The BOMA Project and Catholic Relief Services Sign Agreement to Expand BOMA’s Poverty Graduation Program into Karamoja, Uganda
The BOMA Project and Catholic Relief Services have finalized an agreement to expand BOMA's poverty graduation model into the Karamoja region of Uganda. The program helps ultra-poor women in some of the most and under-served regions in Africa become self-sufficient and build resilience to shocks.
- (1888PressRelease) March 27, 2019 - The BOMA Project a U.S. nonprofit and Kenyan NGO with a transformative approach to alleviating poverty and building resiliency in the drylands of Africa, announced the finalization of a partnership agreement with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to implement the Rural Entrepreneur Access Project (REAP), BOMA’s innovative gender-focused poverty graduation model, in Karamoja, Uganda.
BOMA is a subrecipient under CRS (prime recipient) in a Development Food Security Activity (DFSA) awarded under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Food for Peace (FFP) program. The project, which is being branded as “Nuyok”, meaning “it is ours” in the local language, Karimojong, is implemented by a consortium comprised of CRS, BOMA and six additional organizations:
• Caritas Kotido and Caritas Moroto: local implementing partners
• International Institute for Cooperation and Development: technical leadership in water supply and youth vocational and technical skills building
• Communication for Development Foundation Uganda: technical partner on community-based social and behavior change communication
• Veterinarians Without Borders: technical lead for livestock activities focused on improved animal health
• Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University: research and learning partner
• YouthBuild International: technical lead in programming that will target youth with opportunities for education, leadership and employability
The goal of the project is to help build resilience to shocks, enhance livelihoods and improve food and nutrition security for vulnerable rural families in four districts of Karamoja – Abim, Nakapiripirit, Nabilatuk and Napak—through interventions in Maternal and Child Health/Nutrition, Agriculture and Livelihoods, and Civil Society and Disaster Readiness
BOMA will be providing technical assistance to Caritas Moroto to implement REAP on the ground for 1,635 women to help them achieve food security, better nutrition and health, gender equity, and overall resilience, and working closely with CRS and Caritas Moroto on program design and measurement.
“Our partnership with CRS is part of our larger strategic plan to scale our model across the drylands of Africa through government adoption and partnerships with NGOs,” says BOMA Executive Director John Stephens. “This will be BOMA’s first activity in a country outside Kenya, and we are very excited to take this next step toward achieving our goal. Both BOMA and CRS are committed to creating transformative change in the world’s most fragile and marginalized regions, and we share key values, including a belief in human dignity and the ability of all people to thrive.”
As a gender-focused program that targets women living in extreme poverty and gives them the skills and resources they need to earn an income, establish savings and build resiliency, REAP has proven to be an effective, life-changing approach to achieving four of the United Nations’ most urgent Sustainable Development Goals: ending extreme poverty, ending hunger, combating climate change impacts and achieving gender equity by 2030. According to its rigorous impact evaluations, an average of 93% of participants have “graduated” from extreme poverty at the end of the two-year REAP program, based on BOMA’s strict criteria related to food security, sustainable livelihoods, shock preparedness and human capital investment.
“BOMA’s commitment to innovative, sustainable solutions for ending extreme poverty and ensuring that vulnerable and marginalized people—especially women and girls—can live with dignity makes them an excellent partner in this project,” says Niek de Goeij, CRS Country Representative in Uganda. “We look forward to achieving significant impact in eastern Uganda together.”
About the BOMA Project: The BOMA Project is a registered U.S. nonprofit and Kenyan NGO that implements a sustainable, high-impact poverty graduation program for extremely poor women in the ASALs of Africa. In 2016, BOMA was among the first four nonprofits worldwide to pass a rigorous “impact audit” conducted by Impact Matters, an organization led by Yale economist Dean Karlan that helps donors identify nonprofits that offer the best return on charitable dollars. Since 2009, BOMA has helped 22,915 women, supporting 114,575 children, to forge their own paths out of extreme poverty . BOMA’s goal is to reach one million women and children by 2022.
About CRS:
Founded during World War II by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief Services is an international humanitarian organization that seeks to end poverty, hunger and disease. CRS is now one of the largest and most trusted relief and development agencies in the world, working in 110 countries and reaching more than 136 million people.
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