Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy Uganda
Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy Uganda
Rwenzori Center for Research and advocacy (RCRA Uganda) was established in 2010 in Uganda as a local regional organization by a group of professionals including medical doctors, social scientists, biostatistician, and public health leaders with a purpose of empowering Africa’s poorest, most crisis prone and marginalised communities for improved livelihoods, healthcare, social protection, and education and appropriate for the 21st century.
In 2014, RCRA expanded operations and incorporated as national NGO (registration number 150313682NB) National registration allowed RCRA to be governed by local Board of Directors whose responsibilities include provision of oversight and strategic direction for the organization. RCRA Uganda has a National secretariat in Naalya, Kampala managed by a Senior Management Team (SMT) that is answerable to the National Board of Directors.
In 2020, RCRA registered with the United States, in Ohio State and was granted a 501(C) (3) foreign public charity status by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as tax-exempted organization. RCRA strives to improve healthcare, education, climate resilience, and livelihoods outcomes for the marginalised and vulnerable women, children, adolescents, and their communities in Africa’s nation. Over the years, the work has further evolved into a mixture of long-term development programming research and capacity building. In the same year, through agreement with Ministry of Health, RCRA established a private not-for-profit Community Health Centre III and Adolescent Centre offering free and subsidised comprehensive adolescent and youth sexual reproductive health services (HIV Testing and Counselling, STI/STDs screening, adolescents antenatal care, cancer screening, Family Planning), the health centre has since expanded services through its integrated family planning mobile day-clinics model in the most hard to reach and remote communities in Rwenzori region.
In 2023, RCRA established headquarters in Kampala as central office for coordination, scale-up, national engagements and business development in the East African Community (EAC)Member States (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, DRC, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya), and Horn of Africa, Central Africa, and Western Africa, collaborating with a vast network of community-based organization.
RCRA believes in working with others to increase impact by sharing best practices and engaging in continued learning. RCRA is an active member of numeral global networks that include and not limited to Reproductive Maternal New-born Child Health (PMNCH) hosted at World Health Organization in Geneva; SRHR and Climate Justice Coalition; Girls Not Brides Global Partnership United Kingdom; Partnership of Every Woman Every Child (EWEC); Steering committee of Uganda Reproductive Maternal New-born, Child, Adolescents and Aging Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAAH+N) Platform; Global Digital Health Forum (GDHF); Youth Advocacy and Development Network Uganda (YADNET); Uganda National Population, Health and Environment Network, Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) and Uganda Healthcare Federation (UHF), and Global Financing Facility Civil Society working group.