February: Social Justice
20 February is World Day of Social Justice. In 2007, all the UN country members signed the declaration based on “the need to consolidate further the efforts of the international community in poverty eradication and in promoting full employment and decent work, gender equality and access to social well-being and justice for all.” More than 60% of the world’s employed population put food on their tables by working in the informal economy. That represents around 2 billion people.
ICUUW has collaborated with local partners on projects in Bolivia:
A comprehensive leadership development training in Bolivia rose out of ICUUW's 2015 Gathering in Bolivia. Practical skills-building workshops were complemented with training sessions on leadership skills, entrepreneurship, prevention of violence, and environmental education.
ICUUW has implemented several projects in Kenya in collaboration with:
Tunawiri Pamoja (“Let’s Grow Together”), a women-led community-based organization in western Kenya addressing unending challenges facing young women: child marriage, child pregnancies, menstrual health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, poverty, and gender inequality. Tunawiri Pamoja founder Noel Lutomia is a former member of the ICUUW board of Directors (2021-2023).
Acacia in Kenya (AIK), an NGO that partners with community leaders in Mumias (Western Kenya) to care for, shelter, and educate young women who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend high school. AIK Project Coordinator Noel Lutomia is a former member of the ICUUW board of Directors (2021-2023).
And a project in Uganda in collaboration with:
African Rural Schools Foundation (ARSF), a unique collaboration between several UU congregations in the USA and committed leaders in Uganda, whose purpose is to build schools for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.