Capacity. We believe people are the drivers of their own development, and we empower them to create the futures they envision.
Awards
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Our Team.
Our dedicated team is passionate about sustainable international development in Africa and fostering peace across the continent. Our diverse group of passionate individuals bring together years of experience. Together we are committed making a positive impact on the lives of those we serve.
Upcoming Virtual Event
March 31, 2026 5 PM EST
UPCOMING! Discover How a Ugandan Institution is Shaping Women's Leadership & Development in Rural Uganda! With Stuart Cohen, our newest Board Member.
Stuart has had a career as a commercial and editorial photographer over the last 50 years or so. He started working with Robert Fritz in the early 80’s at the house in Chelsea, and taught DMA for several years. His first visit to Uganda was in the mid 1980's with Han and Silvana, before URDT moved to Kagadi. He is friendly with the Musheshe family and eager to see the African Rural University (ARU) model reach a wider population in Africa. Stuart will reminisce about the early days of URDT.
A Girls School
URDT Girls School families elevate themselves from poverty to the middle class by their daughters graduation. These families host African Rural University students during their practicums in rural communities. Graduates are then employed as Epicenter Managers or specialists in sustainable agriculture collaborating with locals and government to achieve community goals like new roads, schools, and water treatment.
The 2-Generation Approach to Education
The 2-gen approach to education was pioneered by Mwalimu Musheshe and Alida Bakema Boon at the URDT Girls School, where young girls teach their entire families how to create visions and to achieve them, has now been in practice for 25 years! Today, even the poorest families already have real homes, rather than mud huts, latrines, and cash crops.
Meet Shakira, a student at URDT Girls, standing in front of her former home. Thanks to the suppport, her life has changed dramatically. Because of her education, she three times less likely to be HIV positive, will have fewer children, and her future children's survival rate past age five has increased by 40%. Once she working, she’ll earn 10-20% more and invest 90% of her income back into children.
Women-Focused Initiatives
The URDT Institute in Uganda will begin training young women this in 20 districts and four refugee settlements, following the verification of training centers and participants The program aims to train 5,000 women in its first year across 545 centers, focusing on value addition and ICT integration for a competitive edge in a tech-driven economy.
Our Cervical Cancer Screening Centers
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among Ugandan women, exacerbated by limited access to screening in rural areas. The URDT-FCF project has been providing mobile screenings since 2017, reaching remote communities and local centers. Dr. Frederik van Slooten oversees the initiative, aiming to screen 15,000 women aged 25 to 49 within two and a half years, with 75% of this goal already achieved.
“I had persistent pain and feared the worst. When they told me I didn’t have cervical cancer, I was relieved,” she shared. Though her pain was unrelated, she vowed to spread awareness: “I’ll encourage others to get screened.” Beneficiary Katushabe Joseline, relieved after being screened, plans to encourage others to get tested.
Our Vocational Skills Centers
The URDT Vocational Institute is training both men and women in over 30 different trades, from carpentry and plumbing to motorcycle repair, restaurant management, and bee-keeping. Over the last five years, the Institute graduated 70,000 students who, in turn, started their own local businesses!
5M+
Lives Impacted
5,020+
Families Transformed Through Education
70,000+
Youth Empowered
