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Our program approach

Our Work

UPSDE connects psychosocial care, education, rights and practical community support so people are seen in the full context of their lives.

Pillar 01

Children and Education

Support that protects children, strengthens access to learning, and helps families navigate barriers to legal identity and essential services.

A UPSDE community session in progress, with families and children gathered in a hall in Mwanza
Children and families at a UPSDE session

Child Support and Protection

UPSDE works with vulnerable children — including street-connected children and those with unmet basic needs — to protect their rights and restore their dignity. This includes supporting children living on the streets with guidance and psychosocial care and, when a child chooses to leave street life, tracing family or suitable caregivers so they can be safely reunited and reintegrated into family, community, education and protection systems.

Activities

  • Identifying and supporting vulnerable and street-connected children
  • Providing support, guidance and psychosocial assistance to children living on the streets while encouraging positive life changes
  • Tracing parents, relatives or other suitable caregivers to reunite children who choose to leave street life, whenever it is safe and in the child's best interests
  • Supporting children's reintegration into safe family or community environments and reconnecting them with education, protection services and other essential support systems
  • Providing school materials and support for unmet basic needs
  • Promoting awareness of child rights within communities
  • Offering counselling and psychosocial support to children

Who this work is for

  • — Vulnerable children
  • — Street-connected children
  • — Children in families facing hardship
A child UPSDE has cared for since birth, held by a UPSDE representative

A continuing child-care commitment

Since 2023, UPSDE has supported an orphaned boy whose mother died shortly after giving birth. The organisation has continued to provide care, protection and assistance for his wellbeing and development from birth to the present.

Education Support

UPSDE promotes access to quality education for children whose schooling is threatened by poverty or exclusion, with particular attention to girls and children with disabilities.

Activities

  • Supporting school access and enrolment for vulnerable children
  • Providing learning support and remedial classes
  • Distributing educational materials to children in need
  • Supporting girls whose education has been interrupted by poverty
  • Supporting access to education for children with disabilities

Who this work is for

  • — Children at risk of dropping out of school
  • — Girls affected by poverty
  • — Children with disabilities

Birth Certificate Support

A birth certificate gives a child a recognized legal identity and opens the door to education, health services and protection under the law. UPSDE helps children in vulnerable families secure birth registration and raises community awareness of why it matters — working alongside the relevant government authorities to reach children who would otherwise be left without documentation.

Activities

  • Helping children and families access birth registration
  • Raising community awareness of the importance of birth registration
  • Protecting children's legal identity and rights
  • Collaborating with relevant government authorities (RITA)

Who this work is for

  • — Children without birth certificates
  • — Children living in vulnerable families
  • — Families needing help to register their children

Pillar 02

Counselling and Family Welfare

Psychosocial care for children, individuals, couples and families, alongside practical support for households facing hardship.

Children and families seated together during a UPSDE community gathering in a hall
Family welfare gathering

Psychological Counselling

UPSDE provides professional psychosocial counselling to individuals, children, couples, and families, helping people navigate emotional difficulties, family conflict, and social challenges.

Activities

  • Individual counselling for adults facing personal challenges
  • Child-focused counselling and psychosocial support
  • Family counselling to strengthen household relationships
  • Couples counselling and support for marriage conflict
  • Social and emotional support within communities

Who this work is for

  • — Individuals experiencing emotional or social difficulties
  • — Children in need of psychosocial support
  • — Couples and families facing conflict

Women and Family Support

UPSDE supports deprived women and families to claim their rights and improve their welfare, combining advocacy for equal rights with counselling and pathways to social and economic inclusion.

Activities

  • Supporting deprived women and their families
  • Promoting family welfare and stability
  • Advocacy for the equal rights of women
  • Counselling for women and families
  • Promoting social and economic inclusion of women

Who this work is for

  • — Deprived and marginalized women
  • — Families facing hardship
  • — Women seeking economic independence
A young woman standing in a UPSDE meeting room, supported through the women and family programme

Standing with women

UPSDE walks alongside deprived women — combining counselling, advocacy for equal rights and pathways to social and economic inclusion.

Pillar 03

Rights, Inclusion and Advocacy

Community-based advocacy for equal rights, disability inclusion, legal identity, health awareness and protection from exclusion.

Children with albinism and other community members taking part in a UPSDE inclusion and rights event
Disability inclusion and rights event

Disability Inclusion

UPSDE works to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy equal opportunity and full participation in community life, through advocacy, support for education access, and sensitization of families and communities.

Activities

  • Supporting people with disabilities and their families
  • Promoting access to education for people with disabilities
  • Advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities
  • Sensitizing families and communities on disability inclusion
  • Promoting equal opportunity in community life

Who this work is for

  • — People with disabilities
  • — Children with disabilities and their families
  • — Communities building inclusive practices

Health Awareness

UPSDE promotes healthier communities through education and awareness activities focused on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and broader family welfare and health topics.

Activities

  • HIV/AIDS education and awareness campaigns
  • Awareness of sexually transmitted infections
  • General health education in communities
  • Promoting family welfare and healthy households
  • Community awareness events and outreach

Who this work is for

  • — Community members of all ages
  • — Young people and families
  • — Groups at higher risk of health challenges

Pillar 04

Youth and Community Development

Practical opportunities for young people and communities through life skills, economic groups, agriculture and environmental action.

Mothers and young children seated together during a UPSDE youth and community development gathering
Community gathering

Apprentice Programme for Young Women

This apprenticeship supports out-of-school young women to become skilled, self-reliant tailors. Through hands-on training, mentorship and small-business guidance, young women gain a marketable trade and a genuine path to economic independence.

Activities

  • Hands-on tailoring and garment-making training
  • Mentorship and life-skills support for young women
  • Guidance on running a small tailoring enterprise
  • Pathways to employment and self-employment

Who this work is for

  • — Out-of-school young women
  • — Young women seeking a vocational trade
  • — Young women pursuing economic independence
A young woman operating a sewing machine surrounded by fabrics during a UPSDE tailoring apprenticeship

Practical tailoring skills

Out-of-school young women learn hands-on tailoring and garment-making skills, building a marketable trade and a genuine pathway toward economic independence.

Youth Empowerment

UPSDE empowers young people to build sustainable livelihoods through economic groups, life skills, capacity building, and opportunities in education, agriculture, and entrepreneurship.

Activities

  • Facilitating youth economic groups
  • Life skills training for young people
  • Connecting youth with education opportunities
  • Supporting youth agricultural investment groups
  • Capacity building and entrepreneurship support

Who this work is for

  • — Young people seeking economic opportunity
  • — Youth groups and cooperatives
  • — Young people out of school or employment

Environment and Agriculture

UPSDE links environmental care with economic opportunity — promoting sanitation, conservation, and tree planting while supporting agricultural improvement and youth agricultural groups as a route to poverty reduction.

Activities

  • Environmental sanitation activities
  • Conservation and environmental protection
  • Tree planting initiatives
  • Supporting agricultural improvement
  • Facilitating youth agricultural groups

Who this work is for

  • — Rural and urban communities
  • — Smallholder farming households
  • — Youth agricultural groups
UPSDE trainee technicians standing with weighing scales during outdoor field training

Featured programme

Practical Scale Technician Training

Practical Scale Technician Training turns a specialised technical skill into a livelihood. Young people learn to repair, service and calibrate weighing scales, then prepare for official Weights and Measures Agency (WMA) certification — the recognised route to becoming a licensed technician and to steady employment or self-employment.

View full programme

Beyond the core pillars

Other Areas of Work

Additional activities UPSDE carries out alongside its core programs, in response to community needs.

  • 01Support for deprived women and children
  • 02Referrals to justice and legal support systems
  • 03Connecting beneficiaries to required support services
  • 04Community sensitization and awareness campaigns
  • 05Health and disease awareness education
  • 06Environmental awareness activities
  • 07Community surveys, assessments and related training activities

A responsible starting point

Support should respond to a documented need.

Contact UPSDE before donating materials, professional time or funding so the team can confirm what is currently needed and how it can be used.

Contact the team

Take the next step

Every area of work begins with listening.

Talk with UPSDE about a community need, a referral or a responsible partnership.

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