Self-awareness + self-management + self-testing = self-care. This simple equation captures the essence of empowerment. It is about giving women and girls the tools to take charge of their health, their bodies, and their futures. As Maya Angelou once said, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.” The She Cares project embodies this truth, ensuring that no woman or girl is left behind.
WORUDET is implementing She Cares, a two-year sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) initiative running from 2022 to 2024, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and ACORD Uganda. The project is piloting innovative approaches to self-care in SRHR within Palabek refugee settlement and the surrounding host communities in Lamwo District. Its focus is clear: adolescent girls and young women in humanitarian settings, who often face the greatest barriers to achieving their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Through research, implementation, and advocacy, She Cares is generating evidence on how self-care can transform lives in refugee settings. It is contributing to a locally-led movement that responds to the unique needs of displaced populations, ensuring that solutions are not imposed from outside but grown from within communities themselves. WORUDET’s extensive portfolio in SRHR programming—anchored in accountability, community engagement, and grassroots advocacy—provides the foundation for this effort. Our community advocacy teams gather evidence, identify problems, and demand accountability from leaders and service providers, ensuring that commitments to SRHR services are not just promises but lived realities.
With She Cares, WORUDET is advancing awareness and demand for self-care, monitoring program quality, and strengthening continuity of care between health facilities and individual clients. We are piloting community models that make self-care practical and accessible, even in the most challenging humanitarian contexts. This strategic effort is designed to expand access, innovate new pathways, and ensure that self-care products reach those who need them most—especially displaced adolescent girls who are often the most vulnerable.
As the African wisdom reminds us, “When you educate a girl, you educate a community.” By empowering girls and young women to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health, She Cares is not only protecting their rights but also laying the foundation for stronger, healthier, and more resilient communities. This is more than a project; it is a movement for dignity, equity, and justice.
