About UPLUS

We Fight Child Abandonment
From the Inside Out

Founded by individuals with lived experience of abandonment, UPLUS is committed to ensuring no child has to face the same pain of growing up without a stable, loving family.

Our Story Work With Us
UPLUS community work
Who We Are

Born from Experience.
Driven by Purpose.

UPLUS Empowerment and Transformation International was founded by individuals who personally experienced the care system and the pain of growing up without a stable family. That lived experience is what drives every decision we make.

Our heart is to see every child grow up in a safe and loving family with a mother, father, and siblings, supported by strong and stable households. We respond to community crises that drive family instability — poverty, lack of clean water, HIV/AIDS, and limited access to basic needs.

We are also radical advocates for care reforms at local and global levels — working with stakeholders to shift systems away from institutionalisation toward family-based care.

Partner With Us Our Projects
UPLUS team in community
Our Direction

Vision & Mission

VISION

Our Vision

A future where every child in Africa grows up safe, loved, and raised within a stable family.

MISSION

Our Mission

To prevent child abandonment by strengthening families, responding to community crises, and empowering vulnerable households through practical support, education, and community-driven transformation.

What We Stand For

Our Core Values

Family First

We believe every child deserves to grow up in a safe, loving, and stable family environment. This guides every decision we make.

Community Responsibility

Lasting change happens when communities take shared responsibility for protecting children and supporting families in need.

Dignity & Respect

We honour the value of every person and treat all individuals with fairness, respect, and humanity — regardless of circumstance.

Sustainability

We focus on long-term solutions that strengthen families and systems for lasting impact across generations.

The Problem We Solve

35 Million Children Abandoned Across Africa

38% of Africa's 1.58 billion population faces the pressure of family instability. Approximately 1 in every 17 children across the continent is abandoned daily. Poverty, domestic violence, conflict, and over-reliance on orphanages are fuelling a silent crisis.

38%
of Africa's population affected by family instability
1 in 17
children across Africa abandoned daily
#1
cause: poverty and family instability
Leadership

Our Founders

UPLUS was built on lived experience and an unbreakable promise to every child who has been left behind.

James Ssekitto

James Ssekitto

Founder & Executive Director

James brings lived experience of the care system and a deep passion for ensuring every child in Africa grows up in a loving, stable family.

Moses Maanyi

Moses Maanyi

Co-Founder

Moses channels his personal journey through family separation into designing evidence-based programs that create lasting, measurable change.

UPLUS Team

UPLUS Field Team

Community Coordinators & Staff

Our dedicated team works daily across Kampala communities to identify vulnerability and deliver life-changing support to families in need.

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A Promise from the Founders

"We will dedicate our lives to ending child abandonment by strengthening families, empowering communities, and restoring hope to every young person who has been left behind or forgotten. We promise to work with honesty, compassion, and determination until every child is safe within a loving family and every young person has a fair chance to build their future."

— James Ssekitto & Moses Maanyi, Founders