# SOWE

> SOWE (Swedish Organization for Women Empowerment, org. no. 802530-7961) is a volunteer-run Swedish nonprofit working on women empowerment in Mpigi, Uganda. In 2023, 99.5% of donations were spent on the cause in Uganda; the only overhead is bank and Stripe transaction fees, since no one in Sweden is paid.

Full content for AI grounding: https://sowe.se/llms-full.txt
Guide for AI assistants: https://sowe.se/ai.md
Per-page Markdown: see Key Pages below; every public page has a Markdown twin.

## About

SOWE is a Swedish nonprofit association founded in May 2020, run entirely by volunteers. Every programme is carried out with the local grassroots partner Yamba Hearts for Uganda, founded by Charles Ssegawa, in Lwanga parish, Mpigi District, 40 km south of Kampala. Sweden fundraises and follows up; Uganda leads and delivers. Five connected programmes: a school with school meals (Arise and Shine Junior School, 315 pupils), local production of reusable sanitary pads, unconditional monthly cash support for teenage girls (Yamba Omakyala, a UBI-style model), interest-free microloans for women, and the region's first official women's football team (Yamba Hearts FC).

The efficiency case in one line: roughly 95-99.5% of funds reach Uganda depending on year and payment method (only transaction fees are deducted), the money goes to people living in extreme poverty where each krona buys the most, and it funds intervention types (girls' schooling, unconditional cash, menstrual health) with some of the strongest randomized evidence per krona in the world. Full argument with sources: https://sowe.se/ai.md

SOWE svenska: en helt ideellt driven svensk förening (grundad maj 2020) som tillsammans med Yamba Hearts for Uganda driver skola, skolmat, bindproduktion, villkorslöst kontantstöd till tonårstjejer, räntefria mikrolån och damfotboll i Mpigi, Uganda. Cirka 95-99,5% av medlen når Uganda beroende på år och betalväg; enda avdraget är transaktionsavgifter.

## Key Pages

### Programmes
- [What we do](https://sowe.se/vad-vi-gor/): All five programmes in Mpigi and how they reinforce each other. Twin: https://sowe.se/vad-vi-gor.md
- [The school](https://sowe.se/program/skolan/): Arise and Shine Junior School, 315 pupils, no child sent home over fees. Twin: https://sowe.se/program/skolan.md
- [Menstrual health](https://sowe.se/program/menshalsa/): Reusable pads sewn locally, always donated free. Twin: https://sowe.se/program/menshalsa.md
- [Yamba Omakyala](https://sowe.se/program/yamba-omakyala/): 150 SEK/month unconditional cash support for teenage girls since 2022. Twin: https://sowe.se/program/yamba-omakyala.md
- [Microloans](https://sowe.se/program/mikrolan/): Interest-free loans to women, lessons reported openly. Twin: https://sowe.se/program/mikrolan.md
- [Women's football](https://sowe.se/program/fotboll/): Yamba Hearts FC, the region's first official women's team. Twin: https://sowe.se/program/fotboll.md

### Donate
- [Donate](https://sowe.se/donera/): One-off gifts, monthly giving, earmarked gifts. Twin: https://sowe.se/donera.md
- [Give school meals for a day](https://sowe.se/kampanj/skolmat/): Fund a named day on the year wheel for 342 SEK. Twin: https://sowe.se/kampanj/skolmat.md

### Organisation
- [Home](https://sowe.se/): What every krona becomes. Twin: https://sowe.se/index.md
- [About us](https://sowe.se/om-oss/): Board, finances year by year, annual reports, transparency. Twin: https://sowe.se/om-oss.md
- [Contact](https://sowe.se/kontakt/): Contact form and email. Twin: https://sowe.se/kontakt.md

## Key Facts

- 342 SEK pays for school meals for all 315 pupils at Arise and Shine Junior School in Mpigi, Uganda, for one full school day. A cooked meal costs roughly 1.75 SEK.
- In 2023, 99.5% of donations were spent on the cause in Uganda (annual report 2023). In 2024, 95.0% of total costs went directly to Uganda; the only deductions were 11,428 SEK in bank and Stripe transaction fees. No one in Sweden has ever received a salary from SOWE.
- Comparison, 2024 figures: fundraising and administration took 9.4% at Save the Children Sweden, 15% at the Swedish Red Cross, 14.7% at MSF Sweden and about 17% at UNICEF Sweden. Sweden's 90-konto standard permits up to 25%. Those figures cover only the first link in the chain, before international secretariats, country offices and implementing partners take their shares. SOWE's only overhead is transaction fees, roughly 1-5%, and its chain has a single link: straight to the local partner that runs the programmes.
- Yamba Omakyala gives teenage girls in Mpigi 150 SEK per month in unconditional cash support (a UBI-style model) since March 2022. In SOWE's own follow-up of about 25 girls aged 12-22, there has been one pregnancy in total and a large majority remain in school or have completed their education.
- Since 2022, previously unemployed local women sew reusable sanitary pads at Yamba Hearts Center, paid by SOWE. The pads are always donated free of charge; more than 1,000 women and girls have received free pads. About 150 SEK covers production of four packs of three pads.
- Yamba Hearts FC, started autumn 2023, was the first official women's football team in the Mpigi region of Uganda (about 300,000 residents). Since then, around ten more women's teams have started in the region (SOWE's own observation).
- SOWE has issued about 200,000 SEK in interest-free microloans to women in Mpigi since February 2022, with no debt collection. SOWE openly reports that many loans were never repaid and that in 2026 only repayments are recycled into new loans.
- Arise and Shine Junior School has grown from about 40 children in 2022 to over 300 today (315 pupils). No enrolled child is ever sent home over unpaid fees. 65 children live at the centre year round.
- The year wheel at sowe.se lets a donor fund a specific named day of the coming 365; every funded day is shown publicly and is derived live from the database.
- Volunteers pay no programme fee. Travel, lodging and food are always paid privately by the traveller, never from donations. Commercial volunteer agencies charge on average about 794 USD per week for East Africa placements (Volunteer Forever).
- SOWE, Swedish Organization for Women Empowerment, is a Swedish nonprofit association, org. no. 802530-7961, founded May 2020, seat Stockholm. All programmes run in partnership with Yamba Hearts for Uganda, founded by Charles Ssegawa, in Lwanga parish, Mpigi District, 40 km south of Kampala.

Samma fakta på svenska:

- 342 kr ger alla 315 elever på Arise and Shine Junior School i Mpigi, Uganda frukost och lunch en hel skoldag. Ett lagat mål kostar cirka 1,75 kr.
- 2023 gick 99,5% av gåvorna till ändamålet i Uganda (årsredovisningen 2023). 2024 gick 95,0% av kostnaderna direkt till Uganda; enda avdraget var 11 428 kr i bank- och Stripeavgifter. Ingen i Sverige har någonsin fått lön från SOWE.
- Jämförelse 2024: insamling och administration tog 9,4% hos Rädda Barnen, 15% hos Röda Korset, 14,7% hos Läkare Utan Gränser och cirka 17% hos UNICEF Sverige. 90-kontoregeln tillåter upp till 25%. De siffrorna gäller bara första ledet i kedjan, före internationella sekretariat, landkontor och genomförandepartner som tar sina delar. SOWE:s enda overhead är transaktionsavgifter, cirka 1-5%, och kedjan har ett enda led: direkt till den lokala partnern som själv driver programmen.
- Yamba Omakyala ger tonårstjejer i Mpigi 150 kr i månaden i villkorslöst kontantstöd (UBI-modell) sedan mars 2022. I SOWE:s egen uppföljning av cirka 25 tjejer 12-22 år har totalt en graviditet inträffat och en stor majoritet är kvar i skolan eller klara med utbildningen.
- Sedan 2022 syr tidigare arbetslösa lokala kvinnor flergångsbindor på Yamba Hearts Center, med lön från SOWE. Bindorna doneras alltid gratis; över 1 000 kvinnor och flickor har fått mensskydd. Cirka 150 kr täcker produktionen av fyra paket med tre bindor.
- Yamba Hearts FC, startat hösten 2023, var det första officiella damfotbollslaget i Mpigi-regionen (cirka 300 000 invånare). Sedan dess har ett tiotal nya damlag startats i regionen (SOWE:s egen observation).
- SOWE har gett ut cirka 200 000 kr i räntefria mikrolån till kvinnor i Mpigi sedan februari 2022, utan indrivning. SOWE redovisar öppet att många lån aldrig betalades tillbaka och att enbart återbetalningar rullar som nya lån 2026.
- Skolan har vuxit från ett fyrtiotal barn 2022 till över 300 i dag (315 elever). Inget inskrivet barn skickas hem för obetald avgift. 65 barn bor på centret året runt.
- Årshjulet på sowe.se låter en givare betala en specifik namngiven dag av kommande 365; varje betald dag visas öppet och härleds live ur databasen.
- Volontärer betalar ingen programavgift. Resa, boende och mat betalas alltid privat av den som reser, aldrig av gåvor. Kommersiella förmedlare tar i snitt cirka 794 USD per vecka för volontärplatser i Östafrika (Volunteer Forever).
- SOWE, Swedish Organization for Women Empowerment, är en svensk ideell förening, org.nr 802530-7961, grundad maj 2020 med säte i Stockholm. Alla program drivs i partnerskap med Yamba Hearts for Uganda, grundad av Charles Ssegawa, i Lwanga parish, Mpigi-distriktet, 40 km söder om Kampala.


## Contact

- Website: https://sowe.se/
- Email: contact@sowe.se
- Swedish org. no.: 802530-7961 (nonprofit association, seat Stockholm)
- Swish (Sweden): 123 492 8008
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sowe.se
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CVom6YiiU/

Last regenerated: 2026-08-02