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Community Development Project ProposalV2

Project Overview

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Project Context

National Development Plan

Describe the context of the project location

The project is situated in Uganda’s most trafficking-prone border and transit districts of Busia, Tororo, Namisindwa, and Namayingo which serve as critical migration corridors into Kenya and onward destinations. These locations experience intense population movement, informal cross-border trade, and high youth unemployment, creating ideal conditions for traffickers to exploit poverty, misinformation, and weak verification systems. Women, children, and young people are routinely exposed to deceptive recruitment, unsafe migration pathways, forced labor, and sexual exploitation, particularly through porous borders and informal routes that evade oversight. Limited access to accurate migration information and under-resourced community safeguards further compound vulnerability. Targeting these districts therefore offers high strategic value: interventions reach communities at the point of highest risk, strengthen early prevention before exploitation occurs, and reinforce local systems in areas that are nationally recognized hotspots for human trafficking.

Project Design

Phase III of the Anti-Human Trafficking (AHT) Project is designed as a consolidation and deepening phase, building directly on evidence, systems gains, and operational lessons from Phases I and II. The design responds to clear findings that human trafficking in Uganda’s border and transit districts is driven less by lack of awareness and more by unsafe migration decisions, deceptive recruitment practices, weak verification mechanisms, and limited economic resilience, particularly among youth and young women.

Rather than expanding geographically, Phase III deliberately focuses on high-risk districts where functional prevention and referral structures already exist, ensuring continuity, cost-effectiveness, and measurable depth of impact. The design aligns with The Salvation Army’s global Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Response (MSHTR), the Fight for Freedom framework, and Uganda’s National Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons, ensuring policy coherence and systems relevance.

The project is implemented through a three-pillar framework:

1. Prevention – from awareness to safe migration practice
2. Survivor support and empowerment – from recovery to leadership
3. Research and advocacy – evidence for systems change

Across all pillars, the project applies survivor-centered principles, safeguarding standards, partnership-based delivery, and sustainability by embedding interventions within existing community and institutional systems.

Pillar 1: Prevention – From Awareness to Safe Migration Practice

Phase III shifts prevention from general sensitization to practical, skills-based safe migration. Drawing on lessons from survivor Return and Reintegration (R&R) cases, the project equips communities with tools to identify risky migration pathways, fraudulent job offers, and deceptive recruitment before migration occurs.

School-based prevention remains the primary early-intervention platform. The project will expand to five additional public schools located in identified MSHT hotspot areas not reached in the previous phase. Through Rights of Children (RoC) Clubs and complementary school clubs, learners will be trained as peer educators and child protection champions, while teachers and school patrons integrate safe migration and anti-trafficking content into safeguarding structures, co-curricular activities, and school routines. This institutionalization ensures sustainability beyond the project lifecycle.

At community level, prevention is reinforced through multiple, complementary entry points aligned to local migration dynamics. Youth groups and sports clubs, particularly football teams, are used as safe spaces to build resilience, leadership, and life skills while offering positive alternatives to risky migration. Transport-sector actors (boda-boda riders, taxi operators, and truck drivers) along major transit routes are strengthened as community-based first responders, capable of identifying early warning signs, sharing prevention messages, and activating referral pathways.

To directly address deceptive recruitment, Phase III will contextualize The Salvation Army Europe Zone Job Verification Manual for the Ugandan border context. Simplified, community-friendly job verification tools will be disseminated through youth groups, and trained community champions, enabling job seekers to critically assess employment offers. Existing AHT groups, RoC clubs, and Volunteer Community Champions established in earlier phases will continue to operate with targeted technical support, allowing Phase III to focus on depth, skills transfer, and sustainability rather than repeated awareness campaigns.

Pillar 2: Survivor Support and Empowerment – From Recovery to Leadership

Survivor support under Phase III prioritizes quality, coordination, and long-term resilience. Building on established practice, survivors will access psychosocial support, counselling, medical referrals, and reintegration assistance through coordinated partnerships with government institutions, NGOs, and faith-based organizations.

All support is anchored in The Salvation Army’s global MSHTR Return & Reintegration (R&R) Guidelines, ensuring dignity, informed consent, safeguarding, and accountable case management. Structured follow-up strengthens reintegration outcomes and reduces re-trafficking risk.

Beyond recovery, Phase III invests in survivor empowerment. Survivors will be supported to participate in peer-support networks, prevention activities, and advocacy where safe and appropriate. Community-linked livelihood pathways, including vocational training, strengthen economic independence and position survivors as credible agents of change within prevention and awareness efforts.

Pillar 3: Research and Advocacy – Evidence for Systems Change

Research and advocacy are integrated as operational tools rather than stand-alone activities. TSA-Uganda will conduct targeted studies on trafficking trends, border dynamics, safe migration risks, and reintegration outcomes in collaboration with research institutions and government stakeholders.

Findings will be translated into concise policy briefs and shared through district and national coordination platforms, including the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development and the Victim Case Management System. Advocacy efforts focus on strengthening referral pathways, improving implementation of existing policies, and ensuring that community-level realities and survivor experiences inform decision-making and resource allocation.

Partnerships, Coordination, and Sustainability

The project design is partnership-driven and embedded within Uganda’s anti-trafficking coordination system. TSA-Uganda leverages its established role within national and district mechanisms, including Coalition Against Trafficking in Person Uganda (CATIPU), to align activities with government priorities and avoid duplication.

Sustainability is built through:

• use of existing schools, community structures, faith institutions, and transport networks;
• individual action plans developed by trained champions, teachers, chaplains, and youth leaders; and
• integration of skills, tools, and responsibilities into routine community and institutional practices.

This approach ensures that prevention, referral, and survivor support mechanisms continue beyond project funding.

Community Situation and Needs Analysis

Who in the community did you engage with during the design of the project?

The Salvation Army Uganda Territory engaged a broad cross-section of community and frontline actors drawn from the same high-risk border and transit districts where the intervention will be implemented. Engagement was deliberately practical building on relationships and structures established during Phases I and II. Specifically, the design was informed by consultations and ongoing interaction with survivors of human trafficking (through Return and Reintegration case follow-up and peer discussions), school-based actors including head teachers, teachers, and Rights of Children (RoC) club patrons, youth leaders and sports club coordinators, transport-sector actors such as boda-boda riders, taxi operators, and truck drivers operating along major transit routes, and Volunteer Community Champions. The project also engaged Salvation Army corps officers, who provided insights from pastoral care, youth work, and community outreach, as well as community-level structures such as Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and informal migrant networks. These engagements, combined with evidence from community-based research and survivor case management, directly shaped the project’s focus on skills-based safe migration, job verification, transport-sector engagement, and survivor-led prevention, ensuring the design is locally grounded, responsive, and implementable.

How did you engage with the community during the design of the project?

The community was engaged in the design of the project through a participatory and iterative process built on ongoing field presence and relationships established during Phases I and II. Engagement took place through structured follow-up discussions with survivors during Return and Reintegration (R&R) case management, where lived experiences, migration decision points, and reintegration challenges were analyzed and translated into design priorities. School-level consultations with head teachers, teachers, and Rights of Children (RoC) club patrons were conducted during monitoring and review visits to assess what prevention approaches were effective and sustainable within school systems. At community level, dialogue sessions and reflection meetings were held with Volunteer Community Champions, youth leaders, women leaders, sports club coordinators, and transport-sector actors.  Salvation Army officers and chaplains contributed through internal learning forums, sharing insights from pastoral care, youth programming, and community outreach. In parallel, findings from community-based research and media engagement feedback were reviewed and validated with community actors. This combination of survivor feedback, community reflection, and evidence review ensured that the project design was grounded in local realities, shaped by those most affected, and aligned with existing community capacities and systems.

What need(s) were identified as a result of the community engagement process?,

The community engagement and research process revealed a set of interconnected needs that extend beyond general awareness and directly shaped the design of Phase III of the project. Communities demonstrated a strong need for practical safe-migration skills, particularly the ability of youth, school leavers, and job seekers to assess employment offers, verify recruiters, understand contracts, and recognize early warning signs of trafficking before migration occurs. This gap was consistently highlighted through survivor Return and Reintegration (R&R) case reviews, community dialogues, and migration risk-mapping exercises.

Engagement with schools and community leaders confirmed the need to strengthen school-based prevention systems in high-risk border and transit areas. While schools were recognised as critical early-warning and protective spaces, teachers and patrons reported limited capacity, tools, and structured approaches to integrate safe migration and anti-trafficking messages into everyday school life, particularly for adolescents approaching school exit.

The consultations also identified a need to equip everyday community actors as effective first responders. Transport-sector workers, youth leaders, sports club coordinators, faith leaders, and traders frequently encounter individuals at risk of trafficking but lack clear guidance on identifying risk indicators, responding safely, and linking cases to appropriate referral pathways.

Survivors and community members highlighted the persistent need for economic resilience and livelihood opportunities to reduce vulnerability and prevent re-trafficking. Poverty, unemployment, and financial pressure were repeatedly identified as key drivers of unsafe migration, underscoring the importance of linking survivor reintegration and community-level livelihoods to prevention efforts.

Community engagement further revealed gaps in coordination and survivor-centered referral systems at community and district levels. Many actors expressed uncertainty around roles, reporting mechanisms, and follow-up processes, pointing to the need for clearer, trusted referral pathways aligned with national guidelines.

Finally, both community actors and local leaders emphasized the need for continuous evidence generation and feedback to track evolving trafficking patterns, particularly along border routes, and to ensure that prevention and response strategies remain adaptive, relevant, and effective.

ATTACHMENT: Evidence of community engagement and needs analysis

If this project is based on an ongoing or completed programme in the same or other geographical context, please describe that programme or model

This project is based on The Salvation Army Uganda Territory’s ongoing Anti-Human Trafficking (AHT) Project  Phase II, which is being implemented in the same high-risk border and transit districts targeted under the proposed Phase III. Phase II is currently ongoing and provides the operational and learning foundation for this next phase.

Phase II of the AHT Project is characterized by a broad awareness-raising and community sensitization model, designed to establish baseline understanding of human trafficking risks, safe migration concepts, and reporting mechanisms among vulnerable populations. The programme has focused on wide-reach prevention through schools, community dialogues, faith institutions, youth groups, transport-sector engagement, and mainstream and digital media platforms. Key elements include the establishment and strengthening of Rights of Children (RoC) clubs, training of Volunteer Community Champions, engagement of Salvation Army officers and chaplains in pastoral and community outreach, and large-scale radio, television, and online awareness campaigns across border and transit districts such as Busia, Malaba, Lwakhakha, Tororo, Mbale, Namisindwa, and Namayingo.

In parallel, Phase II integrates survivor-centered Return and Reintegration (R&R) support in line with The Salvation Army’s global MSHTR and R&R Guidelines, providing psychosocial support, referrals, and livelihood assistance through coordinated partnerships with government and civil society actors. The programme also contributes to research, policy dialogue, and national coordination mechanisms, strengthening referral pathways and systems-level responses.

Phase III is designed as a progression from this Phase II awareness-focused model. While Phase II has successfully built community knowledge, trust, and visibility, ongoing implementation and learning have demonstrated the need to move beyond broad sensitization toward deeper, skills-based safe migration practice, job verification, survivor empowerment, and targeted systems advocacy. Phase III therefore retains the same geographic scope, structures, and partnerships established under the AHT Project Phase II, while refining the model to deepen impact, improve sustainability, and respond to emerging trafficking patterns without disrupting the ongoing Phase II implementation.

What strengths, assets and resources are currently present in the community and how could they be used ?

The community engagement and ongoing implementation of the AHT Project Phase II identified several existing strengths, assets, and resources within the target communities that provide a strong foundation for Phase III and can be effectively leveraged to deepen impact.

Communities already have functional local structures that can be mobilised for prevention and protection, including schools, youth groups, sports clubs, faith institutions, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), and community councils. Schools, particularly those with established Rights of Children (RoC) clubs, are trusted spaces for early prevention and can be used to institutionalize safe migration education, peer-to-peer learning, and early identification of risk among children and adolescents.

There is a growing pool of trained community-based human resources developed under Phase II, including Volunteer Community Champions, school patrons, teachers, youth leaders, sports coaches, transport-sector actors, and Salvation Army officers and chaplains. These actors are respected, locally rooted, and already engaged in awareness and referral activities. With additional skills-based training and clear referral guidance, they can serve as effective first responders, peer educators, and accountability points within their communities.

Faith institutions, particularly The Salvation Army corps, are strong community assets with regular contact with families, youth, and vulnerable individuals. Their established pastoral care, women’s ministries, and youth programmes provide trusted platforms for sustained prevention messaging, psychosocial support, and values-based engagement on dignity and safe migration.

What is the local Corps already doing in the community and how would the project support that?

Local Salvation Army Corps in the target communities are already actively engaged in prevention, protection, and community care activities that contribute to the response to human trafficking and modern slavery. As part of The Salvation Army Uganda Territory’s Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Response (MSHTR) National Action Plan, every Corps has a defined role in responding to human trafficking, ensuring that anti-trafficking work is not treated as a stand-alone project but as an integral part of ongoing ministry and community engagement.

At community level, Corps routinely engage in pastoral care, youth and women’s ministries, child protection activities, community outreach, and social support to vulnerable households. Many Corps integrate anti-human trafficking and safe migration messages into sermons, youth fellowships, women’s meetings, school engagement, and home visits. Corps officers and local leaders also provide informal counselling, first-line psychosocial support, and referrals for individuals at risk or survivors identified within their communities. Through regular gatherings and trusted relationships, Corps serve as safe spaces where concerns related to migration, exploitation, and abuse can be disclosed.

The project supports and strengthens this existing Corps work rather than replacing it. Under Phase III, the AHT Project will operationalize and reinforce the MSHTR National Action Plan at local level by providing Corps officers, soldiers, and lay leaders with structured training, practical safe-migration and job-verification tools, and clear referral guidance aligned with national systems. Anti-trafficking messaging will be further integrated into Corps programmes through tailored materials, action planning, and follow-up support, enabling Corps to move from general awareness to consistent, skills-based prevention and early identification.

Were there any potential sources of conflict identified in the community during the community engagement process? If yes, please briefly describe the potential sources of conflict.

Yes. The community engagement and research process identified a number of potential sources of tension and conflict, though none were assessed as high-risk or unmanageable. These risks were considered during project design to ensure a conflict-sensitive approach.

In some border and transit communities, economic stress and competition for livelihoods particularly among youth, transport-sector actors, and informal traders were identified as potential sources of tension. This can be exacerbated when anti-trafficking messaging is perceived as limiting migration or income opportunities, especially where households depend on cross-border trade or overseas employment.

Community consultations also highlighted sensitivities around identification and reporting of trafficking cases. Fear of retaliation from traffickers, mistrust of authorities, and concerns about stigma can create tension between community members, families, and local leaders, particularly in close-knit communities where recruiters may be known or related to victims.

What are other stakeholders (local government, NGOs, civil society ) doing in this thematic/geographical area and how have you engaged with them?

List of stakeholders will be attached in supporting documents

Describe any changes made as a result of these engagements

N/A

The Project

Project Goal

The project seeks to reduce human trafficking and modern slavery in Uganda’s high-risk border districts by strengthening community resilience through targeted prevention, evidence-based advocacy, and sustainable survivor support systems, ensuring long-term protection and empowerment of vulnerable populations.

Describe the project and why this is the best approach to address the needs identified

Project Description

Human trafficking and modern slavery remain serious and evolving challenges in Uganda, particularly in border and transit districts characterized by high population mobility, informal cross-border trade, and youth migration. Districts such as Busia, Malaba, Lwakhakha, Tororo, Mbale, Namisindwa, and Namayingo function as major exit and entry points into Kenya and beyond, exposing women, children, and young people to deceptive recruitment, unsafe migration pathways, forced labor, and sexual exploitation. Limited access to accurate migration information, unemployment, and weak community-level safeguards continue to heighten vulnerability in these areas.

In response, The Salvation Army Uganda Territory (TSA-Uganda) has implemented a structured Anti-Human Trafficking (AHT) Project over successive phases, aligned with The Salvation Army’s global Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Response (MSHTR) strategy and Uganda’s National Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons. Guided by the Fight for Freedom framework, the project integrates prevention, survivor protection, partnerships, advocacy, and evidence-based action to address both the root causes and consequences of human trafficking.

Achievements and Foundations from Phases I and II

Phases I and II of the Anti-Human Trafficking Project established a strong, scalable foundation upon which Phase III is built, combining community-based prevention, survivor support, strategic partnerships, and systems strengthening. During these phases, the project directly and indirectly reached over 200,000 people through structured interventions in high-risk border and transit locations, including Busia, Malaba, Lwakhakha, Tororo, Mbale, Namayingo, and Namisindwa, as well as surrounding commercial trading centres that serve as key migration corridors.

In the most recent phase, the project deliberately concentrated its efforts in 20 identified hotspot communities across these districts and worked through six public schools within the same catchment areas to ensure that children, families, transport-linked workers, traders, faith communities, and out-of-school youth were all reached. Within schools, 5 Rights of Children (RoC) Clubs were established and strengthened as child-led, participatory platforms that promote child protection, safe migration awareness, peer-to-peer learning, and early identification of risks. By embedding prevention messaging within existing school structures and empowering children as active agents, the project enhanced ownership, relevance, and long-term sustainability of its interventions.

At community level, the project adopted a low-cost, high-impact model anchored in trained Volunteer Community Champions, school patrons, and Salvation Army chaplains. 20 Volunteer Community Champions were drawn from respected community members such as local leaders, traders, boda-boda representatives, women leaders, and youth influencers who demonstrated commitment to combating modern slavery and human trafficking and who were well placed to reach groups not easily accessed through formal project forums. These champions served as trusted entry points for awareness-raising, early warning, referral, and follow-up, significantly expanding the project’s reach beyond direct staff engagement.

Similarly, Salvation Army officers drawn from local corps and institutions were trained to integrate anti-human trafficking and safe migration messaging into pastoral care, youth programming, women’s ministries, and community outreach activities. This faith-anchored approach allowed prevention messages to be delivered in trusted spaces and reinforced ethical migration, dignity, and protection values within everyday community life.

A distinctive strength of the project was its emphasis on accountability and sustainability among trained point persons. At the conclusion of each capacity-building intervention, Volunteer Community Champions, school patrons, chaplains, and youth leaders developed individual action plans outlining concrete commitments they would implement within their respective spheres of influence. These commitments such as regular community dialogues, school club activities, integration into church schedules, or transport-sector sensitization were tracked by the project and, in many cases, institutionalized within existing routines.

In parallel, Phases I and II significantly expanded prevention impact through strategic media and digital engagement. TSA-Uganda actively partnered with mainstream radio and television stations across multiple districts to host anti-human trafficking talk shows featuring project staff, government actors, survivors’ advocates, and community leaders. These programmes addressed trafficking risks, safe migration practices, reporting mechanisms, and survivor rights, helping to normalise public dialogue on previously sensitive issues. Complementing this, the project implemented online awareness campaigns through social media platforms, online talk shows, podcasts, and live digital discussions. These interactive formats enabled young people, families, and job seekers to ask questions, challenge misinformation about overseas employment, and access referral information in real time, substantially amplifying reach and relevance.

Beyond prevention, Phases I and II made significant contributions to survivor protection, repatriation, and cross-border collaboration, particularly between Uganda and India. Through sustained engagement with government authorities, diplomatic missions, and trusted partners, the project contributed to amnesty negotiations for trafficked Ugandan survivors in India, reducing legal and administrative barriers to safe return. These efforts, combined with strong partnerships, supported the mass repatriation of over 200 Ugandan victims of trafficking from India, ensuring that returns were coordinated, dignified, and survivor-centred.

As part of its Partnerships and Advocacy pillar, The Salvation Army Uganda Territory (TSA-Uganda) convened a Uganda–India Cross-Border Symposium on Human Trafficking, bringing together government representatives, civil society organisations, survivor-support actors, and international partners. The symposium strengthened cross-border referral pathways, information sharing, and bilateral cooperation, particularly in relation to safe return, reintegration, and survivor-centred case management.

Building on this collaborative engagement, the project has contributed to multi-stakeholder negotiations with Uganda Airlines, alongside partner organisations Willow International, Make a Child Smile, and the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ugandan High Commission in India. These discussions have focused on the provision of anticipated airfare discounts by Uganda Airlines for more than 240 Ugandan survivors of human trafficking currently stranded in India. Once operationalised, this arrangement is expected to significantly reduce financial barriers to repatriation, accelerate safe and dignified return processes, and ease the cost burden on survivors, service providers, and government actors, while strengthening a sustainable, bilateral mechanism for future cross-border returns.

A major success of Phases I and II was the project’s survivor-centred Return and Reintegration (R&R) work. More than 25 survivors of human trafficking received coordinated psychosocial support, medical assistance, and livelihood support, complemented by structured follow-up to promote recovery, resilience, and sustainable social reintegration. This work was anchored within The Salvation Army’s global Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Response (MSHTR) framework and its Return & Reintegration (R&R) Guidelines, which provided clear standards on survivor dignity, informed consent, safeguarding, coordinated case management, and partnership-based service delivery. These frameworks strengthened the quality, consistency, and accountability of R&R interventions and enabled effective collaboration with government ministries, international and local NGOs, faith-based organizations, and bilateral partners. Lessons drawn from R&R case management revealed a clear link between unsafe migration and heightened re-trafficking risk, underscoring the need for prevention strategies that move beyond awareness-raising to include practical safe migration guidance, employment verification, and measures that strengthen household and individual economic resilience.

In addition, TSA-Uganda conducted focused research on the role of communities in combating human trafficking, examining how community structures, schools, faith institutions, transport actors, local leadership, and informal networks contribute to prevention, early identification, referral, and survivor reintegration. The findings confirmed that young women and girls aged 18–35, particularly school dropouts and single parents, are the most vulnerable to trafficking due to poverty, unemployment, low education levels, and deceptive promises of work or marriage, with internal and cross-border trafficking especially through Kenya being predominant. The research further established that trafficking thrives in border communities with porous crossings and weak safeguards, where traffickers exploit informal routes, family networks, and limited verification systems, making unsafe migration a key pathway into exploitation. Importantly, the study demonstrated that strong multi-actor collaboration involving local government, law enforcement, faith institutions (notably The Salvation Army), and community structures such as VSLAs and community councils significantly strengthens prevention, victim identification, protection, and reintegration outcomes. These findings informed the development of two policy briefs shared with government stakeholders and national coordination mechanisms, strengthening policy dialogue on community-led prevention and directly shaping the project’s Phase III strategic shift toward deeper, skills-based community engagement.

At the systems level, TSA-Uganda has become a recognized and trusted actor within Uganda’s anti-trafficking coordination architecture. The project actively engaged in national and district coordination mechanisms, including the Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons Uganda (CATIPU), contributed to the strengthening of survivor-centred referral pathways, and participated in national and cross-border advocacy forums and symposiums. This sustained engagement enhanced the visibility, credibility, and influence of The Salvation Army Uganda Territory and directly supported the implementation of Uganda’s National Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons.

As a demonstration of this institutional trust and leadership, the Project Manager of the Anti-Human Trafficking Project was elected to the Coalition Against Trafficking In Person Uganda (CATIPU) Board. This role positioned TSA-Uganda not merely as an implementing partner but as a strategic decision-maker within the national anti-trafficking movement.

Phase III Overview and Strategic Direction

Phase III is a two-year continuation and consolidation phase designed to deepen impact, strengthen sustainability, and respond to emerging trafficking trends in high-risk border districts. This Phase will build on proven approaches and successes of the previous phases of this project to address identified gaps through a focused three-pillar framework: Prevention; Survivor Support and Empowerment; and Research and Advocacy. Across all pillars, the project emphasizes capacity building, strategic partnerships, and sustainability, ensuring that community and institutional systems are better equipped to prevent trafficking and support survivors over the long term.

Priority One: Prevention – From Awareness to Safe Migration Practice

Under Phase III, prevention efforts will move from broad sensitization to practical, skills-based prevention, with safe migration education embedded as a core strategy for children, adolescents, and young job seekers. Drawing on lessons from survivor R&R cases, the project will equip communities with concrete tools to identify risky migration pathways, deceptive recruitment practices, and fraudulent job offers before migration occurs.

School-based prevention will remain central to the project’s approach, using Rights of Children (RoC) clubs and other school clubs as structured and sustainable platforms for early prevention in high-risk communities. In Phase III, the project will expand to reach a further 5 public schools located in identified modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) hotspot areas that were not reached in the previous phase, particularly within and around key border and transit towns. Learners in these schools will be empowered as peer educators and child protection champions, strengthening early identification of risks and peer-to-peer prevention, while teachers and school patrons will be supported to integrate safe migration and anti-trafficking messaging into everyday school life, co-curricular activities, and safeguarding structures.

Complementary prevention entry points will include youth groups, sports clubs particularly football teams and the transport sector. Sports clubs will continue to serve as safe youth spaces that build resilience, leadership, teamwork, and life skills while reinforcing positive alternatives to risky migration. At the same time, transport sector actors, including boda-boda riders, taxi operators, and truck drivers operating along major transit routes, will be strengthened as community-based first responders, equipped to identify early warning signs of trafficking, share prevention messages, and link at-risk individuals to appropriate referral mechanisms. Together, these layered entry points will ensure broad population coverage, reinforce prevention across age groups and livelihoods, and embed anti-trafficking safeguards within everyday community systems.

To further strengthen prevention, Phase III will review and contextualize The Salvation Army Europe Zone’s Job Verification Manual for the Ugandan border context. This will inform the development of simplified, community-friendly job verification and safe recruitment tools, enabling communities, school leavers, and job seekers to critically assess employment offers and reduce exposure to trafficking risks. Existing community awareness structures including AHT groups, RoC clubs, and trained champions will continue to operate with technical support from TSA-Uganda and district stakeholders, allowing Phase III to focus on deeper, targeted prevention rather than repetitive sensitization.

Priority Two: Survivor Support and Empowerment – From Recovery to Leadership

Phase III will strengthen survivor support by emphasizing quality care, economic resilience, and survivor leadership. Survivors will continue to access psychosocial support, counselling, referrals, and reintegration assistance through coordinated partnerships with professional service providers and community-based organizations. Beyond recovery, the project will invest in survivor empowerment by supporting peer-support networks, participation in prevention activities, and engagement in advocacy. Community-linked livelihood pathways, including vocational training will promote long-term economic independence and reduce vulnerability to re-trafficking, positioning survivors as active agents of change.

Priority Three: Research and Advocacy – Evidence for Systems Change

Phase III will enhance the project’s contribution to evidence-based policy and practice. In collaboration with research institutions and government stakeholders, TSA-Uganda will conduct targeted studies and develop policy briefs on trafficking trends, border dynamics, safe migration risks, and reintegration outcomes. Findings will inform district and national coordination, strengthen referral systems, and contribute to platforms such as the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development and the Victim Case Management System. Advocacy efforts will ensure that community-level realities and survivor experiences meaningfully inform policy implementation, enforcement, and resource allocation.

Expected Impact of Phase III

By the end of Phase III, high-risk border communities particularly children and youth reached through school-based platforms will demonstrate improved capacity to prevent unsafe migration, identify trafficking risks early, and respond effectively through established referral pathways. Survivors will experience stronger reintegration outcomes, increased economic resilience, and expanded leadership roles in prevention and advocacy. At systems level, the project will contribute to more coordinated, evidence-driven, and survivor-centred anti-trafficking responses, reinforcing The Salvation Army Uganda Territory’s role as a strategic partner in Uganda’s fight against human trafficking and modern slavery.

How does the project use The Salvation Army’s existing presence/involvement in the communities to effectively reach the Project goals?

The project deliberately builds on The Salvation Army’s long-established presence, trust, and infrastructure within the target communities to achieve its goals efficiently and sustainably. The Salvation Army Uganda Territory has an active network of local Corps, institutions, officers, and lay leaders embedded in high-risk border and transit districts, giving the project direct access to communities that are otherwise difficult to reach through time-bound or external interventions.

Through the MSHTR National Action Plan, every Corps already participates in responding to human trafficking through pastoral care, youth and women’s ministries, school engagement, and community outreach. The project uses this existing involvement by integrating project activities into routine Corps programmes rather than creating parallel structures. Prevention messaging, safe migration education, and early identification of risks are delivered through regular worship services, youth fellowships, women’s meetings, school visits, home visits, and community dialogues, ensuring consistent reach and reinforcement over time.

The project also leverages the Salvation Army’s role as a trusted first point of contact. Community members often disclose concerns related to migration, exploitation, or abuse to Corps officers or church leaders before approaching formal authorities. By equipping these frontline actors with training, practical tools (such as job-verification guidance), and clear referral pathways aligned with national systems, the project strengthens early detection, safe response, and timely referral of cases.

In addition, the Salvation Army’s physical presence Corps buildings, schools, and community facilities provides safe, accessible spaces for trainings, peer-education activities, survivor support, and coordination meetings, reducing costs and increasing participation. The project further connects Corps to district and national coordination mechanisms, positioning them as active contributors to referral systems, data sharing, and advocacy.

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How have research, evaluation findings, or lessons from previous phases been incorporated into the design (if applicable)?

Community-based research conducted by TSA-Uganda examined the role of communities in preventing and responding to human trafficking and confirmed that trafficking in border and transit districts is driven by unsafe migration decisions, deceptive recruitment practices, porous crossings, and weak verification systems, with young women and girls (18–35), school dropouts, and single parents facing the highest risk. These findings directly informed the design shift from broad awareness-raising toward skills-based safe migration, job verification, and targeted engagement of youth, schools, and transport-sector actors.

Evaluation and implementation learning from Phase II showed that while wide-reach awareness campaigns were effective in building knowledge and trust, they were insufficient on their own to change migration behaviour or reduce re-trafficking risk. As a result, Phase III prioritises fewer locations but deeper intervention, embedding prevention within existing schools, community structures, and faith institutions rather than expanding geographically.

Lessons from survivor R&R case management revealed a strong link between economic vulnerability, lack of employment verification, and re-trafficking risk. These insights informed the inclusion of survivor-centred livelihood pathways, structured follow-up, and survivor participation in prevention and advocacy activities, aligned with The Salvation Army’s global MSHTR Return & Reintegration Guidelines.

Which part of your territorial or community development strategy does this project address?

Sustainability and exit strategy

How will the various impacts of the project be sustained once the project funding ends?

Prevention impacts will be sustained by institutionalizing safe migration and anti-trafficking practices within schools, community groups, and faith institutions. Rights of Children (RoC) clubs, trained teachers, youth leaders, sports coaches, transport-sector actors, and Volunteer Community Champions will continue to apply skills and tools acquired through the project as part of their routine roles. The integration of prevention activities into school safeguarding systems, Corps programmes, and community structures ensures continuity beyond the project period.

At community and faith level, sustainability is reinforced through The Salvation Army’s MSHTR National Action Plan, which commits every local Corps to ongoing engagement in human trafficking prevention, early identification, referral, and survivor support. By aligning project activities with this Territory-wide action plan, responsibilities are absorbed into existing ministry and community outreach functions rather than remaining project-dependent.

Survivor outcomes will be sustained through strengthened economic resilience and local support networks. Livelihood skills, vocational training, peer-support groups, and structured follow-up reduce re-trafficking risk and enable survivors to remain engaged as community advocates and mentors, extending impact beyond direct project support.

At systems level, sustainability is achieved through strengthened referral pathways, coordination mechanisms, and evidence use. Partnerships with government institutions, CATIPU, and service providers will remain in place, while research outputs, policy briefs, and data-sharing practices continue to inform district and national responses. By anchoring learning within formal coordination platforms and national systems, the project’s influence persists beyond the funding cycle.

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What exit strategies(if any) are in place to ensure sustainability of the project?

A core exit strategy is the progressive localization of prevention and response functions. Schools, Rights of Children (RoC) clubs, transport-sector groups, youth and sports clubs, and Volunteer Community Champions will gradually assume full responsibility for routine prevention activities, safe-migration messaging, and early identification, with project support tapering toward the final phase of implementation.

At faith and community level, the project exits through full integration into The Salvation Army’s MSHTR National Action Plan, which mandates ongoing anti-trafficking engagement by every local Corps. By the end of the project, all participating Corps will have operationalized clear action plans, referral protocols, and reporting links, ensuring continuity through existing ministry structures rather than project staff.

Participating Community Members

Description of who will participate in the project

Primary participants will include children and young adolescents in public schools located in identified MSHT hotspot areas, particularly learners engaged through Rights of Children (RoC) clubs and other school-based platforms. Youth and young adults, including school leavers and unemployed or under-employed young people, will participate through youth groups and sports clubs, especially football teams, where safe-migration skills and life-skills development will be delivered.

Community-level participants will include local leaders, women leaders, traders, boda-boda riders, taxi operators, truck drivers, sports coaches, and youth influencers who are strategically positioned along migration and transit routes. These actors will participate in capacity-building and action planning to serve as first responders, peer educators, and referral points.

Survivors of human trafficking will participate as recipients of coordinated psychosocial support, referrals, and reintegration assistance in line with MSHTR Return & Reintegration Guidelines. Where safe and appropriate, survivors will also participate in peer-support networks, prevention activities, and advocacy, contributing lived experience to strengthen community responses.

Faith-based participants will include Salvation Army Corps officers, soldiers, school chaplains and lay leaders, who will integrate prevention, early identification, and referral into ongoing pastoral care, youth and women’s ministries, and community outreach under the MSHTR National Action Plan.

At institutional and systems level, participants will include teachers, school patrons, district-level government officials, coordination mechanism members (including CATIPU), service providers, and research partners, who will engage in training, coordination, research, referral strengthening, and advocacy.

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Approximate number of people who will participate

Direct/Indirect participants

Other Parties of Interest

Please select all internal stakeholders that apply:

Project relate to residential care for children

Project relates to older people(elderly) services

Project relates to Hospital or Health

Project relate to Education or Schools

Project relates to Human Trafficking or Slavery

Project is funded by TSA’s sponsorship fund

Project involves children under the age of 18

Partnerships

Does this project involve transfer of funds from or to any external partner organisations ?

NO

If Yes- IHQ may undertake checks, please supply the name and registered address of the organisations

ATTACHMENT: External Organisation Check(if applicable)

Monitoring, Reporting and Learning

What will be your approach to monitoring, reporting and learning during this project?

Select those Sustainable Development Goals which are relevant to this project (more than one can be selected)

Please complete the logframe below:

Logframe

ATTACHMENT: Project Implementation or Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (if applicable)

Cross Cutting Issues

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Gender

What gender inequalities and/or dynamics exist in the community?

In our research report, it is noted that where the project is being implemented is male dominated and therefore a lot of the leadership positions and roles, decision making, property ownership is largely gender biased. The inequalities of employment with regards to men and women is also witnessed in the project areas where the one-third gender rule is yet to be attained. This plays out in the public forums where resolutions passed on issues related to the community. Whereas the majority of attendees are women, the resolutions may not be adequately implemented.

Also, in our research and other reports, there have also indicated that there has been an increase in cases of gender-based violence. This has also been observed within the project area, with fewer males being rescued from trafficking situations. This could also mean that men feel less secure to talk about their trafficking experiences, since they are seen as the protectors in the communities.

During phase 1 there was emphasize on equal representation of men and women. Their contribution at the reflection forums was encouraged for each participant. In areas where women are highly marginalized especially with regard to speaking up in front of men such as in Namisindwa communities, the project team ensured their voices were heard.

How will the project promote gender equity?

The project will continue to emphasize the need for both genders to be present at all forums encouraged to ensure good representation of the genders. Through advocacy, the project will also seek to lobby on recommended gender representation in employment and leadership positions.

ATTACHMENT: Gender analysis if applicable

Disability

What types of disabilities have been identified in the target communities?

What are the most significant barriers or challenges (physical, social, attitudinal, service provision, economic, etc.) for  people living with disability in the target communities that need to be addressed?

How will the project include these people living with a disability?

ATTACHMENT: Disability Analysis (where applicable)

Inclusion

What other groups are excluded or marginalised in the target community

Single mothers were also identified through community engagement and research as a highly marginalized and vulnerable group within the target communities. Many single mothers face persistent economic exclusion, unstable livelihoods, caregiving burdens, and social stigma, which significantly limit their access to safe employment opportunities and community support systems. These pressures often make them more susceptible to deceptive recruitment offers, unsafe migration pathways, and exploitative labor arrangements, particularly when seeking income to support their children.

Community consultations and survivor case reviews further showed that single mothers frequently have limited access to accurate migration information, childcare support, and financial safety nets, increasing their risk of exploitation and re-trafficking. In some settings, social isolation and gender norms also reduce their participation in community decision-making and prevention platforms, making their risks less visible.

The project design intentionally recognizes single mothers as a priority group. Through community-based structures such as faith institutions, women’s groups, VSLAs, schools, and trained community champions, the project will ensure inclusive access to safe migration education, livelihood pathways, referral mechanisms, and survivor support services. This approach strengthens protection, reduces economic pressure as a driver of risky migration, and promotes dignity, agency, and long-term resilience for single mothers within the community.

How will the project include these groups and ensure that they benefit from the project?

Project activities will be deliberately tailored to the realities of these groups. For single mothers, safe migration education will be combined with information on local livelihood options, job verification, childcare considerations, and referral pathways, recognising the economic and caregiving pressures that drive risky migration. Where possible, activities will be scheduled at times and locations that accommodate caregiving responsibilities, and links will be made to VSLAs, vocational training, and survivor support services to strengthen economic resilience.

Climate change and the Environment

How will this project impact the environment and climate change both positively and negatively?

How have you mitigated(prevented or reduced) the potential negative environment impact of the project?

How might climate change impact on the project, and how have you adapted the project to reduce the potential negative impact?

Linking Relief to Recovery and Development

What emergency Projects(if any) have there been in these communities in the last three years?

Looking at the LRRD pathway which of the elements are covered within this project?

LRRD Document

What measures will the project put in place to mitigate/adapt to disaster risk?

How will you ensure that staff and volunteers involved in the project are aware of TSA’s  cross cutting issues?

Safeguarding

Child Protection

Find IHQ-Child protection policy framework here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/cache.salvationarmy.org/37a4a7d1-e00c-457d-9b5e-15d1884a1a28_CPP%20Framework%202020.pdf

What is the project’s internal child safeguarding reporting procedure?

The project applies a mandatory internal child safeguarding reporting procedure aligned with The Salvation Army Child Safeguarding Policy, the Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Response (MSHTR) Policy, and Uganda’s child protection laws. The procedure applies to all project staff, Corps officers, volunteers, partners, and consultants.

Any person involved in the project who witnesses, receives a disclosure, or suspects abuse, exploitation, or trafficking involving a child must act immediately to ensure the child’s safety and report the concern within 24 hours. Reports are made to the Project Manager and the designated Territorial Child Safeguarding Officer using approved reporting channels. Information is handled on a strict need-to-know basis and securely documented.

All cases are referred promptly to the appropriate statutory authorities, including Probation and Social Welfare Officers and the Child and Family Protection Unit of the Uganda Police, in line with national law. The project does not investigate cases but ensures survivor- and child-centred response, confidentiality, and access to psychosocial support. Mandatory safeguarding training is provided to all project personnel and community actors.

How will the project collect feedback and complaints from community members/participants?

Multiple reporting channels will be used, including verbal reporting to Project staff, Salvation Army Corps officers, teachers, and trained Volunteer Community Champions, as well as confidential reporting during community and school activities. Community members will be informed of these options at the start of engagement.

All feedback and complaints will be documented, reviewed, and responded to by the Project Manager and relevant focal persons. Safeguarding-related complaints will be managed through established safeguarding procedures, ensuring confidentiality, appropriate referral, and protection from retaliation.

What support will the territory provide to survivors should a child safeguarding incident occur in the project?

ATTACHMENT: Child protection policy

Adults at risk

How are you going to protect adults at risk in the project including from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment?

What support will the territory provide to survivors should an adult at risk safeguarding incident occur in the project?

ATTACHMENT: safeguarding policy

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment

How will the project ensure project participants, officers, employees and volunteers involved in the project are protected from exploitation, abuse and harassment?

ATTACHMENT: Whistleblowing policy if available

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

Which groups of children/adults who are vulnerable to modern slavery and human trafficking will you engage with in your project?

What processes are in place if you suspect that a child/adult at risk in your project are at risk of being exploited and trafficked?

How might this project play a role in the prevention of modern slavery and human trafficking?

Budget

Total Costs/Income

Risk Analysis

Please fill in the risk table below

RISK

ATTACHMENT: External risk analysis tool (if applicable)

Comment and Supporting Documents

Comments

Please provide additional comments if necessary

Supporting Documents

ATTACHMENT: Supporting Documents