WELCOME
Welcome to the Universal Empowerment Missions, (UEM), formerly and the Universal Evangelistic Ministries, an outreach arm of the Voice of Faith Ministries
ESTABLISHMENT.
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The Universal Empowerment Missions (UEM) Inc. is a nonprofit organized and qualified in 2001 as a nonprofit to caters to the welfare vulnerable women and girls and children in rural and urban communities as a means of ministering holistically regardless of tribe, creed, race, age, and nationality, social or political connections. UEM specializes in integrated Community Development activities and empowerment intervention aimed at creating the condition for poor, vulnerable women and girls to reach their full potentials. Our central office is located in Kpelle Town, ELWA Community in Paynesville, Liberia.
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UEM, Inc. believes that through empowerment of women and girls and children great things can happen : health care can be improved, schools can be developed, built, and operated by local efforts, the number of school drop-outs will be decreased, agricultural projects can be devised and implemented, local entrepreneurs can be developed, the potential of the women can be harnessed, the nutrition of our children can be greatly enhanced and sooner, the capacity of the women and girls are built thereby leading to empowerment.
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Mission Statement To Improve the lives of women and girls in local communities through education, economic empowerment and social amenities in collaboration with other affinity groups that raises their standards of living.
This is made possible through:
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Training on income generating activities
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Ensuring economic self-reliance and empowerment for the rural poor women and girls
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Training on innovative techniques in agriculture
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Creating appropriate educational and hygienic infrastructure
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Constructing appropriate water and sanitation infrastructure
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Ensuring the creation and maintenance of a revolving loan(village Savings and Loans Association) scheme for construction of independent economic base
Vision
The Universal Empowerment Missions is a nonprofit that encourages and inspires women and girls to flourish personally, economically, and professionally.
Values Statement
Our core values are the foundation of all our decisions and actions. We intend this statement of values to be used across the organization to ensure that our decisions and actions are consistent with and supportive of our values and beliefs.
We believe that in order to create a just and sustainable society, women and girls must have opportunities, unlimited by gender, to develop and use their individual talents, abilities, and skills, along with the freedom to make their own decisions, guided by their personal values and beliefs.
We express our values by promoting and supporting:
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Open and respectful communication in all forums;
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Full participation of women and girls of all backgrounds, including diversity of race, class, age, religion, culture, sexual orientation, and other identities;
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Informed, educated, innovative action designed to have a positive, measurable impact on the lives of women and girls;
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Collaboration among organizations and individuals working to benefit women and girls.
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GOVERNANCE: UEM has two independent bodies that govern its operations consistent with the standards set forth in the By-laws and constitution. UEM has a board of Directors and administrative staff with various departments to manage its programs. It is the responsibility of the Board to to make policies that will shape the direction of UEM NETWORKING:
UEM is a member of the Liberia NGOs Network, (LINNK)
The World Association of NGOS (WANGO) based in the USA
PARTNERSHIP
United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
UN Women
USAID-FED
International Women/OSIWA
ZOA Refugee Care
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PROGRAMMING AND CAPACITY:
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Management and Administrative staff for programs and projects management teamshave training in :
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
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Village Savings and Loans Associations:VSLA.
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Small and Medium Enterprise Development
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Vocational Skills Training
Adult Literacy
Girls Night School
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
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Urban Vegetable Garden
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Animal Husbandry
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articipatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
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Community Animations and Facilitation (Social Mobilization)
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Project design and implementation
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Follow-ups and Project Monitoring
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Community empowerment project/strategies
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Peace building
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Microfinance administration
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Small & medium enterprise development
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Village Savings and Loans Association
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PROGRAMS
UEM works in poor and under served communities of Liberia with poor and marginalized women and girls to improve their lives. Currently, the Universal Empowerment Missions is involved with three thematic areas: Economic Empowerment, Community Development and Agriculture
Our activities are aimed at increasing local communities’ understanding and participation in self-help and development projects. Participatory Rural Assessment (PRA), development education training, support to community initiatives. are the major activities of the program. These program activities are benefiting local communities and individuals through:
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Continuous mobilization and development training for community animators
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Facilitation and support for self-help and community-driven developmental projects of especially community infrastructure (community schools and Town halls and Market buildings and Latrines and Wells).
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Facilitating and supporting the establishment of community empowerment programs, targeting mostly vulnerable women and girls
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Resource mobilization through the establishment and training of Village Savings and Loans Associations groups.
UEM is currently implementing several programs and projects. These projects include:
EDUCATION
Girls Education
​The Universal Empowerment Missions implemented a girl’s education program in the Rock hills community of Paynesville Funded by ZOA Refugee Care. This project sought to facilitate the process of providing education for women and girls who dropped out of school on the one hand and those who have not been in the classroom at all but are of school going ages. For these people, the go to school during the evening hours. This project also aimed to build the capacities of the women Rock crushers who benefited from the microfinance and Village Savings and Loan Association (VS&LA), a Self Help Group Initiative (SHGI) projects.
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Vocational Skills Training
UEM also implemented a vocational skills training Program. Funds for this came from ZOA Refugee Care and OSIWA. Two hundred and eighty three women and girls were trained and graduated from the skills training in four disciplines including Interior decoration, Tailoring, Catering and cosmetology. These programs were run through scholarship provided by friendly institutions and managed by UEM
​Adult Literacy
​UEM also implemented an adult literacy program for women who can neither read nor write. These people went to school three times a week. It is also intended to prepare them for entry into the regular academic program; a feeder to the vocational skills training center.
Economic empowerment
UEM has been implementing Economic empowerment programs for rural and urban poor women and girls, focusing on two major activities; Village Savings and Microfinance administration. UEM formed and trained 489 groups of thirty women and girls in a combined ten counties including Montserrado, Margibi, Bong, Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Margibi, Lofa, Gbarpolu, Nimba and Rivercess Counties. Of these Counties, six counties were trained with funding from USAID –FED totaling USD$406,082.00, with the remainder from UNDP, UNwomen, and ZOA Refugee Care. Since its inception, the village Savings and Loan Association has made tremendous impact in the lives of women and girls in the counties. .
Agriculture: From July 2010 to December 2011 Universal Empowerment Missions successfully implemented an eighty four thousand (USD$84,000) fifteen months ZOA Dell project. This project was an urban vegetable garden project that provided training and tools to two thousand (2000) vulnerable women in the Paynesville community in urban vegetable garden production, animal husbandry and usage of Insecticide treated Mosquito bed nets. It also distributed livestock, seeds, agriculture tools and insecticide treated Mosquito bed nets to the 2000 beneficiaries under this same project.
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For further information, contact:
Universal Empowerment Missions
GSM: +231886533506/0888939525
E-mail: irenek.george@gmail.com
