Innovative Projects to Reintegrate Child Soldiers & Refugees
There are over 300,000 child soldiers worldwide, according to UNICEF. In northern Uganda, 1 in 6 girls and 1 in 3 boys were abducted as child soldiers during the 30-year war with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), forced to commit atrocities and facing stigma upon return.
Founded in 2007 and led by a former child soldier, the Grassroots Reconciliation Group (GRG) helps rehabilitate former child soldiers through innovative socio-economic and trauma counseling projects in rural northern Uganda.
- Our focus is on women and girls—57% of our participants. Female former child soldiers face particular stigma and trauma.
- We work in remote communities where trauma and socio-economic needs are highest. We are frequently the only organization operating in those areas.
- We have 3 main projects:
- Entrepreneurship and microfinance, including literacy training
- Trauma counseling, including community theater
- Conflict resolution and mediation
Impact:
- Rehabilitation: successfully helped reintegrate over 2,600 former child soldiers.
- Trauma healing: 95% of former child soldiers reported having fewer to no more traumatic nightmares after participating in trauma counseling projects.
- Entrepreneurship: beneficiaries have started over 700 new small businesses.
- Education: beneficiaries put 740 of their children in school with income from GRG entrepreneurship projects.
- Sustainability: over 90% of project groups remained working together after graduation from GRG projects.
- Award: United Nations Award for Intercultural Innovation, 2019
- Transparency: Guidestar/Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency, 2024.
Mission: To empower former child soldiers, post-conflict communities, and refugees to help heal war trauma and rebuild their lives. GRG projects are designed by participants themselves at the grassroots level in northern Uganda.
Overall current annual budget: $45,000
Grassroots Reconciliation Group 