Sustainability

Our commitment towards sustainability

Ride 4 a Woman is a Ugandan non-governmental organization set up to empower women socially and economically in our local community, in Bwindi, Uganda.

Sustainability is at the core of Ride 4 a Woman. We are located at the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, home to half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. We are very aware of the importance of conserving the national park, the gorillas and other species of fauna and flora, and the surrounding areas of the park, where people live in. We believe that a good life for people while respecting the biodiversity and ecosystems of our planet is possible and necessary. It is our duty to make it a reality.

Since Ride 4 a Woman was founded in 2009, all the efforts of the organization have always focused on improving people’s lives and protecting our planet. Empowering women is our reason for being, and sustainability is the only way to make it possible.

To finance our social projects, in Ride 4 a Woman we welcome visitors and tourists to our center every day. We offer a wide range of services to tourists who visit Bwindi, most of them interested in tracking the mountain gorillas in the national park. We offer accommodation, restaurant and cafeteria services, activities to learn about Ugandan traditions and culture and our craft shop where visitors can buy any of the handmade products made by the women of the organization. Ride 4 a Woman, then, is a social enterprise immersed in the tourism sector, and we work to make this sector a sustainable industry in Uganda.

In 2015, the world agreed on the need of establishing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide the individuals, organizations and governments towards the most important challenges that we face as humanity. At Ride 4 a Woman, the SDGs guide us in the different fields of sustainability. We are very proud of the positive impact that we have, through our daily work, on 10 of the 17 SDGs. We’ve split them in 3 groups depending on the repercussion that Ride 4 a Woman has on each of them: very highly, highly and moderately impacted SDGs.

VERY HIGHLY impacted SDGs

HIGHLY impacted SDGs

MODERATELY impacted SDGs

VERY HIGHLY impacted SDGs by Ride 4 a Woman

1 - NO POVERTY

Almost half of the Ugandan population lives on less than $2,15 a day (being $2,15/day the International Poverty Line, according to the World Bank). In Ride 4 a Woman we fight against poverty by empowering women from our community who are struggling with poverty, HIV and domestic violence, are single mothers, widows or women who never went to school. To do so, the organization employs 60 women with the mentioned profiles who come to work every day at our center. These women were taught to pedal sew and weave, and they are the ones who make the handmade products that are sold in our craft shop.

Ride 4 a Woman has 300 members and supports them, their families and many more people from the community to combat poverty through all our projects:

“End poverty in all its forms everywhere”

“Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”

4 - QUALITY EDUCATION

In Uganda and in our community, there are many children who don’t go to school (usually because of economic reasons) and the percentages of people who cannot read and write are still very high. In Ride 4 a Woman, we work to put as many children as possible into schools, and we do it through our children sponsorship program. Nowadays, more than 270 children, from families who cannot afford paying school fees, go to school thanks to Ride 4 a Woman. We make sure to pay school fees on time and to provide uniforms and school supplies to the kids, so that they can focus all their attention on what really matters to them: studying and learning.

But Ride 4 a Woman doesn’t stop here. Our dream is to build a primary school in our community, in an area where the need of it is very high. See our future primary school project to know more about it.

5 - GENDER EQUALITY

“Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”

In our community and generally in all Uganda, women depend on their husbands in many social and economic decisions, sometimes not even being able to work outside their homes. Empowering women socially and economically is our daily work at Ride 4 a Woman, and it is the best way we know to achieve gender equality in our community. In our center, all the women find a space of safety, where they can speak aloud and get support among the others. Moreover, apart from providing employment and a safety space for the women, we have a specific program to fight domestic violence; we educate on family planning and reproductive health and rights; we skill women in sewing, weaving, agriculture practices and basic financials; and we provide spiritual guidance.

We are extremely proud to see how confident the women who are supported by Ride 4 a Woman are in their daily lives compared to the time when they started coming to our center. Little by little, they are becoming the leaders of the community.

Gender equality is very important not only for the women that we support with our social projects, but also for our staff members, the people who, through their work, make Ride 4 a Woman possible. See the Ride 4 a Woman Gender Equality Policy for more information about gender equality in our organization.

6 - CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”

Less than 20% of Ugandan population has access to safely managed drinking water services. In our community, improved water sources are not very accessible to everyone, so many people are exposed to water-borne diseases. Since 2015, in Ride 4 a Woman we have 5 water purifying filters that provide us with safe water. Moreover, from time to time, we supply jerrycans to families around the community, and we encourage everyone to come to our center and get safe water. It is very common to see children at Ride 4 a Woman every day after school filling their jerrycans with water from the purifying filters to take home before dinner time.

“Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”

8 - DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

In Ride 4 a Woman we promote entrepreneurship, the establishment of local businesses in our community, decent job creation and opportunities for the youth. Through our microfinance program, we provide low interest loans to women of our community who aim to start and grow their businesses, promoting in this way our local economy and its sustainability. More than 210 women have benefited from this program since it started in 2017, who had the chance to make their personal and professional projects a reality.

Moreover, we care about offering good working conditions, training and economic remuneration to all our staff, and we welcome students who are interested in doing their internships with us, giving them the opportunity to learn and be considered for the future, once they finalize their studies. All the staff members and the 60 women can benefit from saving groups and a healthcare insurance, both provided and managed by Ride 4 a Woman.

HIGHLY impacted SDGs by Ride 4 a Woman

“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”

2 - ZERO HUNGER

In Uganda, around 20% of the population experiment severe food insecurity, meaning that very often they are forced to reduce the quantity of the food, skip meals or be hungry during the day because of a lack of money or other resources. In Ride 4 a Woman, we have an agriculture program called “Seeds of grace” in which twice a year, before the beginning of the two annual rainy seasons, we provide seeds, tools and training to 120 women, so they can harvest their lands and assure food for their families. Moreover, every woman receiving the seeds and training has the duty to bud another woman of her village to keep spreading the acquired skills through the community.

3 - GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

“Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”

Although the situation is better than in the past, HIV is still a leading cause of death and public health threat in Uganda. Women with HIV are one of the groups supported by Ride 4 a Woman since it was founded. We assure that they have the same opportunities than the others, and we help and educate on how to control the disease so that these women can have normal lives. Moreover, we encourage and educate on family planning and menstrual health and support our pregnant women and the ones with babies. As it was mentioned in the “6 - CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION” section, Ride 4 a Woman helps to prevent water-borne diseases supplying safe water to anyone in the community.

Finally, all staff members and the 60 women can benefit from a healthcare insurance provided and managed by Ride 4 a Woman.

7 - AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

“Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”

Less than 50% of Ugandans have access to electricity, and we estimate that in our community, a very rural area far from the capital city, the percentage is even lower. In Ride 4 a Woman we work to overcome this situation by providing and installing solar panels in houses without electricity. We started our solar panels program called “Light a home” in 2023 and, since then, we have lighted more than 60 homes, drastically improving the lives of these families.

Moreover, since September 2024, the electricity that we consume in our center is also solar, making Ride 4 a Woman a clean energy and energy self-sufficient NGO, lodge and touristic destination.

MODERATELY impacted SDGs by Ride 4 a Woman

13 - CLIMATE ACTION

“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”

The world is immersed in a climate crisis created by human activity which is causing increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters that make us very vulnerable. The need to reducing the greenhouse gases emissions around the globe is a matter of survival. In Ride 4 a Woman we do our part by using renewable and clean solar energy in our center, offering KM0 and ecological food from our gardens and farms in our restaurant and cafeteria, purchasing locally those products that can’t be grown in our farms, bringing food waste and other types of waste to almost zero, reducing the use of plastic bags, taking care about our natural environment, planting trees, and many more.

“Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”

15 - LIFE ON LAND

The world is currently facing one of the largest species extinctions ever and, as it happens with climate change, it is due to human activity. One of the main reasons for it is the reduction of forest areas and other natural spaces. The total forest area in Uganda has reduced from 16% to 11% in the last 25 years. In Ride 4 a Woman we believe that protecting the forests is crucial, so we work for the conservation of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, its mountain gorillas and other wildlife. We partner with Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) and support the park headquarters, in Buhoma, by welcoming, entertaining and bringing local tea, coffee and other meals to the park visitors and employees. Moreover, every time we can, we spread the word about the importance of conservation for both the planet and the people.

Sources of information used:

Last update of the data for this article: January 2025