UWEZO, which means ‘ability’ in Swahili, was founded in 2010 by Bahati Satir Omar, who identified the need for a youth-led disability organization working at a national level in Rwanda. UWEZO works to enable children and young people with disabilities to regain their self-confidence through the development of skills and actively participate in society by improving social integration.

They advocate and raise awareness of equal rights and opportunities for children and young people with disabilities within Rwanda, focussing on training, peer support and mentoring, internship programs, education and advocacy.

UWEZO became partners with Able Child Africa in October 2016. Inspired by their passion and vision, our first project together involved successfully piloting a mentoring model where young people with disabilities mentored children with disabilities in an attempt to tackle poor educational outcomes for children in Rwanda. Following the success of that program, we have gone on to secure new multi-year grants to upscale this work as their success has gained recognition in the international arena. UWEZO were one of the founding members of the Able Child Africa Network in 2023.

Through our partnership with Able Child Africa, we have been able to build national networks of advocates; young people with disabilities empowered to campaign for the rights of themselves and the next generation of children.

– Bahati Omar, Director at UWEZO