The Nakivale plan

These are projects we plan to build. None of the approvals they need has been granted yet. Every figure is an estimate in US dollars at 2026 prices.

1. In one page

The case in brief.

• The need is growing. Uganda hosted 1,999,576 refugees and asylum-seekers on 31 March 2026, with 30,220 new arrivals in the first three months of the year alone; more than a million are children ¹. Nakivale is one of Africa's oldest and largest settlements, with estimates of 130,000 to 286,000 refugees in 2025 and 2026 ^{2 3}.
• The money that ran its services has gone, and is not coming back. By 31 March 2026 only 14% of what UNHCR needs in Uganda this year had arrived: USD 49.9 million of USD 361 million, forcing a 23% cut in its field operations ¹. Food aid now reaches 663,000 refugees, down from 1.6 million in early 2025 ⁴. Health facilities serving refugees fell from 101 to 89 ¹, and Nakivale's health workers say cuts are rarely reversed ⁵.
• What fails is short project money. One-year, partially paid pledges lead to plans that fail, as Refugees International found in 2026 ⁶; UNHCR itself shed nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025, more than a quarter of its workforce ⁷. A clinic that depends on next year's grant closes when the grant does.
• So we build places that last, own them, and pay to run them for good. Donum builds, owns and maintains every building. An endowment that is never spent pays the running costs. Where the government can pay teachers and health workers, we ask it to, and the endowment's returns move to the next need.
• Each place serves thousands, refugees and their Ugandan neighbours together, and is something other organisations and the government plug into.

Jump to a project: 1. Campus · 2. Partner platform · 3. Power and water · 4. Health centre · 5. Technical school · 6. Training farm

Donum Foundation plans to build and own a campus next to Nakivale Refugee Settlement, in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, and to put on it five places that thousands of people use every year: a health centre with an oxygen plant, a free technical secondary school, a training farm and workshops, a solar power and water plant, and a free digital tool for refugee-led organisations. Each is a community chance that anyone can give to, as a whole or item by item.

Each chance's total includes its share of the endowment, so everything a project needs, to build it and to keep it running, adds up to one figure that can be given to unit by unit.

• To build: $14.66 million, including professional fees, VAT, import charges, a price-rise allowance and 10% contingency.
• To run: $2.96 million a year once everything is open. If the government takes on teachers' and health workers' pay, as the partnership asks, Donum's share falls to $1.89 million.
• The endowment: running costs are paid from the returns of the Donum Endowment, the one endowment for every place Donum builds, which is never spent. Spending 4% a year, the six places' shares come to $74.10 million, or $47.36 million once the government takes on staff pay.
• When: the first year, October 2026 to September 2027, is preparation. The platform opens in December 2027; power in July 2028; the health centre in October 2028; the training farm in January 2029; the school in February 2029. Every date depends on approvals and funding.

Read more: where the building money goes, by kind of cost

Kind of cost	Amount	Share
Buildings and works	$6.54 million	45%
Fees, taxes and contingency	$4.08 million	28%
Equipment, furniture and vehicles	$3.23 million	22%
Land, studies and services	$0.80 million	5%

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2. Why Nakivale, and why now

Uganda hosted 1,999,576 refugees and asylum-seekers on 31 March 2026, the largest refugee population in Africa,⁸ with 30,220 new arrivals in the first three months of 2026 alone.¹ Its policy lets refugees live, farm, work and use public services. That policy is under strain: by 31 March only 14% of UNHCR's USD 361 million requirement for 2026 had arrived, forcing a 23% cut in field operations;¹ funding for the refugee response has fallen by more than half,⁹ and the government's own refugee budget fell from about USD 240 million to USD 100 million.¹⁰

Nakivale, in Isingiro District, is one of the oldest refugee settlements in Africa.¹¹ Estimates of its population in 2025 and 2026 run from about 130,000 to 286,000 refugees,^{2 3} nearly half of them of school age,¹² most from DR Congo and Burundi.¹³ Its Ugandan neighbours share the same roads, markets and shortages.

What the cuts have done there is specific:

• Health. By January only 6% of the money needed for refugee health and nutrition in 2026 had been secured,¹⁴ and health facilities serving refugees fell from 101 in 2024 to 89 in early 2026.¹ A 2026 study in Nakivale found cuts to maternal health, HIV and TB services, fewer staff and shortages of supplies;¹⁵ its health workers describe whole wards closed and cuts that are rarely reversed.⁵ Maternal and child nutrition programmes were suspended.¹⁶
• School. Refugee secondary enrolment is 9% across Uganda, against 34% for the country as a whole,¹⁷ and 7% in Nakivale, among the lowest of any settlement.¹⁸ Finn Church Aid puts refugee secondary enrolment at 11% to 12.1%.¹⁹
• Power and fuel. 2.6% of households in Nakivale use the national grid for light,²⁰ and the deadwood for cooking is gone.²¹
• Work. Refugees and their neighbours have reported that the vocational training available does not meet their needs.²² Food aid now reaches 663,000 refugees, down from 1.6 million in early 2025,⁴ and over a million lost it altogether in 2025.²³

Donum cannot replace the money that has gone. It can build things that last, own them, and make sure they keep running.

Read more: Nakivale in numbers, and what the cuts changed

Nakivale opened in 1958 and is described by the Office of the Prime Minister as one of the oldest refugee settlements in Africa ¹¹. In May 2026 the OPM's regional refugee desk officer put it at 286,000 refugees in five zones, with more arriving ³. Other recent figures are about 180,000 ¹² and 130,000 ². The figures disagree, partly because some count people registered who no longer live there, so the plan's first year includes a survey of 1,500 refugee and host households to fix the numbers every result is measured against.

Most people in Nakivale come from DR Congo and Burundi ¹³. Isingiro District around it grew from 486,360 people in 2014 to 633,844 in 2024 ²⁴, so its Ugandan neighbours share the same roads, markets and shortages.

2026 so far. Only 14% (USD 49.9 million) of UNHCR's USD 361 million requirement for Uganda had been met by 31 March, leaving USD 311.1 million unfunded and forcing a 23% reduction in field operations; health facilities serving refugees fell from 101 in 2024 to 89 ¹. UNHCR as a whole shed nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025 ⁷.

2025. Humanitarian funding for Uganda's refugee response fell from USD 294 million in 2024 to about USD 130 to 140 million ⁶. Over a million refugees in Uganda lost access to food assistance ²³, and WFP's support fell from 1.6 million refugees to 663,000 ⁴. Only 9% of the 2025 plan was funded in its first quarter, 26% less than a year before, and health and nutrition funding fell 61% ²⁵. Livelihood support for refugee and host households fell 56% ⁶.

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3. The test we used, and the model

The test. We only build what the government and UNHCR cannot do, or something they can run once we have built it. The second half is a partnership between Donum and the public side.

The model. Donum buys the land, builds, owns every building and keeps it in repair. Who runs each place, and who pays to run it, follows one of two models.

• Model A: Donum runs it. The campus, the power and water plant, the training farm and workshops, and the partner platform. Running costs come from the endowment. Earned income, such as power sold to the trading centre, is welcome but never counted on, and goes through a separate company the foundation owns.
• Model B: Donum owns it, the public side runs it. The technical secondary school and the health centre. Uganda already has a way for a private founder to do this. A school founded by a foundation body can become grant-aided, and the government then pays its teachers while the founder keeps its say.²⁶ Private not-for-profit health facilities receive government grants and staff.²⁷ Donum pays every cost until that happens, so neither place waits on the government to open.

What the test changed. Three things in the earlier ideas did not pass it:

1. A public water network. A public project from the Kagera River is being built to supply Nakivale, Oruchinga and Isingiro.²⁸ Building another would duplicate what the government is doing. The campus makes its own water and connects to the public main as a backup.
2. Building inside the settlement, by default. Nobody can hold a title there, so nobody can own what is built. We look first for titled land next to the settlement, which also serves refugees and their Ugandan neighbours together, but only where at least 20,000 people live within 5 km. If no such land exists, we ask the Office of the Prime Minister for land inside.
3. Senior Five and Six. Those two years mainly prepare for university, and few refugees reach it.²⁹ The school stops at Senior Four and teaches a trade in every year, so every learner leaves ready for work.

Why these six. Each one is used by thousands of people, lasts for decades, and is something other organisations plug into: the district posts health workers, the education ministry grant-aids the school, exam boards test at the assessment centre, training partners use the workshops, clinics across the settlement get oxygen, and refugee-led organisations use the platform. That is what makes one facility serve thousands.

Read more: why owned, why endowed, and why the public side runs some of it

The test we use. We build only what the government and UNHCR cannot build, or something they can run once it is built. That is why the plan has no public water network (a public project from the Kagera River is being built for the area ²⁸) and no Senior Five and Six (they prepare mainly for university, which few refugees reach ²⁹).

Why owned. Settlement land was never formally acquired by the government, and nobody can hold a title to it ³⁰; it is also full, with new arrivals given slivers of land already occupied ⁶. Titled land in the host community, next to the settlement, lets Donum own what it builds, keep it in repair and serve refugees and hosts together.

Why endowed. An endowment is money that is invested and never spent: only its returns are. It pays the running costs every year without asking anyone again. Refugees International's 2026 review warns that one-year pledges lead to plans that fail ⁶; Nakivale's own clinicians say cuts are rarely reversed ⁵. We found no study comparing endowed facilities with project-funded ones in refugee settings, so the case rests on that documented failure, not on a head-to-head trial, and we say so.

Why the public side runs some of it. Uganda already lets a foundation found a school that the government then grant-aids, paying its teachers ^{26 31}, and lets private not-for-profit health facilities receive government grants and seconded staff ²⁷. Until that happens, Donum pays every cost, so nothing waits on the government to open.

No renting, built to last. Everything is built and owned, not rented, with materials chosen for a long life: reinforced concrete frames, solid blocks, galvanised steel roof frames and long-life roof sheets, hard floors, and solar panels with 25 to 30 year warranties. Running costs include building upkeep at 1.5% a year, and every machine, vehicle, battery and computer has its replacement saved for every year from the first.

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4. The campus

About 70 acres in the host community, on a public road, next to the settlement, in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km. If no titled land there passes that test, we ask the Office of the Prime Minister for land inside the settlement instead (see the campus chance). One fence, one gate, one road, one power plant, one water system, one security team and one maintenance team serve everything on it.

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5. Chance 1: The Donum Nakivale campus: land, roads and security

The land, roads, fence, security and shared services that every other place stands on.

Why it matters

• Settlement land was never formally acquired by the government and cannot be titled ³⁰; it is also full, with new arrivals given slivers of land already occupied ⁶.
• One campus is cheaper and stronger than five sites: one fence, one road, one power plant, one water system, one security team.
• Being in the host community means refugees and their Ugandan neighbours use the same places, which the evidence on coexistence in Nakivale supports ^{30 2}.

Read more: the full picture, with sources

No published source gives the number of people within 5 km of the settlement boundary. The census's parish figures, with GPS boundaries, test the 20,000 rule before any land is bought; if no plot passes, we ask the Office of the Prime Minister for land inside the settlement instead.

No source gives land prices around Isingiro beyond listings; a registered valuer prices the chosen plot before it is bought.

What the evidence says

Aid cuts have produced ways of coping that threaten peaceful coexistence between refugees and hosts ²; host narratives in Nakivale show both tension and coexistence ³⁰. A campus open to both is built for that.

What it is

The place comes first, and it is chosen by how many people live near it: at least 20,000 people, refugees and hosts together, within 5 km. That is about the population the government plans a Health Centre III for ³², and 5 km is as far as a day learner can walk. We check it against the population figures the Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR keep by zone and village before anything is bought.

Read more: what is there, and how it works

Where titled land in the host community, on the edge of the settlement, passes that test, Donum buys about 70 acres of it on a public road: about 36 for the buildings and 34 for the training farm. It surveys the land, plans the whole campus at once, and builds what every project shares: the access road, roads and footpaths inside, drains, a fence, a gate, street lights, cameras, a waste station and a small office and maintenance workshop.

The campus also pays for the studies and approvals that cover everything on it: the environmental and social impact assessment, the consultations with refugee and host community leaders, and a baseline survey of 1,500 households so that, years from now, we can say honestly what changed.

When it happens

Works finish June 2028 (planned).

1. The land
2. Studies and approvals
3. The builder
4. Foundations
5. Walls and roof
6. Finishes, power and water
7. Equipment
8. Opening

Read more: the approvals it needs, and its stages

Approval	From	Status
Letter of no objection and coordination with the settlement	Office of the Prime Minister, Department of Refugees, and the settlement commandant	Not yet granted
Support of the district council and its planning committee	Isingiro District Local Government	Not yet granted
Agreement after consultation with refugee welfare councils and host community leaders	Refugee Welfare Councils of Nakivale; local council leaders of the host villages	Not yet granted
Land title transferred into Donum Foundation's name	Ministry of Lands, Mbarara zonal office	Not yet granted
Environmental and social impact certificate for the whole campus	National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)	Not yet granted
Approval of the campus plan and building drawings	Isingiro District physical planning committee	Not yet granted
Permission to upgrade the public access road	Isingiro District roads department	Not yet granted

Stage	Done means
The land	Land in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, checked against Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR population figures; its title, or a written allocation from the Office of the Prime Minister, in Donum Foundation's name, checked by our lawyer.
Studies and approvals	Surveys, the environmental and social impact certificate, approved drawings, and every approval this project needs, each recorded on the chance page.
The builder	Three written quotes from builders our team has checked; one chosen and the reason written down. The chosen quote replaces this estimate on the page.
Foundations	Foundations and floor slabs inspected and signed off by the supervising engineer.
Walls and roof	Walls up and roof on, inspected and signed off.
Finishes, power and water	Doors, windows, plaster, paint, wiring, plumbing, power and water working, inspected.
Equipment	Furniture and equipment in place and checked against the list.
Opening	The confirmation of delivery signed by the community's leaders, with photos, and the running costs in place.

What it costs, and why

Where the building money goes.

• $0.36 million for 70 acres with title, stamp duty and the lawyer's checks.
• $0.34 million for the access road, internal roads, drainage and the perimeter fence; $0.25 million for the gate, lights, office, workshop and vehicles.
• $0.11 million for surveys, the environmental and social impact assessment and approvals; $0.12 million for Donum's own project manager and independent audits.

Where the running money goes.

• $154,300 a year for the campus team of 30, including 12 guards in shifts; $31,200 for audits, permits and the yearly follow-up survey.

Why an endowment share of $5.66 million. Running this place costs $226,500 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $5,662,500 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent; only its returns pay the running costs, every year.

Every item (32 lines), with how each figure was reached

The land

Item	Cost	How we reached it
70 acres of land with a title, next to the settlement, on a public road (can start before approvals)	$345,205	70 acres at UGX 18,000,000 an acre. Isingiro farmland is listed at UGX 9 to 17 million an acre (2025 to 2026); we take more for road frontage
Stamp duty on the land transfer (1.5%) (can start before approvals)	$5,178	1.5% of the price
Government search, valuation, transfer and registration fees (can start before approvals)	$822	Our estimate
Lawyer: checking the title and the transfer (2%) (can start before approvals)	$6,904	2% of the price; usual practice
Surveyor: boundary opening and marker stones (can start before approvals)	$3,288	Our estimate

Studies, designs and approvals

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Land survey and soil tests (10 test pits and boreholes) (can start before approvals)	$12,329	Our estimate
Campus master plan by an architect and a physical planner (can start before approvals)	$16,438	Our estimate
Environmental and social impact assessment for the whole campus, and NEMA fees (can start before approvals)	$24,658	Full assessment, because the campus has health-care waste, boreholes and a power plant. Our estimate
Six months of meetings with refugee welfare councils, host community leaders and the district, with interpreters (can start before approvals)	$8,219	Our estimate
Baseline survey of 1,500 refugee and host households, by an independent firm, so the change can be measured (can start before approvals)	$32,877	Our estimate
Building plan approval fees for every building (can start before approvals)	$6,849	Our estimate
Legal work: the company that holds earned income, and the agreements with the district and partners (can start before approvals)	$10,959	Spec 13 requires any business arm to be a separate company owned by the foundation. Our estimate

Roads, drainage and fences

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Upgrading 1 km of the access road to all-weather gravel, with culverts	$60,274	1 km at UGX 220 million a km; our estimate
2.5 km of gravel roads inside the campus	$82,192	2.5 km at UGX 120 million a km; our estimate
Paved footpaths between the buildings, 2 m wide	$41,096	2,000 m2 at UGX 75,000 per m2; our estimate
Stormwater drains across the campus	$32,877	Our estimate
Fence around the whole campus, 2,400 m	$85,479	2,400 m at UGX 130,000 a metre
Main gate, gatehouse and a shelter for visitors	$23,288	Our estimate
3,000 trees for shade, windbreaks and fruit, and grass against erosion	$16,438	Our estimate. Nakivale has lost most of its trees to firewood

Security and campus services

Item	Cost	How we reached it
60 solar street lights (60 at $822 a street light)	$49,320	60 at UGX 3,000,000 each, with pole; our estimate
Cameras at the gates and roads, and a monitoring room	$16,438	Our estimate
Waste sorting and compost station	$10,959	Our estimate
Campus office, maintenance workshop and stores	$89,041	250 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Maintenance tools and equipment	$10,959	Our estimate
A four-wheel-drive pickup for the campus team	$63,014	Uganda price with taxes; our estimate
4 motorcycles for the campus team (4 at $3,288 a motorcycle)	$13,152	4 at UGX 12,000,000

Managing the building work

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Donum's own project manager and clerk of works for 30 months	$98,630	UGX 12,000,000 a month for both, 30 months
Independent audit of the building spending, once a year for 3 years (3 at $8,219 a yearly audit)	$24,657	3 at UGX 30,000,000

Fees, taxes and contingency

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Architect, engineers, quantity surveyor and site supervision (8% of the building work) (can start before approvals)	$35,342	8% of $441,644 building and outside works; usual practice in Uganda
Allowance for prices rising before building starts (6%)	$26,493	6% of building and outside works. Uganda inflation was 4.6% a year to Sep 2026, and energy and fuel 14.5% (UBOS)
VAT on the builder's contract and fees (18%), unless Donum obtains an exemption	$90,630	18% of works, price allowance and fees. If an exemption is granted, this line is returned to the project's other items
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)	$134,411	10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)

Running costs, line by line

In 2026 prices. Lines marked government are the ones the partnership could move to the government.

Running cost	A year
Campus team: manager, accounts, stores, maintenance, 12 security guards, grounds, drivers (30 people, with NSSF and medical cover)	$154,300
Fuel and servicing for the pickup and motorcycles	$16,400
Upkeep of roads, drains, fences and grounds (1.5% of their cost)	$5,100
Replacing the pickup and motorcycles over their life (7 years)	$10,900
Insurance of campus buildings and equipment (0.4%)	$5,900
Independent audit of the Nakivale accounts	$8,200
Community meetings and a way to raise a complaint	$6,600
Yearly independent follow-up survey, to measure what changed	$16,400
Local rates and permits	$2,700
Total	$226,500

Its share of the Donum Endowment, unit by unit

This part is never spent. Each line can be given to on its own.

Unit	Cost
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$3,857,500
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$477,500
Upkeep and servicing, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$127,500
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$272,500
Insurance, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$147,500
Audits, licences and surveys, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$780,000
Its share of the Donum Endowment	$5,662,500
The whole chance: to build, and its endowment	$7,140,916

Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there

Model A. Donum owns and runs the campus. Its running costs (a team of 30, mostly security and maintenance) are paid from the endowment.

• The Office of the Prime Minister allocates land inside the settlement; outside it, land is bought and titled like anyone else's.

What it will achieve

• Everything else depends on it: no land, no buildings.
• A baseline survey of 1,500 refugee and host households, which every later result is measured against.
• 3,000 trees on land that has lost most of its trees to firewood ²¹, counted alive at one and two years.

Read more: how we worked these numbers out

Without a shared campus each of the five places would need its own guards, fence, road and maintenance team. The campus's $226,500 a year carries them all once.

How we will know, and what could go wrong

We will measure and publish:

• Title registered in Donum Foundation's name
• Every approval recorded on the chance page
• Baseline survey published
• Trees alive after two years

Read more: what could go wrong, and what we do about it

• No titled land near enough people. If no plot outside the settlement has 20,000 people within 5 km, we ask the Office of the Prime Minister to allocate land inside the settlement instead, with a long written allocation on land not used for refugees' plots. The land line is then not spent, and Donum holds an allocation rather than a title, which matters least for the school and the health centre, since the public side runs them under the partnership.

• No suitable land for sale, or the price is higher. The land line is set above current listings. If a plot costs more, the extra comes from contingency and is shown on the page; if no plot is found near enough, the campus moves to the next settlement on our list.

• Leaders of either community are not consulted well. Six months of meetings are budgeted before anything is built, and a way to raise a complaint stays open for as long as the campus exists.

Questions people ask

Why not build inside the settlement?

Nobody can hold a title there, so nobody can own what is built, and the land is full. Inside is the fallback if no titled plot nearby has 20,000 people within 5 km.

Why 70 acres?

About 36 for the buildings and 34 for the training farm and its model gardens.

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6. Chance 2: Donum Partner Platform: a free tool for refugee-led organisations

A free, safe tool for refugee-led organisations to record needs, prove delivery and follow up, so more money reaches them.

Why it matters

• Refugee-led organisations are chronically underfunded, excluded from direct grants and held back by rules built for international NGOs ⁶.
• As international agencies retreat, more of the work falls to them ⁶; what they most often lack is a way to show what they did with the money.
• Their grants are small (seed grants of up to USD 25,000 ³⁴), so they cannot buy systems built for large agencies.

Read more: the full picture, with sources

With Uganda's refugee response funding down by more than half ⁹, donors that do fund locally want proof of delivery. A tool that keeps honest records the way Donum does lowers the cost of that proof for organisations that know their communities best.

What the evidence says

We found no rigorous evaluation of digital case management for community organisations in refugee settings, so the platform is treated as an innovation: its evaluation is built in from the start, comparing the 30 organisations' verified deliveries and funding with those of others.

What it is

Donum has built a system for its own work: a need is checked, the gift is priced item by item, delivery is signed for by the person and by whoever delivered it, someone else checks a sample, and the result is followed up at six months and a year. The Partner Platform is a separate, shared version of that system, offered free to refugee-led organisations.

Read more: what is there, and how it works

It works on a phone or a tablet without a connection and sends its records when it finds one. People without smartphones answer follow-ups by text message or a USSD code. It is translated into French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Somali, Arabic and Lingala.

Thirty organisations get two rugged tablets and a solar charger each, and three days of training at the campus.

When it happens

Opens December 2027 (planned).

1. Designed with partners
2. Built
3. Checked for safety
4. Pilot
5. Open to thirty

Read more: the approvals it needs, and its stages

Approval	From	Status
Registration as a data controller	Personal Data Protection Office	Not yet granted
Data protection impact assessment, signed	Donum's lawyer	Not yet granted
Data-sharing agreement signed with each organisation	Each partner organisation	Not yet granted

Stage	Done means
Designed with partners	Ten refugee-led organisations have tested the design on paper and their changes are written down.
Built	The tool works end to end in the sandbox, in English and French.
Checked for safety	An independent security test has found no open serious problem, and the data protection assessment is signed.
Pilot	Ten organisations have used it for three months and their follow-ups are recorded.
Open to thirty	Thirty organisations are using it, trained, with devices.

What it costs, and why

Where the building money goes.

• $57,366 to build it with two developers and a mobile developer; $20,247 for data protection and an independent security test; $41,330 for 60 tablets, solar chargers and training.

Where the running money goes.

• $37,800 a year for support; $15,700 for hosting; $18,600 for the yearly security test and data protection.

Why an endowment share of $2.04 million. Running this place costs $81,400 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $2,035,000 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent; only its returns pay the running costs, every year.

Every item (15 lines), with how each figure was reached

Designing it with the people who will use it

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Design workshops in Nakivale with 10 refugee-led organisations, with interpreters and transport (can start before approvals)	$6,849	Our estimate

Building it

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Two developers for 6 months: a shared version of Donum's own system for checking needs, delivery and follow-ups (can start before approvals)	$29,589	2 people, 6 months, UGX 9,000,000 a month
One developer for 6 months: an Android app that works without a connection (can start before approvals)	$14,795	6 months at UGX 9,000,000
Software tools and AI coding subscriptions for 6 months (can start before approvals)	$1,200	USD 200 a month
Text message and USSD follow-ups for people without smartphones: setup and code (can start before approvals)	$4,110	Our estimate
Translation into French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Somali, Arabic and Lingala (can start before approvals) (7 at $1,096 a language)	$7,672	7 at UGX 4,000,000

Keeping people's information safe

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Independent security test before launch (can start before approvals)	$12,000	USD 12,000
Data protection impact assessment by a lawyer (can start before approvals)	$4,110	Our estimate
Data-sharing agreements for each partner organisation (can start before approvals)	$4,110	Our estimate
Registration with the Personal Data Protection Office (can start before approvals)	$27	UGX 100,000 a year

Devices and training

Item	Cost	How we reached it
60 rugged tablets, two for each of 30 organisations (60 at $384 a tablet)	$23,040	60 at UGX 1,400,000
30 solar chargers (30 at $164 a solar charger)	$4,920	30 at UGX 600,000
Three days of training for 2 people from each of 30 organisations	$5,151	60 people, 3 days at UGX 60,000, plus trainers UGX 8,000,000
Independent evaluation of the pilot	$8,219	Our estimate

Fees, taxes and contingency

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)	$12,575	10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)

Running costs, line by line

In 2026 prices. Lines marked government are the ones the partnership could move to the government.

Running cost	A year
Support team: 2 support and training officers, and a part-time developer	$37,800
Hosting, databases and backups	$1,800
Text messages and USSD sessions for follow-ups	$2,500
Data for 60 tablets (UGX 30,000 a month each)	$5,900
Independent security test, every year	$12,000
Data protection officer, on retainer	$6,600
Replacing tablets and chargers every 3 years	$9,300
Training new organisations	$5,500
Total	$81,400

Its share of the Donum Endowment, unit by unit

This part is never spent. Each line can be given to on its own.

Unit	Cost
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$945,000
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$392,500
Audits, licences and surveys, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$465,000
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$232,500
Its share of the Donum Endowment	$2,035,000
The whole chance: to build, and its endowment	$2,173,367

Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there

Model A. Donum builds it, owns it and runs it, and refugee-led organisations use it free. Each organisation owns its own records.

• No government body or UN agency builds this for small organisations; UNHCR's registration system is for refugees, not for organisations' own delivery records, and the platform does not copy it.

Read more: keeping people's information safe

Each organisation's records are kept apart from every other organisation's and from Donum's own databases. Nothing joins them.

Donum's staff cannot read the people's details an organisation records unless that organisation chooses to share them.

The platform is registered with the Personal Data Protection Office ³⁵, has a data protection impact assessment signed by a lawyer before launch, and is tested by independent security experts every year.

What it will achieve

• 30 refugee-led organisations using it by the end of the first year.
• Every gift they record with a delivery confirmation and a follow-up at six months and a year.
• No serious security finding left open, checked by an independent test every year.

Read more: how we worked these numbers out

$81,400 a year over 30 organisations is about $2,713 each, for hosting, support, devices replaced on a cycle and an independent security test every year. As more organisations join, the cost per organisation falls.

How we will know, and what could go wrong

We will measure and publish:

• Organisations actively using it each month
• Share of recorded gifts with a signed delivery and a follow-up
• Independent security test results
• What the organisations say, in a yearly survey

Read more: what could go wrong, and what we do about it

• A data breach would harm people who are already at risk. Privacy is designed in first: separate records, the least data needed, encryption, an independent test before launch and every year, and a data protection officer on retainer.

• Organisations try it and stop. It is designed with ten organisations before it is built, piloted for three months, and evaluated independently.

Questions people ask

Who owns the data?

Each organisation owns its own records. People's details are protected under Uganda's Data Protection and Privacy Act, and nothing is published without written agreement.

Why would organisations use it?

Because it is free, works offline in their languages, and saves them time when donors ask for proof.

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7. Chance 3: Donum Nakivale Power and Water: solar power for the campus and the trading centre

Solar power and water for every place on the campus, day and night, and power for the trading centre next door.

Why it matters

• In Nakivale 2.6% of households use the national grid for light ²⁰; the one documented solar installation is a 10 kW container at Rubondo ³⁶.
• Nothing on this campus works without steady power: an oxygen plant, a newborn unit, vaccine fridges, computer rooms, welding workshops.
• The deadwood for cooking is gone around Nakivale ²¹. A kitchen feeding 960 learners would otherwise burn firewood every day; this one cooks with solar electricity and biogas.

Read more: the full picture, with sources

Water: a public project from the Kagera River is being built for Nakivale, Oruchinga and Isingiro ²⁸. Its water reached Mbarara only in March 2026, later than planned ³⁷, and no date has been published for Nakivale. We do not build a public network, which would duplicate it: the campus draws its own water from boreholes and connects to the public main as a backup when it arrives.

What the evidence says

Mini-grids work when there are productive users, and productive uses are a condition of their viability ³⁸. A refugee mini-grid in Ethiopia gave more than 1,000 households power around the clock at half the cost of two hours of diesel ³⁹.

Read more: the rest of the evidence

In Uganda, mini-grids priced near the grid tariff reached their design limit within two years, and in two Kyenjojo mini-grids 42% of businesses opened after power arrived, until demand outgrew capacity ⁴⁰. That is why this plant is sized for the whole campus plus the trading centre, with its battery and replacements in the running costs.

What it is

A solar plant of about 550 kW with a 1,200 kWh battery, and a standby generator for long cloudy spells. It powers every building on the campus: the health centre's oxygen plant and vaccine fridges, the school's laboratories, computers and kitchen, the farm's incubators, milk cooler and pumps, the workshops, the water pumps and the staff homes.

Read more: what is there, and how it works

Power lines run about 6 km into the nearest trading centre, where the first 250 shops, mills, workshops and homes are connected with prepaid meters.

For water, three boreholes with solar pumps fill a 100,000 litre tower and a 300,000 litre reservoir. Rain tanks sit at every building. The campus treats its own wastewater in a planted wetland, and two biogas digesters turn the school's toilet waste into cooking gas.

When it happens

Opens July 2028 (planned).

1. The land
2. Studies and approvals
3. The builder
4. Foundations
5. Walls and roof
6. Finishes, power and water
7. Equipment
8. Opening

Read more: the approvals it needs, and its stages

Approval	From	Status
The campus approvals (land, consultations, district, environmental certificate)	See the campus chance	Not yet granted
Permit to generate and sell electricity from a mini-grid	Electricity Regulatory Authority	Not yet granted
Permits to drill and to take groundwater	Ministry of Water and Environment, Directorate of Water Resources Management	Not yet granted
Agreement on lines near the public network	Uganda Electricity Distribution Company	Not yet granted

Stage	Done means
The land	Land in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, checked against Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR population figures; its title, or a written allocation from the Office of the Prime Minister, in Donum Foundation's name, checked by our lawyer.
Studies and approvals	Surveys, the environmental and social impact certificate, approved drawings, and every approval this project needs, each recorded on the chance page.
The builder	Three written quotes from builders our team has checked; one chosen and the reason written down. The chosen quote replaces this estimate on the page.
Foundations	Foundations and floor slabs inspected and signed off by the supervising engineer.
Walls and roof	Walls up and roof on, inspected and signed off.
Finishes, power and water	Doors, windows, plaster, paint, wiring, plumbing, power and water working, inspected.
Equipment	Furniture and equipment in place and checked against the list.
Opening	The confirmation of delivery signed by the community's leaders, with photos, and the running costs in place.

What it costs, and why

Where the building money goes.

• $0.84 million for 550 kW of panels, mounts, inverters, a 1,200 kWh battery, installation and monitoring.
• $0.25 million for the campus network, 6 km of lines to the trading centre and 250 prepaid meters.
• $0.39 million for solar-pumped boreholes, tanks, treatment and rainwater harvesting.
• $0.54 million for design, import charges, VAT and contingency.

Where the running money goes.

• $54,800 a year for the plant manager, technicians, customer agents and a water operator.
• $38,800 saved every year to replace batteries and inverters on schedule; $20,200 for servicing.

Why an endowment share of $3.77 million. Running this place costs $150,700 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $3,767,500 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent; only its returns pay the running costs, every year.

Every item (36 lines), with how each figure was reached

The solar plant

Item	Cost	How we reached it
550 kW of solar panels (bifacial, 25 to 30 year warranty)	$121,000	550 kW at USD 220 a kW delivered
Galvanised steel ground mounts on concrete footings	$66,000	550 kW at USD 120 a kW
Inverters and battery converters, 400 kW	$56,000	400 kW at USD 140 a kW
1,200 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery in containers, with fire suppression	$360,000	1,200 kWh at USD 300 a kWh
Installation, cabling, protection, earthing and lightning protection	$82,500	550 kW at USD 150 a kW
Remote monitoring of the plant	$25,000	Our estimate
200 kVA standby generator with a 5,000 litre fuel tank, for long cloudy spells	$52,055	Uganda price with installation; our estimate
Power house and control room	$42,740	120 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Fence around the solar field, 620 m	$22,082	620 m at UGX 130,000 a metre
Lights and cameras for the solar field	$10,959	Our estimate

Power lines

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Underground cables to every building on the campus	$95,890	Our estimate
6 km of power lines into the nearby trading centre	$108,000	6 km at USD 18,000 a km
Connections and prepaid smart meters for the first 250 shops, mills, workshops and homes (250 at $180 a connection with a meter)	$45,000	250 at USD 180

Water for the campus

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Groundwater survey and the drilling and water-use permits (can start before approvals)	$4,110	Our estimate
3 boreholes about 120 m deep, cased and test-pumped (one kept as a spare) (3 at $15,068 a borehole)	$45,204	3 at UGX 55,000,000
3 solar borehole pumps with their own panels and controllers (3 at $10,959 a solar pump)	$32,877	3 at UGX 40,000,000
Water treatment: chlorine dosing, and ultraviolet for the health centre; a water testing kit	$12,329	Our estimate
100,000 litre steel tank on a 15 m tower	$49,315	Our estimate
300,000 litre concrete ground reservoir	$41,096	Our estimate
Water pipes, valves and a meter at every building	$32,877	Our estimate
Rain tanks at every building: 40 tanks of 10,000 litres with gutters (40 at $1,096 a rain tank)	$43,840	40 at UGX 4,000,000
Fire hydrants and hose reels	$13,699	Our estimate
Wastewater treatment for the whole campus: sewers and a planted treatment wetland	$68,493	Our estimate
2 biogas digesters of 100 m3 for the school kitchen, fed from the school's toilets (2 at $19,178 a biogas digester)	$38,356	2 at UGX 70,000,000
A connection to the public water main as a backup, where it reaches the campus	$6,849	Our estimate

Design, licences and training

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Engineering design and the electricity regulator's permit to sell power (can start before approvals)	$32,877	Our estimate
Regulator and utility application fees (can start before approvals)	$4,110	Our estimate
Training our own technicians, with the makers of the equipment	$10,959	Our estimate
Spare parts: panels, fuses, an inverter module	$25,918	3% of $863,500 imported equipment

Fees, taxes and contingency

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Architect, engineers, quantity surveyor and site supervision (8% of the building work) (can start before approvals)	$35,973	8% of $449,753 building and outside works; usual practice in Uganda
Allowance for prices rising before building starts (6%)	$26,986	6% of building and outside works. Uganda inflation was 4.6% a year to Sep 2026, and energy and fuel 14.5% (UBOS)
VAT on the builder's contract and fees (18%), unless Donum obtains an exemption	$92,301	18% of works, price allowance and fees. If an exemption is granted, this line is returned to the project's other items
Shipping, insurance and clearing of imported equipment (8%)	$69,068	8% of $863,500 imported equipment; our estimate
Import declaration fee and infrastructure levy (2.5%)	$23,315	1% import declaration fee and 1.5% infrastructure levy on customs value (External Trade (Amendment) Act 2025)
VAT on imported equipment (18%), unless it is exempt	$97,890	18% of customs value. Deep-cycle batteries are VAT-exempt since 1 July 2025 and carry no VAT here
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)	$189,562	10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)

Running costs, line by line

In 2026 prices. Lines marked government are the ones the partnership could move to the government.

Running cost	A year
Power and water team: plant manager, 3 technicians, 2 customer agents, water operator	$54,800
Servicing the solar plant and battery (1.5% of their cost a year)	$10,300
Diesel for the standby generator, about 10,000 litres a year	$16,400
Servicing the generator	$4,100
Replacing the battery after about 12 years	$30,000
Replacing the inverters after about 12 years	$4,700
Replacing borehole pumps after about 8 years	$4,100
Water treatment chemicals and testing	$4,900
Permit and licence renewals	$2,700
Meter data and monitoring	$2,500
Upkeep of tanks, pipes and the wastewater wetland (1.5%)	$5,800
Insurance (0.5%)	$10,400
Total	$150,700

Earned income we expect but do not count when sizing the endowment:

• Power sold in the trading centre: about 350 kWh a day at UGX 900 a kWh, 85% collected: $26,775 a year

Its share of the Donum Endowment, unit by unit

This part is never spent. Each line can be given to on its own.

Unit	Cost
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,370,000
Upkeep and servicing, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$505,000
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$595,000
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$970,000
Audits, licences and surveys, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$67,500
Insurance, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$260,000
Its share of the Donum Endowment	$3,767,500
The whole chance: to build, and its endowment	$5,852,730

Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there

Model A. Donum owns and runs it. The campus gets its power and water at cost, paid from the endowment. Power sold in the trading centre goes through a company the foundation owns, and its income is never counted on.

• The Kikagati hydropower plant in Isingiro sells to the national grid. Selling power to third parties needs a licence or an exemption from the Electricity Regulatory Authority, which is in the approvals list. Power sold in the trading centre goes through a company the foundation owns, and its income is never counted on.

What it will achieve

• Power at every campus building, day and night, with the plant up at least 99% of the time; the oxygen plant is its largest load.
• About 250 businesses and homes in the trading centre connected in the first year.
• Water for every place on the campus; a school kitchen that burns no firewood.

Read more: how we worked these numbers out

Cost against tenders. Ugandan mini-grid tenders paid about EUR 2 to 2.5 per installed watt ³⁸, about EUR 1.1 to 1.4 million for 550 kW. Our solar plant and power lines come to $1.09 million before fees, taxes and contingency, which are counted separately; with their share of those, about $1.46 million, in the same range. The campus water system is on top.

Load is measured before the trading-centre network is designed, so the 250 connections match what people will use.

How we will know, and what could go wrong

We will measure and publish:

• Hours the plant was up
• Customers connected and power sold
• Litres of water supplied and tested safe
• Firewood the kitchen did not burn

Read more: what could go wrong, and what we do about it

• Batteries and inverters wear out. Their replacement is saved for every year from the first year, so the money is there when they are due.

• The regulator does not permit power sales. The campus still gets all its power. Only the trading centre lines wait, and they are the last thing built.

Questions people ask

Why not connect to the national grid?

Most of the settlement is not on it, an oxygen plant and a newborn unit cannot wait out power cuts, and our own plant has a battery for the night. If the grid arrives, the campus connects to it as a backup.

Why your own water when the Kagera project is coming?

No date has been published for Nakivale. Boreholes give the campus water now; the public main becomes the backup when it comes.

Who pays when batteries wear out?

The endowment: $38,800 is set aside every year so replacements are paid for before they are needed.

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8. Chance 4: Donum Nakivale Health Centre: births, newborns and oxygen

Safe births, care for newborns, and oxygen for the whole settlement's clinics, in a place where whole wards have closed.

Why it matters

• Health workers in Nakivale describe entire departments and wards closed, triage stopped, community nutrition services shut and orders to make only necessary referrals ⁵.
• Health facilities serving refugees in Uganda fell from 101 in 2024 to 89 in early 2026, because of the funding cuts ¹; the district has asked for Nakivale Health Centre III to be upgraded because it cannot manage the numbers ³.
• Births and the first days of life are where good care saves the most lives for the least money: half of newborn deaths in Uganda come from birth asphyxia ⁴¹.

Read more: the full picture, with sources

By January only 6% of the money needed for refugee health and nutrition in Uganda in 2026 had been secured ¹⁴. The IRC closed health services in 11 settlements; stock-outs reached up to 30%, and acute malnutrition rose from 5.4% to 7.8% across 12 of 14 refugee locations ⁴³. Health facilities serving refugees fell from 101 in 2024 to 89 in early 2026 ¹.

A 2026 study counted about 10 public health facilities in Nakivale, 8 of them assessed: 6 Health Centre IIIs and 2 Health Centre IVs, 7 of them more than 10 km from the town council ⁴⁴. One Health Centre III was reported to serve about 94,000 people and about 400 antenatal clients a week ⁴⁵. HIV prevalence in the settlement is 2.4%, and the OPM fears it will rise as rations are cut ³.

Uganda's maternal mortality is 189 per 100,000 live births and neonatal mortality 22 per 1,000. Half of newborn deaths are from birth asphyxia, 18% from prematurity and 7% from sepsis ⁴¹. Uganda's health workforce is at about 34% of its approved structure ⁴⁶; staff homes are how a remote centre keeps trained midwives.

No source we found records how much oxygen Nakivale's clinics have. The baseline survey records it.

What the evidence says

Oxygen saves children. In a trial at 20 Ugandan health facilities, solar-powered oxygen cut 48-hour deaths among children with low oxygen from 5.1% to 2.9%: one life saved for every 45 children treated ⁴². After adjusting for differences between the two periods, the odds of dying were halved. The trial sites were larger facilities than a Health Centre III, so supplying other clinics needs cylinders, a pickup, pulse oximeters and trained nurses: all in this budget.

Read more: the rest of the evidence

Skilled births and newborn care save babies. Because half of newborn deaths come from asphyxia, a midwife at every birth, resuscitation and a newborn unit aim at the largest cause ⁴¹. In a Ugandan newborn programme, survival of babies under 1,500 g rose from 79% to 95% with training and quality improvement ⁴⁷.

What it is

An outpatient block, a maternity block with four delivery beds, 24 postnatal beds and a newborn unit for ten babies, wards for 28 patients, a laboratory, a pharmacy, a nutrition clinic for malnourished children and mothers, and a shelter where families staying with patients can cook.

Read more: what is there, and how it works

An oxygen plant fills cylinders for the health centre and for other clinics across the settlement, with 250 cylinders and a pickup that delivers full ones and brings back the empty ones.

Sixteen homes for health workers, so trained staff can live where they work. An ambulance, and two motorcycles for immunisation visits.

When it happens

Opens October 2028 (planned).

1. The land
2. Studies and approvals
3. The builder
4. Foundations
5. Walls and roof
6. Finishes, power and water
7. Equipment
8. Opening

Read more: the approvals it needs, and its stages

Approval	From	Status
The campus approvals (land, consultations, district, environmental certificate)	See the campus chance	Not yet granted
Registration and licence as a private not-for-profit health facility	Ministry of Health and the Isingiro District Health Office	Not yet granted
Licence for the pharmacy	National Drug Authority	Not yet granted
Registration of the laboratory, nurses and midwives	Allied Health Professionals Council; Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council	Not yet granted
Agreement on staff posting and government supplies (the partnership)	Isingiro District Health Office and Ministry of Health	Not yet granted

Stage	Done means
The land	Land in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, checked against Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR population figures; its title, or a written allocation from the Office of the Prime Minister, in Donum Foundation's name, checked by our lawyer.
Studies and approvals	Surveys, the environmental and social impact certificate, approved drawings, and every approval this project needs, each recorded on the chance page.
The builder	Three written quotes from builders our team has checked; one chosen and the reason written down. The chosen quote replaces this estimate on the page.
Foundations	Foundations and floor slabs inspected and signed off by the supervising engineer.
Walls and roof	Walls up and roof on, inspected and signed off.
Finishes, power and water	Doors, windows, plaster, paint, wiring, plumbing, power and water working, inspected.
Equipment	Furniture and equipment in place and checked against the list.
Opening	The confirmation of delivery signed by the community's leaders, with photos, and the running costs in place.

What it costs, and why

Where the building money goes.

• $1.07 million for about 2,810 m2 of clinical buildings: outpatients, a maternity block with 4 delivery beds, 24 postnatal beds and a 10-cot newborn unit, wards of 30 beds, laboratory and pharmacy, nutrition clinic, kitchen, a family shelter and walkways.
• $0.38 million for 16 staff homes and the in-charge's house: without them a remote centre cannot keep midwives at night.
• $0.46 million for equipment, beds, solar vaccine fridges, records and a backup battery; $0.34 million for the oxygen plant, 250 cylinders, pipes and a delivery pickup; $0.12 million for the ambulance and outreach motorcycles.
• $1.06 million for design and supervision, a 6% price-rise allowance, VAT, import charges and a 10% contingency, all counted rather than hoped away.

Where the running money goes.

• $365,500 a year for 55 health workers on the government's Health Centre III structure, including 2 doctors, and the oxygen technicians. This is the part the government can take over by posting staff.
• $236,000 for medicines and birth supplies at full capacity; $49,800 for upkeep; $68,100 saved every year to replace the ambulance, the oxygen plant and equipment as they wear out.

Why an endowment share of $19.24 million. Running this place costs $769,700 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $19,242,500 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent; only its returns pay the running costs, every year. If the government takes on the staff it can pay, Donum's yearly share falls to $198,100 and the returns that paid for those salaries go to the next need.

Every item (40 lines), with how each figure was reached

The health centre buildings

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Outpatient block: 6 consultation rooms, triage, emergency room, immunisation, HIV and TB clinic, counselling	$197,260	450 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Maternity block: antenatal clinic, 4 delivery beds, 24 postnatal beds, a newborn unit for 10 babies, a kangaroo care room	$284,932	650 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Wards: 16 beds for women and children, 12 for men, 2 isolation rooms	$197,260	450 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Laboratory, pharmacy and medical stores	$109,589	250 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Nutrition clinic for malnourished children and mothers	$42,740	120 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Administration, records and staff room	$53,425	150 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Kitchen and laundry	$53,425	150 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Shelter with a cooking area for families staying with patients	$45,205	150 m2 at UGX 1,100,000 per m2 (R_LIGHT)
Body holding room	$17,534	40 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Toilets and showers for patients and visitors	$35,616	100 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Covered walkways between the blocks	$36,986	300 m2 at UGX 450,000 per m2 (WALK)

Homes for the health workers

Item	Cost	How we reached it
16 two-bedroom homes for nurses, midwives and clinicians	$352,877	1,120 m2 at UGX 1,150,000 per m2 (R_HOUSE)
House for the health centre's in-charge	$31,507	100 m2 at UGX 1,150,000 per m2 (R_HOUSE)

Outside works

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Medical waste: a double-chamber incinerator, placenta pit, sharps pit and ash pit	$23,288	Our estimate
Fence and gate around the health centre, 600 m	$21,370	600 m at UGX 130,000 a metre
Ambulance bay and paved parking	$10,959	Our estimate

Medical equipment and furniture

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Medical equipment: delivery beds, newborn warmers and resuscitation, bubble CPAP, phototherapy, monitors, two ultrasound machines, suction, sterilisers	$220,000	Our estimate from supplier lists
Laboratory: blood count and chemistry analysers, 4 microscopes, centrifuges, fridges	$70,000	Our estimate
60 hospital beds with mattresses and lockers, and baby cots (60 at $767 a bed set)	$46,020	60 sets at UGX 2,800,000
2 solar vaccine fridges (WHO approved) (2 at $6,500 a vaccine fridge)	$13,000	2 at USD 6,500
Furniture and shelving for every room	$41,096	Our estimate
Electronic patient records: 12 computers, a server and the network	$24,658	Open-source UgandaEMR; our estimate
A battery that keeps maternity, the newborn unit and the oxygen controls running if the main power fails	$32,877	About 30 kWh with its inverter; our estimate
Cold chamber for the body holding room	$9,589	Our estimate

Ambulance

Item	Cost	How we reached it
A four-wheel-drive ambulance, fully equipped	$109,589	Uganda price with taxes; our estimate
2 motorcycles for outreach and immunisation visits (2 at $3,288 a motorcycle)	$6,576	2 at UGX 12,000,000

Oxygen for the whole settlement

Item	Cost	How we reached it
An oxygen plant (about 15 cubic metres an hour) with cylinder filling	$220,000	Installed; our estimate from supplier lists
250 oxygen cylinders, so clinics across the settlement can be supplied (250 at $160 a oxygen cylinder)	$40,000	250 at USD 160
Oxygen pipes to the maternity block, the newborn unit and the wards	$16,438	Our estimate
A pickup that delivers full cylinders to other clinics and brings back the empty ones	$63,014	Uganda price with taxes; our estimate

Getting ready to open

Item	Cost	How we reached it
First 3 months of medicines and supplies	$49,315	Our estimate
Hiring the team and training it before opening: emergency births and newborn care	$16,438	Our estimate
Registration and licences: health ministry, drug authority, professional councils (can start before approvals)	$2,740	Our estimate

Fees, taxes and contingency

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Architect, engineers, quantity surveyor and site supervision (10% of the building work) (can start before approvals)	$153,041	10% of $1,530,411 building and outside works; usual practice in Uganda
Allowance for prices rising before building starts (6%)	$91,836	6% of building and outside works. Uganda inflation was 4.6% a year to Sep 2026, and energy and fuel 14.5% (UBOS)
VAT on the builder's contract and fees (18%), unless Donum obtains an exemption	$319,562	18% of works, price allowance and fees. If an exemption is granted, this line is returned to the project's other items
Shipping, insurance and clearing of imported equipment (8%)	$45,041	8% of $563,000 imported equipment; our estimate
Import declaration fee and infrastructure levy (2.5%)	$15,205	1% import declaration fee and 1.5% infrastructure levy on customs value (External Trade (Amendment) Act 2025)
VAT on imported equipment (18%), unless it is exempt	$109,452	18% of customs value. Deep-cycle batteries are VAT-exempt since 1 July 2025 and carry no VAT here
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)	$322,959	10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)

Running costs, line by line

In 2026 prices. Lines marked government are the ones the partnership could move to the government.

Running cost	A year
55 health workers on the government's Health Centre III structure, including 2 doctors, midwives, nurses, laboratory and pharmacy staff (the government's own wage bill for this structure is UGX 1.1 billion a year), plus NSSF and medical cover (government)	$346,600
Oxygen plant technician and equipment technician	$18,900
Medicines for about 45,000 outpatient visits a year (UGX 9,000 a visit) (government)	$111,000
Supplies for about 1,800 births a year (UGX 70,000 each) (government)	$34,500
Medicines for about 2,500 admissions a year (UGX 60,000 each) (government)	$41,100
Laboratory reagents and tests (government)	$38,400
Nutrition supplies for malnourished children and mothers	$11,000
Servicing the oxygen plant: filters, sieve beds, service contract (4% of its cost)	$8,800
Ambulance fuel, servicing and insurance	$12,300
Servicing and calibrating medical equipment (4% of its cost)	$18,300
Building upkeep (1.5% of building cost)	$22,700
Cleaning, laundry, waste fuel, food for inpatients without family	$16,400
Internet and phones	$3,300
Licences, quality audits and reporting	$4,100
Insurance (0.4%)	$14,200
Replacing medical equipment over its life (10 years)	$45,700
Replacing the ambulance and pickups over their life (8 years)	$22,400
Total	$769,700
Donum's share if the government takes on the lines marked government	$198,100

Its share of the Donum Endowment, unit by unit

This part is never spent. Each line can be given to on its own.

Unit	Cost
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$9,137,500
Medicines and supplies, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$5,900,000
Upkeep and servicing, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,245,000
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$800,000
Audits, licences and surveys, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$102,500
Insurance, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$355,000
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,702,500
Its share of the Donum Endowment	$19,242,500
The whole chance: to build, and its endowment	$22,794,919

Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there

Model B. Donum builds and owns the health centre and registers it as a private not-for-profit facility. It asks the district and the health ministry to post and pay its staff on the Health Centre III structure (55 health workers, including two doctors) and to include it in the government's supply of medicines. Private not-for-profit facilities in Uganda already receive government grants ²⁷. Until that happens, Donum pays every cost from the endowment, so the health centre never waits on the government to open.

• The government and UNHCR's partners run about 10 public health facilities in Nakivale ⁴⁴; the district wants more capacity, not less ³. Donum's centre registers as a private not-for-profit facility under the district, joins its referral system and asks the government to post staff, the same route other private not-for-profit facilities use ²⁷.
• A Health Centre III does not do caesareans, so a written referral and ambulance agreement with a Health Centre IV or Mbarara is a condition of opening.

What it will achieve

• 600 to 1,000 births a year in the first three years, growing toward 1,800 as the centre becomes the maternity point for the zones around it.
• Up to 45,000 outpatient visits a year, refugees and hosts alike.
• Oxygen for the settlement's clinics every week: the plant makes about 360 cubic metres a day, enough for about 125 children on 2 litres a minute at once.
• A newborn unit, 24-hour maternity, an ambulance and a referral agreement for caesareans.

Read more: how we worked these numbers out

The catchment. Uganda plans one Health Centre III for about 20,000 people ⁴⁸. Donum's rule of at least 20,000 people within 5 km is exactly one Health Centre III's population.

Births. Refugee health facilities recorded 9,711 live births in the first quarter of 2026 among 1,999,576 refugees ¹, about 19 births per 1,000 people a year. We plan on 18 to 20 per 1,000. On that rate, 20,000 people have about 370 to 390 births a year, and 1,800 births needs about 90,000 to 100,000 people. So 1,800 is the centre's capacity, not its first-year number: we plan for 600 to 1,000 and grow as the settlement's zones come to it. The supplies budget is sized at full capacity, so the centre never turns a mother away for lack of supplies, and anything unused in the early years stays in the endowment.

Visits. Refugee health facilities recorded 301,265 outpatient consultations in the first quarter of 2026 ¹, about 0.6 a refugee a year. At that rate, 45,000 visits a year means serving about 75,000 people, close to the 94,000 one Nakivale Health Centre III was reported to serve ⁴⁵. It is realistic because the settlement's centres are overwhelmed and facilities have closed ^{3 1}; for the nearest 20,000 people alone it would be high.

Lives. At Uganda's neonatal mortality rate, 1,000 births carry about 22 newborn deaths, about 11 of them from asphyxia ⁴¹. These are the deaths a midwife, a resuscitation corner and a newborn unit are there to prevent. We will publish what actually happens, not what this arithmetic suggests.

Cost per visit. $769,700 a year over 45,000 visits is about $17.10 a visit, with births, oxygen, the ambulance and the staff homes inside it. Once the government posts the staff, Donum's share is $198,100, about $4.40 a visit.

How we will know, and what could go wrong

We will measure and publish:

• Births with a skilled midwife
• Newborns treated in the newborn unit, and how they did
• Oxygen cylinders delivered to other clinics
• Days any essential medicine was out of stock
• Staff posts filled, and who pays for them

Read more: what could go wrong, and what we do about it

• The government does not post or pay staff. The endowment is sized to pay every health worker without the government. If the partnership comes, the money it frees goes to the next most pressing running cost, and the change is published.

• Trained staff will not move to a remote place. Sixteen homes are part of the building, and pay follows the government scale.

Questions people ask

Why a whole health centre and not just medicines for existing clinics?

Medicines run out in a year; the existing clinics are short of rooms, beds, staff housing and oxygen as well. A building with its own staff homes, oxygen plant and an endowment for medicines keeps working when grants stop.

Why plan for 1,800 births if you expect 600 to 1,000?

The buildings last decades and the settlement keeps growing. Four delivery beds and 24 postnatal beds is what 1,800 births need; building smaller now and extending later costs more.

What if the government never posts staff?

Donum pays them, from the endowment, at $769,700 a year. The endowment is sized for Donum paying everything.

Why an oxygen plant at a Health Centre III?

Because the settlement's clinics have no steady supply, and the evidence that oxygen halves deaths among children with low oxygen is among the strongest in global health. One plant fills cylinders for all of them.

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9. Chance 5: Donum Nakivale Technical Secondary School: 960 places

A free technical secondary school for 960 refugee and host learners, where only about one refugee teenager in nine is in secondary school.

Why it matters

• Only 11% to 12.1% of refugee young people in Uganda are in secondary school ¹⁹; UNHCR puts refugee secondary enrolment at 9% against 34% for Uganda as a whole ¹⁷.
• In Nakivale it is lower still: 7%, among the lowest of any settlement ¹⁸. There are only two secondary schools in or near Nakivale ⁴⁹.
• 87,254 refugee children in Uganda are believed to be out of school, more girls than boys ⁵⁰; secondary and technical places will not come from a response that is 14% funded ¹.

Read more: the full picture, with sources

Near Nakivale, Rubondo Community Secondary School was started in 2019 because the area had nine primary schools and no secondary school ⁵¹. Long, unsafe journeys end many girls' schooling, and early pregnancy and marriage are common for girls who drop out ^{52 49}.

Children finish primary at about 13: too young to be hired and too young for a workshop full of machines. A school that keeps them until Senior Four, with a trade in every year, gives those years a purpose. Uganda's lower secondary curriculum is already built around practical skills ⁵³.

What the evidence says

Among refugees in Nakivale and Kampala, vocational training is associated with a 10.7 percentage point higher chance of having a job ⁵⁴. Vocational courses at Nakivale Secondary School put at least 30% of graduates into work in their trade ⁵⁵.

Read more: the rest of the evidence

Uganda's law lets a foundation body found a school that the government then grant-aids, deploying and paying its teachers ²⁶; the government grant-aided 51 schools in refugee-hosting districts in one year ³¹. But in April 2025 the Ministry's principal economist told Parliament there were no funds in the 2025/26 budget for grant-aiding in parishes and sub-counties without schools ⁵⁶; money for grant-aiding is tight, so the endowment is sized to pay every teacher itself.

What it is

Sixteen classrooms, four science laboratories, three technical workshops (building and carpentry, electrical and solar, tailoring and design), a computer laboratory, a library, a hall and dining room, a kitchen that cooks with electricity and biogas, two dormitories for 120 learners each, sports fields, a demonstration farm and nineteen homes for teachers.

Read more: what is there, and how it works

Places for 960 learners from Senior One to Senior Four. Every learner studies a trade in every year, taught by technical instructors in the school's own workshops, and is assessed for a national trade certificate in Senior Four, alongside the Senior Four certificate.

Every learner gets lunch; boarders get three meals a day. Every learner gets books, a uniform made in our own tailoring workshop, and every girl gets sanitary pads every month. Two special needs teachers and a counsellor are part of the staff.

There is no Senior Five or Six. Those two years mainly prepare for university, and about 9% of refugees worldwide are enrolled in higher education ²⁹. This school prepares for work.

No fees. Nobody repays Donum for a place.

When it happens

Opens February 2029 (planned).

1. The land
2. Studies and approvals
3. The builder
4. Foundations
5. Walls and roof
6. Finishes, power and water
7. Equipment
8. Opening

Read more: the approvals it needs, and its stages

Approval	From	Status
The campus approvals (land, consultations, district, environmental certificate)	See the campus chance	Not yet granted
Licence to establish and run a secondary school	Ministry of Education and Sports, through Isingiro District	Not yet granted
Registration after the school has run as required	Ministry of Education and Sports	Not yet granted
Exam centre number	Uganda National Examinations Board	Not yet granted
Registration as an assessment centre for learners' trade certificates	Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board	Not yet granted
Application to be grant-aided (the partnership)	Ministry of Education and Sports	Not yet granted

Stage	Done means
The land	Land in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, checked against Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR population figures; its title, or a written allocation from the Office of the Prime Minister, in Donum Foundation's name, checked by our lawyer.
Studies and approvals	Surveys, the environmental and social impact certificate, approved drawings, and every approval this project needs, each recorded on the chance page.
The builder	Three written quotes from builders our team has checked; one chosen and the reason written down. The chosen quote replaces this estimate on the page.
Foundations	Foundations and floor slabs inspected and signed off by the supervising engineer.
Walls and roof	Walls up and roof on, inspected and signed off.
Finishes, power and water	Doors, windows, plaster, paint, wiring, plumbing, power and water working, inspected.
Equipment	Furniture and equipment in place and checked against the list.
Opening	The confirmation of delivery signed by the community's leaders, with photos, and the running costs in place.

What it costs, and why

Where the building money goes.

• $1.10 million for 16 classrooms, 4 science laboratories, a computer laboratory, a library and 3 technical workshops.
• $0.87 million for two dormitories of 120 and 19 staff homes: teachers who live on site stay.
• $0.74 million for a hall and dining room for 700, a kitchen that cooks with electricity and biogas, offices and toilets with private rooms for girls.
• $1.49 million for design and supervision, price rises, VAT and a 10% contingency.

Where the running money goes.

• $497,900 a year for 38 teachers on government scales and 30 support staff: the half the government can take over by grant-aiding.
• $239,800 for meals and boarding; $83,600 for teaching materials and internet; $92,500 saved every year to replace computers, the bus and equipment.

Why an endowment share of $24.92 million. Running this place costs $996,700 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $24,917,500 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent; only its returns pay the running costs, every year. If the government takes on the staff it can pay, Donum's yearly share falls to $498,800 and the returns that paid for those salaries go to the next need.

Every item (42 lines), with how each figure was reached

Classrooms, laboratories and library

Item	Cost	How we reached it
16 classrooms for 60 learners each, in 4 blocks	$455,890	1,280 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
4 science laboratories (physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture) with preparation rooms	$263,014	600 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Computer laboratory for 60, with a server room	$61,370	140 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Library and reading room for 120	$106,849	300 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
3 technical workshops for learners: building and carpentry, electrical and solar, tailoring and design	$172,603	450 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Art and design room	$35,616	100 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)

Hall, kitchen and offices

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Administration: offices, a staff room for 45, an exam store, a counselling room	$149,589	420 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Hall and dining room for 700: assemblies, meals, exams and community events	$345,205	900 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_HALL)
Kitchen and food stores, cooking with electricity and biogas instead of firewood	$84,384	220 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_HALL)
Sick bay	$28,493	80 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
4 toilet blocks, with private rooms for girls' hygiene	$85,479	240 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Covered walkways	$49,315	400 m2 at UGX 450,000 per m2 (WALK)

Boarding and teachers' homes

Item	Cost	How we reached it
2 dormitories for 120 learners each, with washrooms and a warden's flat	$427,397	1,200 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
16 two-bedroom homes for teachers	$352,877	1,120 m2 at UGX 1,150,000 per m2 (R_HOUSE)
Head teacher's house	$37,808	120 m2 at UGX 1,150,000 per m2 (R_HOUSE)
2 houses for the deputy head teachers	$56,712	180 m2 at UGX 1,150,000 per m2 (R_HOUSE)

Sports and outside works

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Football pitch, levelled, drained and grassed	$16,438	Our estimate
Netball and basketball courts	$19,178	Our estimate
Running track	$6,849	Our estimate
Fence and gate around the school, 1,000 m	$35,616	1,000 m at UGX 130,000 a metre
Demonstration farm with drip irrigation	$8,219	Our estimate

Desks, beds and kitchen

Item	Cost	How we reached it
1,000 desks with chairs, steel and hardwood (1,000 at $77 a desk with chair)	$77,000	1,000 at UGX 280,000
Teachers' tables and chairs, and 20 classroom boards	$8,767	20 sets at UGX 400,000 and 20 boards at UGX 1,200,000
120 double-deck beds, 240 mattresses, 240 lockers and mosquito nets	$44,055	120 at UGX 650,000, 240 at UGX 180,000, 240 at UGX 150,000, 240 at UGX 15,000
Tables and benches for 700, and a sound system and projector for the hall	$47,945	Our estimate
Kitchen: 12 large electric pressure cookers, 6 electric boiling pans, biogas burners, a small cold room, utensils	$49,315	Our estimate
Basic furniture for 19 staff homes	$20,822	19 at UGX 4,000,000
Office equipment, safe, computers and filing	$12,329	Our estimate
Sick bay equipment	$4,110	Our estimate
Sports equipment	$5,479	Our estimate

Laboratories, computers and books

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Equipment and first chemicals for 4 laboratories, with fume cupboards and gas (4 at $30,137 a laboratory set)	$120,548	4 at UGX 110,000,000
60 new computers, a server, network, 2 projectors and printers	$67,671	60 at UGX 3,200,000, plus UGX 55,000,000
8,000 library books (8,000 at $12 a library book)	$96,000	8,000 at UGX 45,000
Library shelving, tables for 120, and a catalogue	$21,918	Our estimate
6,000 textbooks for the new curriculum, one each in the core subjects (6,000 at $11 a textbook)	$66,000	6,000 at UGX 40,000

School bus

Item	Cost	How we reached it
A 30-seat school bus for trips, sports and emergencies	$123,288	Uganda price with taxes; our estimate

Getting ready to open

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Licence to open, registration, the board of governors, and the exam centre number (can start before approvals)	$4,110	Our estimate
Hiring and preparing the teachers before the first term	$10,959	Our estimate

Fees, taxes and contingency

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Architect, engineers, quantity surveyor and site supervision (10% of the building work) (can start before approvals)	$279,890	10% of $2,798,904 building and outside works; usual practice in Uganda
Allowance for prices rising before building starts (6%)	$167,945	6% of building and outside works. Uganda inflation was 4.6% a year to Sep 2026, and energy and fuel 14.5% (UBOS)
VAT on the builder's contract and fees (18%), unless Donum obtains an exemption	$584,411	18% of works, price allowance and fees. If an exemption is granted, this line is returned to the project's other items
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)	$461,370	10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)

Running costs, line by line

In 2026 prices. Lines marked government are the ones the partnership could move to the government.

Running cost	A year
38 teachers: head, 2 deputies, 15 science and mathematics, 15 arts and languages, 2 special needs, 3 technical instructors, on government pay scales, with NSSF and medical cover (government)	$375,800
30 support staff: bursar, librarian, laboratory, nurse, wardens, cooks, cleaners, counsellor and others (government)	$122,100
Lunch for 720 day learners, 200 days a year (UGX 1,800 a meal)	$71,000
Three meals a day for 240 boarders, 273 days a year (UGX 1,600 a meal)	$86,200
Exercise books, pens and mathematical sets (UGX 60,000 a learner)	$15,800
A uniform each year, made in our own tailoring workshop (UGX 90,000 a learner)	$23,700
Sanitary pads for every girl, every month	$7,900
National exam fees for about 240 Senior Four candidates each year	$10,800
National trade assessment for every Senior Four learner (UGX 100,000 each)	$6,600
Materials for the trade workshops (UGX 150,000 a learner a year)	$39,500
Laboratory chemicals and specimens	$16,400
New books and replacing worn textbooks	$11,000
Internet for the school	$9,900
Teacher training	$6,800
Sport, clubs and trips	$8,200
Boarding supplies and sick bay medicines	$9,600
School bus fuel and servicing	$11,000
Stationery, exam printing, bank charges and phones	$9,600
Building upkeep (1.5% of building cost)	$42,000
Replacing furniture, computers and laboratory equipment over their life (8 years)	$80,200
Replacing the school bus over its life (10 years)	$12,300
Insurance (0.4%)	$20,300
Total	$996,700
Donum's share if the government takes on the lines marked government	$498,800

Its share of the Donum Endowment, unit by unit

This part is never spent. Each line can be given to on its own.

Unit	Cost
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$12,447,500
Learners' meals and materials, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$5,995,000
Teaching materials and internet, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$2,090,000
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$515,000
Upkeep and servicing, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,050,000
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$2,312,500
Insurance, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$507,500
Its share of the Donum Endowment	$24,917,500
The whole chance: to build, and its endowment	$29,990,333

Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there

Model B. Donum founds and owns the school as its foundation body under the Education Act 2008 and keeps its seats on the board. Once the school is licensed and registered, it applies to be grant-aided; a grant-aided school's teachers are paid by the government ²⁶. Until then, Donum pays every teacher on the government's own pay scales from the endowment, so the school does not depend on the government's decision to open or to stay open.

• Windle International runs Nakivale Secondary School; FCA built dormitories at Rubondo Community Secondary School; AVSI trains young people there ^{49 51}. Donum agrees catchment areas with them so the school adds places rather than drawing learners away.

What it will achieve

• 960 learners at a time; about 240 finishing Senior Four each year once every class is full, each with the Senior Four certificate and a national trade certificate.
• Refugee and host learners side by side; 240 boarding places, girls first, for those who live farthest or are least safe on the road.
• Meals for every learner, because hunger is one of the reasons children stop coming.

Read more: how we worked these numbers out

More than 30,000 young people aged 15 to 24 lived in the settlement even when it held about 145,000 people ⁵⁷. Against that, 960 places means demand will not be the limit; fair selection between refugees and hosts will be.

Cost per place. $5.07 million to build is about $5,284 a place. A government seed secondary school costs about UGX 3.2 to 3.3 billion ⁵⁸, about $0.89 million, for fewer classrooms and without boarding, three workshops, four laboratories, a hall for 700 or teachers' homes.

Cost per learner. $996,700 a year is about $1,038 a learner, including boarding for 240 and lunch for everyone. Once the government pays the teachers it is about $520.

How we will know, and what could go wrong

We will measure and publish:

• Learners enrolled, and the share who are girls
• Learners who stay from one year to the next
• Senior Four results, and trade certificates passed
• What learners do after Senior Four, followed up at six months and a year: working, training further, or neither

Read more: what could go wrong, and what we do about it

• The school is not grant-aided, or only after many years. The endowment is sized to pay every teacher without the government.

• Too many applicants for 960 places. Admission is published before the first term: a fair share for refugee and host learners, with distance, safety and need decided in the open.

• Learners arrive speaking French, not English. Senior One has English support built in, taught by the school's own language teachers.

• Children and adults in the same workshops. They are not: the school has its own workshops. It shares instructors' training and some equipment with the training farm, never timetables.

Questions people ask

Why stop at Senior Four?

Senior Five and Six prepare mainly for university, which few refugees reach ²⁹. Senior Four with a trade certificate opens both work and further training.

Why boarding?

For the learners who live farthest away or are least safe on the road, girls first. Distance and safety are among the main reasons girls leave school ⁴⁹.

Why is it free?

Fees are one of the reasons children stop. The endowment pays what fees would.

What if grant-aiding never comes?

Donum pays every teacher from the endowment, which is sized for that at $996,700 a year.

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10. Chance 6: Donum Nakivale Training Farm and Workshops: 1,000 graduates a year

A working farm and workshops where 1,000 people a year learn, in their own language, a trade they can live from.

Why it matters

• Food aid has collapsed: WFP's support fell from 1.6 million refugees in early 2025 to 663,000 ⁴, and over a million refugees lost food assistance altogether in 2025 ²³. Refugee food insecurity more than tripled in a year ⁶¹.
• Refugees International's 2026 review describes a refugee woman who washes clothes for UGX 3,000 to 5,000 a day ⁶. In Nakivale, refugees and hosts have reported that the vocational training available does not meet their needs ²².
• Most working refugees are self-employed (72%), and they earn 32% less than comparable Ugandans ⁵⁹: skills and business know-how close that gap.

Read more: the full picture, with sources

Livelihood support for refugee and host households fell 56% ⁶.

Refugees in Uganda have the right to work and are given land to farm. The trades taught here are ones a person or a small group can start with little money and sell locally every week: eggs, chickens, milk, goats, seedlings, vegetables, clothes, hairdressing and repairs. Groups in Nakivale already run poultry farms of their own ⁶².

What the evidence says

In Uganda, young people given cash for vocational training and tools had 41% higher income four years later ⁶³; six months of vocational training made people 9 percentage points (21%) more likely to be employed and raised hourly wages by 11% ⁶⁴, and trained workers' monthly earnings were 25% higher by 2018 ⁶⁵; mentoring raised labour-market participation by 27% at three months ⁶⁶.

Read more: the rest of the evidence

Refugee programmes report between about 30% and 81% of graduates working or running a business ⁶⁰; World Bank livelihood programmes in hosting areas raised household incomes by more than 17% ⁶⁷. Nakivale Vocational Training Centre has already certified about 250 refugees and hosts, so the route to a national certificate exists locally ⁶⁸.

What it is

A working farm with 1,000 laying hens, broilers and a hatchery, a dairy unit for 10 cows, a goat house for 50, 15 acres of fodder, a seedling nursery, two greenhouses, 8 acres of model gardens, a 5-acre orchard, a feed mill and an animal health room. Workshops for tailoring, hairdressing, motorcycle repair, small engines and farm machinery, welding, and solar pumps and systems.

Read more: what is there, and how it works

Twelve courses, each six months on campus, with two intakes a year, in January and July. About 500 trainees are on campus at a time, and 1,000 graduate each year.

Every trainee also takes nine core courses for running their own work: bookkeeping, basic computer and phone skills, money, selling, reading and numbers where needed, working in a group, the rules for a small business, safety at work, and a plan for their own work.

It is taught by doing, about four-fifths of the time in the farm and workshops, in Kiswahili, French, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Runyankore, with pictures. Nobody needs English to learn here, and trainees are assessed by doing the work.

Everyone is trained. No certificate is given without the course, and the national assessment comes at the end of it.

Farmers and mechanics who already work in a trade can take two-week courses that add to what they know: better breeds, feeding, disease, grafting, engine faults.

The twelve courses (six months each, two intakes a year)

Course	Graduates a year
Poultry: laying hens, broilers and hatching your own chicks	180
Dairy cattle, zero-grazing	80
Goat rearing	100
Seedling nursery and fruit trees, with grafting	80
Model gardens: vegetables and field crops, irrigation, small plots	180
Animal feed making and community animal health	50
Tailoring	80
Hairdressing and beauty	80
Motorcycle repair	70
Small engines and farm machinery	40
Welding and fabrication	40
Solar pumps and solar systems	20
Total	1,000

The nine core courses every trainee takes, for running their own work, not for finding a job:

1. Record keeping and bookkeeping, with pictures and in their own language
2. Basic computer and phone skills: a smartphone, a computer, mobile money, selling on WhatsApp
3. Money: costing and pricing, saving, savings groups, handling a loan, keeping business money apart from home money
4. Selling: finding customers, quality, customer care
5. Reading and numbers, for those who need them
6. Working in a group or cooperative
7. The rules: refugees' right to work, registering a small business, licences, simple contracts
8. Safety at work and first aid
9. A simple plan for their own work after the course

The six months

When	What the trainee does
Months 1 to 4	Learn the trade by doing it, with one day a week on the core courses.
Month 5	Run their own small unit on the farm or in the workshop, keep its records, sell what it makes and keep what it earns.
Month 6	Work beside someone already in the trade, write a plan for their own work, join a savings group, and take the practical assessment.

To finish, a trainee passes the practical assessment and their own month-five records show what their unit earned. Anyone not ready gets up to three more months.

When it happens

Opens January 2029 (planned).

1. The land
2. Studies and approvals
3. The builder
4. Foundations
5. Walls and roof
6. Finishes, power and water
7. Equipment
8. Opening

Read more: the approvals it needs, and its stages

Approval	From	Status
The campus approvals (land, consultations, district, environmental certificate)	See the campus chance	Not yet granted
Registration as a vocational training institution	Ministry of Education and Sports	Not yet granted
Registration as a national assessment centre	Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board	Not yet granted

Stage	Done means
The land	Land in a place with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, checked against Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR population figures; its title, or a written allocation from the Office of the Prime Minister, in Donum Foundation's name, checked by our lawyer.
Studies and approvals	Surveys, the environmental and social impact certificate, approved drawings, and every approval this project needs, each recorded on the chance page.
The builder	Three written quotes from builders our team has checked; one chosen and the reason written down. The chosen quote replaces this estimate on the page.
Foundations	Foundations and floor slabs inspected and signed off by the supervising engineer.
Walls and roof	Walls up and roof on, inspected and signed off.
Finishes, power and water	Doors, windows, plaster, paint, wiring, plumbing, power and water working, inspected.
Equipment	Furniture and equipment in place and checked against the list.
Opening	The confirmation of delivery signed by the community's leaders, with photos, and the running costs in place.

What it costs, and why

Where the building money goes.

• $0.49 million for the workshops: tailoring, hairdressing, motorcycle and small engines, welding and solar.
• $0.62 million for the working farm: poultry houses, dairy and goat units, feed and animal health, a seedling nursery, model gardens and water.
• $0.50 million for training rooms, a computer room, childcare so mothers can train, and a canteen.

Where the running money goes.

• $366,700 a year for 59 staff, among them 25 instructors, a veterinary officer and placement officers.
• $211,000 for trainees' meals, materials and assessment fees; $68,900 for feed, seed and fuel. Farm sales are never counted on; they are reported apart.

Why an endowment share of $18.47 million. Running this place costs $738,900 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $18,472,500 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent; only its returns pay the running costs, every year.

Every item (61 lines), with how each figure was reached

Poultry

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Layer house for 1,000 hens	$20,548	150 m2 at UGX 500,000 per m2 (R_FARM)
Broiler house for 1,000 birds	$13,699	100 m2 at UGX 500,000 per m2 (R_FARM)
Hatchery and brooder room, so graduates can start with their own chicks	$21,370	60 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
20 small pens where trainees run their own flocks in month five	$41,096	300 m2 at UGX 500,000 per m2 (R_FARM)
1,000 laying hens to start (1,000 at $7 a laying hen)	$7,000	1,000 at UGX 25,000
3 egg incubators of 528 eggs, with backup power (3 at $1,096 a incubator)	$3,288	3 at UGX 4,000,000
Feeders, drinkers, egg trays, brooders and scales	$4,110	Our estimate

Dairy cattle and goats

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Zero-grazing dairy unit for 10 cows: stalls, feeding troughs, milking area, calf pens	$47,945	250 m2 at UGX 700,000 per m2 (R_FARM_HEAVY)
Milk room with a cooler	$17,534	40 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
10 in-calf dairy heifers (10 at $1,370 a in-calf heifer)	$13,700	10 at UGX 5,000,000
Milk cooler of 300 litres, cans, and a chaff cutter	$8,493	Our estimate
Raised goat house for 50 goats	$16,438	120 m2 at UGX 500,000 per m2 (R_FARM)
40 breeding does and 2 bucks of improved breeds	$7,397	40 at UGX 600,000 and 2 at UGX 1,500,000
15 acres of fodder (napier grass, lucerne and fodder trees), and 2 silage pits	$16,438	15 acres at UGX 2,000,000 and 2 pits at UGX 15,000,000

Animal feed and animal health

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Feed store and feed-making room	$45,205	150 m2 at UGX 1,100,000 per m2 (R_LIGHT)
Feed mill: hammer mill and mixer, to teach making feed from local grain	$9,589	Our estimate
Animal health room for training community animal health workers	$35,068	80 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
Veterinary equipment and a vaccine fridge	$5,479	Our estimate
Manure and compost yard	$5,479	Our estimate

Seedlings and model gardens

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Tree, fruit and vegetable seedling nursery under shade nets, 2,000 m2	$32,877	2,000 m2 at UGX 60,000
Potting shed and nursery store	$30,137	100 m2 at UGX 1,100,000 per m2 (R_LIGHT)
Nursery trays, grafting tools, seed and a misting system	$12,329	Our estimate
2 greenhouses of 240 m2 with drip irrigation (2 at $12,329 a greenhouse)	$24,658	2 at UGX 45,000,000
8 acres of model gardens and trainees' own plots, with drip irrigation: vegetables, beans, maize, bananas, cassava, sorghum, sunflower	$17,534	8 acres at UGX 8,000,000
Demonstrations for small plots: keyhole gardens, sack gardens, terraces	$2,740	Our estimate
A 5-acre orchard: grafted mango, avocado, citrus and bananas	$8,219	Our estimate
Farm tools, a walk-behind tractor with implements, sprayers	$10,959	Our estimate
Produce store and sorting shed	$36,164	120 m2 at UGX 1,100,000 per m2 (R_LIGHT)
Small cold room for eggs, milk and vegetables	$12,329	Our estimate

Water for the farm

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Lined rainwater pond of 3,000 m3	$24,658	Our estimate
A farm borehole with a solar pump	$26,027	Borehole UGX 55,000,000, pump UGX 40,000,000
50,000 litre farm tank and irrigation mains	$38,356	Tank UGX 80,000,000, pipes UGX 60,000,000

Workshops

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Tailoring workshop	$69,041	180 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Hairdressing and beauty room, with hot water	$46,027	120 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Motorcycle repair workshop	$69,041	180 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Small engines and farm machinery workshop: pumps, mills, generators, tillers	$69,041	180 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Welding and fabrication workshop: poultry cages, feeders, gates, farm tools	$69,041	180 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Solar pumps and solar systems workshop	$46,027	120 m2 at UGX 1,400,000 per m2 (R_WORK)
Tailoring: 30 industrial sewing machines, 6 overlockers, 2 embroidery machines, cutting tables	$27,945	30 at UGX 1,600,000, 6 at UGX 2,500,000, 2 at UGX 12,000,000, plus UGX 15,000,000
Hairdressing and beauty: 12 stations with basins and dryers	$19,178	Our estimate
Motorcycle tools, lifts, a compressor and 6 motorcycles to take apart	$16,438	Our estimate
Engines, pumps, 2 tillers and a grain mill to learn on	$19,178	Our estimate
8 welding machines, a plasma cutter, drill press, booths with extraction	$27,397	8 at UGX 3,500,000, plus UGX 72,000,000
Solar pump and solar system training boards, meters and tools	$16,438	Our estimate

Training rooms, computer room, partner rooms, childcare and canteen

Item	Cost	How we reached it
3 training rooms for 35, taught with pictures and in people's own languages	$85,479	240 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Computer room for 20, for the basic computer and phone course	$35,068	80 m2 at UGX 1,600,000 per m2 (R_SVC)
20 computers, a network and a projector	$20,274	20 at UGX 3,200,000, plus UGX 10,000,000
6 rooms that partner organisations use, a help desk and 2 private rooms for confidential conversations	$89,041	250 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Childcare room, so parents can train	$35,616	100 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Canteen, cooking what the farm grows	$53,425	150 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
3 toilet blocks	$53,425	150 m2 at UGX 1,300,000 per m2 (R_STD)
Covered walkways and paved yard	$32,877	Our estimate
Fence and gates around the farm and workshops, 1,500 m	$53,425	1,500 m at UGX 130,000 a metre
Furniture for the training and partner rooms, childcare and canteen equipment	$38,356	Our estimate
Motor tricycle for taking produce to market	$4,110	Our estimate

Getting ready to open

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Registration as a training institution and as a national assessment centre, and instructor accreditation (can start before approvals)	$5,479	Our estimate
Picture-based course materials in Kiswahili, French, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Runyankore	$10,959	Our estimate

Fees, taxes and contingency

Item	Cost	How we reached it
Architect, engineers, quantity surveyor and site supervision (10% of the building work) (can start before approvals)	$132,055	10% of $1,320,548 building and outside works; usual practice in Uganda
Allowance for prices rising before building starts (6%)	$79,233	6% of building and outside works. Uganda inflation was 4.6% a year to Sep 2026, and energy and fuel 14.5% (UBOS)
VAT on the builder's contract and fees (18%), unless Donum obtains an exemption	$275,726	18% of works, price allowance and fees. If an exemption is granted, this line is returned to the project's other items
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)	$211,616	10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)

Running costs, line by line

In 2026 prices. Lines marked government are the ones the partnership could move to the government.

Running cost	A year
59 staff: manager, farm production manager, veterinary officer, 12 lead and 13 assistant instructors, 3 core course trainers, 8 farm workers, nursery, business, savings group and placement officers, language assistants, childcare and administration	$366,700
Feed, chicks, vaccines and veterinary drugs for the farm's own animals	$51,700
Training materials (seed, fertiliser, cloth, engine parts, steel, nursery bags) for 1,000 trainees (UGX 200,000 each)	$54,800
What each trainee needs to run their own unit in month five (chicks and feed, seed, cloth, parts); they keep what it earns	$41,100
Lunch for 1,000 trainees, about 110 days on campus each (UGX 2,000 a meal)	$60,300
National assessment fees for every trainee, after their training (UGX 100,000 each)	$27,400
A small payment to the farmer or tradesperson who takes each trainee in month six (UGX 50,000)	$13,700
Two-week courses for 1,000 farmers and mechanics who already work in a trade	$13,700
Finding buyers for graduates' eggs, milk, seedlings, clothes and repairs	$8,200
Internet for the computer room and office	$4,900
Replacing laying hens every 18 months, and the herd's culls	$7,300
Servicing equipment and machines (5% of their cost)	$24,700
Replacing equipment and computers over their life (8 years)	$35,700
Upkeep of buildings, ponds, nets and irrigation (1.5%)	$15,300
Insurance (0.4%)	$9,300
Childcare supplies	$4,100
Total	$738,900

Earned income we expect but do not count when sizing the endowment:

• Eggs: about 292,000 a year (UGX 12,000 a tray of 30), or supplied to the school kitchen: $32,000 a year
• Broilers: 6 batches of about 950 birds (UGX 12,000 each): $18,740 a year
• Milk: about 30,000 litres a year (UGX 1,500 a litre): $12,329 a year
• Goats sold (about 40 a year at UGX 200,000): $2,192 a year
• Seedlings: about 50,000 a year (UGX 1,000 each): $13,699 a year
• Vegetables and fruit: $5,479 a year
• Partner organisations paying for the trainees they send (about 200 a year at UGX 600,000): $32,877 a year
• Partners booking rooms: $5,479 a year

Its share of the Donum Endowment, unit by unit

This part is never spent. Each line can be given to on its own.

Unit	Cost
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$9,167,500
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,722,500
Learners' meals and materials, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$5,275,000
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,075,000
Upkeep and servicing, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$1,000,000
Insurance, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns	$232,500
Its share of the Donum Endowment	$18,472,500
The whole chance: to build, and its endowment	$20,800,319

Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there

Model A. Donum owns and runs it, paid from the endowment. Partner organisations send trainees and pay for them. What the farm produces goes first to the school kitchen; the rest is sold through a company the foundation owns, and that income is reported apart from donations and never counted on.

• Nakivale Vocational Training Centre, ILO PROSPECTS, AVSI, FCA, CARE's savings groups, Opportunity International and Mercy Corps all work on livelihoods around Nakivale. Donum links graduates to their savings groups and microfinance rather than duplicating them.

What it will achieve

• 1,000 graduates a year, each certified after training, in twelve trades: two thirds in farming and livestock, one third in workshop trades.
• About 400 to 500 of them working for themselves or employed a year later, and earnings 25% to 41% higher than without training at the Ugandan studies' rates.
• 1,000 farmers and mechanics a year on two-week courses that build on skills they already have; eggs, milk and vegetables for the school kitchen.

Read more: how we worked these numbers out

Applying the refugee programmes' range of 30% to 81% ⁶⁰ to 1,000 graduates gives 300 to 810 in work or their own business at a year. Our base case of 400 to 500 starts from the 30% floor seen in Nakivale and Palorinya and adds what this course has that those did not: month five running their own unit, the nine core courses and a starter plan.

The earnings gains of 25% to 41% come from Ugandan studies ^{65 63}; we treat them as the upper end and will measure our own at six and twelve months against a comparison group from the baseline survey.

How we will know, and what could go wrong

We will measure and publish:

• Trainees who finish, and who pass the practical assessment
• Whether their month-five unit made a profit
• At six months and a year: working for themselves, employed, or neither
• Seedlings, eggs and milk produced, and where they went

Read more: what could go wrong, and what we do about it

• Too many graduates in the same trade. Places in each course are reviewed every year against what the follow-ups show, and moved to where graduates are earning.

• Six months without earning is hard for poor families. Lunch every day on campus, and in month five trainees keep what their own unit earns.

• Animal disease on the farm. A veterinary officer on staff, vaccination, and the farm's own feed.

• Graduates have the skill but no tools. A graduate who starts their own work can be offered a starter kit (chicks, goats, seedlings or tools) as a person's chance on the site, given outright, with nothing to pay back or pass on.

Questions people ask

Why six months?

Long enough for a full cycle in each trade: a flock from chick to first egg, a goat from mating to kidding, a crop from land to market, with month five running a unit of their own.

Why these trades?

They need no English, little money to start, and sell locally every week. They also add value for people who already farm or fix things.

What about graduates who take a job instead?

That counts too. The six and twelve month follow-ups record both honestly.

Why not just give cash?

Cash helps for a season. A trade, a certificate and a working unit last, and the evidence shows earnings gains that outlast the training ⁶³.

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11. When it happens

The preparation year (October 2026 to September 2027), all of which can be paid for before any approval:

1. Meet the settlement commandant, the Office of the Prime Minister's refugee desk, the Isingiro District leaders, the refugee welfare councils and host village leaders. Listen first; change the plan where they show us something we missed.
2. Get the population of each settlement zone and the host villages around it from the Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR. Find up to three plots on a public road with at least 20,000 people within 5 km, and have our lawyer check each title. If none passes, ask the Office of the Prime Minister for land inside the settlement.
3. Commission the land survey and soil tests, and choose the firm for the environmental and social impact assessment.
4. Start the partner platform's design workshops with ten refugee-led organisations.
5. Commission the designs for each place and apply for every approval it needs.
6. Put every approval on its chance page with its real status, and keep it current.

Of the $14.66 million total, $1.25 million is work that can start before approvals: land, studies, design, consultations and the platform. Everything else waits for the approvals it needs.

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12. Approvals, all in one place

Every approval each project needs, with its status.

Read more: every approval, by project

Chance	Approval	From	Status
1. Campus	Letter of no objection and coordination with the settlement	Office of the Prime Minister, Department of Refugees, and the settlement commandant	Not yet granted
1. Campus	Support of the district council and its planning committee	Isingiro District Local Government	Not yet granted
1. Campus	Agreement after consultation with refugee welfare councils and host community leaders	Refugee Welfare Councils of Nakivale; local council leaders of the host villages	Not yet granted
1. Campus	Land title transferred into Donum Foundation's name	Ministry of Lands, Mbarara zonal office	Not yet granted
1. Campus	Environmental and social impact certificate for the whole campus	National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)	Not yet granted
1. Campus	Approval of the campus plan and building drawings	Isingiro District physical planning committee	Not yet granted
1. Campus	Permission to upgrade the public access road	Isingiro District roads department	Not yet granted
2. Partner platform	Registration as a data controller	Personal Data Protection Office	Not yet granted
2. Partner platform	Data protection impact assessment, signed	Donum's lawyer	Not yet granted
2. Partner platform	Data-sharing agreement signed with each organisation	Each partner organisation	Not yet granted
3. Power and water	Permit to generate and sell electricity from a mini-grid	Electricity Regulatory Authority	Not yet granted
3. Power and water	Permits to drill and to take groundwater	Ministry of Water and Environment, Directorate of Water Resources Management	Not yet granted
3. Power and water	Agreement on lines near the public network	Uganda Electricity Distribution Company	Not yet granted
4. Health centre	Registration and licence as a private not-for-profit health facility	Ministry of Health and the Isingiro District Health Office	Not yet granted
4. Health centre	Licence for the pharmacy	National Drug Authority	Not yet granted
4. Health centre	Registration of the laboratory, nurses and midwives	Allied Health Professionals Council; Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council	Not yet granted
4. Health centre	Agreement on staff posting and government supplies (the partnership)	Isingiro District Health Office and Ministry of Health	Not yet granted
5. Technical school	Licence to establish and run a secondary school	Ministry of Education and Sports, through Isingiro District	Not yet granted
5. Technical school	Registration after the school has run as required	Ministry of Education and Sports	Not yet granted
5. Technical school	Exam centre number	Uganda National Examinations Board	Not yet granted
5. Technical school	Registration as an assessment centre for learners' trade certificates	Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board	Not yet granted
5. Technical school	Application to be grant-aided (the partnership)	Ministry of Education and Sports	Not yet granted
6. Training farm	Registration as a vocational training institution	Ministry of Education and Sports	Not yet granted
6. Training farm	Registration as a national assessment centre	Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board	Not yet granted

None has been granted (Joel, 4 October 2026). Each status is kept current on its chance page, and a project moves from planned to under way only when the approvals it needs before building are granted.

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13. Running costs and the endowment

Running costs start as each place opens, and the school grows by one class a year until every class is full in 2032.

The endowment

The endowment is a fund that is never spent. It is invested, and only its returns pay the running costs. That is how a school, a health centre and a power plant keep running in year twenty, when the people who gave to build them have moved on.

There is one: the Donum Endowment. It pays the running costs of the six places here and of Donum Centre in Kampala, and keeps each place's share apart in its accounts, so a gift to keep the health centre running stays the health centre's for good.

• Running all six places costs about $2.96 million a year once they are open. Every $100,000 a year of running cost needs $2.50 million in the endowment at 4%, so their share of the Donum Endowment is $74.10 million.
• If the government takes on teachers' and health workers' pay, the running cost Donum carries falls to $1.89 million a year, and the returns that paid for those salaries go to the next most pressing need.
• The endowment is the reason a building opened in 2028 is still open, staffed and repaired in 2048. Without it, every one of these places would depend on a grant renewed each year: exactly what has just failed in Nakivale.

Why 4%.

1. One endowment, the Donum Endowment, pays the running costs of every place Donum builds: the six at Nakivale and Donum Centre.
2. We calculated that the endowment can pay 4% a year from its returns for good, without ever being spent. We plan to spend 4% a year of its average value over the last 12 quarters.
3. Its investments follow our investment policy, and are handled professionally in a trust owned by the foundation.

The rules.

• The endowment is never spent. Only its returns are: each year, 4% of its average value over the last 12 quarters.
• Returns above 4% stay in the endowment, so it grows with prices.
• A gift to keep one place running stays that place's share for good. A gift to keep every place running goes to the share for Donum Foundation's own running costs, or to the share of the next place to open that is not yet covered. We choose where it does the most good.
• No place opens until its running costs are secured: either its share of the endowment is in, or two years of its running costs are held in reserve.
• If the government takes on a cost (teachers' or health workers' pay), the returns that paid for it go to the next most pressing running cost, and the change is published.
• Earned income (power sales, training contracts) is never counted on. It is reported separately and kept as a reserve.

Building it in steps. The endowment does not need to be complete on day one. Running costs rise from $0.48 million in 2028 to $2.96 million in 2032. Each place's share is raised before it opens, or two years of its running costs are held in reserve, so no building ever stands empty for lack of money to run it.

This is not financial advice. Before any money is invested, an investment policy should be written with a licensed adviser and a custodian, and approved by the board.

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14. Risks across the plan

• Approvals are slow or refused. Nothing but the pre-approval items is spent until each approval is granted, and gifts are held for the project they were given to.
• Costs rise. Each project carries a 6% price-rise allowance and 10% contingency, VAT is included even where an exemption may come, and every estimate is replaced by a checked quote, shown on the page, before work starts.
• The shilling moves. Every figure is in dollars, converted at UGX 3,650, near the strong end of the last six months, so costs paid in shillings are not understated. Over the long run the shilling has fallen against the dollar, which leaves a dollar budget with room to spare; if it strengthens, the 10% contingency covers moderate moves. The endowment holds shillings and dollars in proportion to the running costs paid in each.
• The government does not take up the partnership. The endowment is sized for Donum paying everything.
• The endowment is not reached in time. No place opens without its running costs secured. Building can be phased; opening cannot be rushed.
• Policy towards refugees changes. Every place serves refugees and their Ugandan neighbours together, and stays out of politics.
• Fraud or waste. Independent audits of building spending every year, someone who did not choose a purchase checks it, and the quarterly verification draw already in the system.
• Things break. Upkeep and replacement are paid for every year from the first, not hoped for later.

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15. How giving works

How to give or help. These are planned projects, so every gift is arranged with us by email, at info@donumfoundation.org. Money, physical items, advice, skills, introductions: anything that helps is welcome.

On each project's page, choose what you would like to help with: the project as a whole, or one item from the list. Items that come in units, such as computers, books or laying hens, can be given one or more at a time. Choose how you would like to help, write anything you want to tell us (there is no limit), and press Prepare the email. Your email app opens with everything written out, addressed to info@donumfoundation.org. You send it, and we reply to arrange it.

If you give money to an item and it needs less than you give, the rest goes to where that project needs it most, and we tell you. The endowment part of each project is its share of the Donum Endowment, the one endowment that pays the running costs of every place Donum builds. It is never spent: it is invested, and only its returns pay the running costs.

To keep every place Donum builds running, pledge to the Donum Endowment itself on the Donate page. Once Donum can receive it, your gift goes to the share for Donum Foundation's own running costs, or to the share of the next place to open whose running costs are not yet secured. We choose where it does the most good.

Every amount is in US dollars. Choose your own currency on any page to see each amount in it, at today's rate.

Paying. You can give in any currency, from any bank account or card anywhere in the world. We receive every gift in US dollars or Ugandan shillings: if you pay in another currency, your bank or card company converts it. The form lists every way to pay: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay; PayPal; an international bank transfer; a bank transfer in Uganda; MTN Mobile Money; Airtel Money; or our card machine, in person. Each says which of the two currencies we receive.

Philanthropy Partners. On the same form, an optional box lets you tell us you would like to become a Donum Foundation Philanthropy Partner: a written commitment to give at least $1,000 a year as a person, or $10,000 a year as an institution. What this means. Ticking it changes nothing about your gift; we get in touch with you about the commitment.

If a project cannot go ahead. Gifts to a project are held for that project. Only the items marked "can start before approvals" are spent before the approvals they need are granted. What happens to the rest if a project cannot start is Joel's ruling (R-86 in DECISIONS_TO_ADD.md), and the site says nothing about it until he has ruled.

Planned, under way, done. Each project carries a label: planned until the approvals it needs are granted, then under way. Each item carries its own label too, because small parts will be built as the money for them comes: planned, under way, or done.

Nobody repays Donum. Not the communities, not the learners, not the patients, not the organisations that use the platform.

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16. Questions people ask

Why build new places instead of funding services that already exist?

Because the services that existed are being cut, and cuts are rarely reversed ⁵. Donum adds capacity the district and the government can staff, owned and endowed so it does not close when a grant ends. Where the government is already building something, such as the Kagera water project, we do not duplicate it.

Why does it cost so much?

Because it is built to last decades and counted honestly: reinforced concrete, solid blocks, long-life roofs, solar panels with 25 to 30 year warranties, and every fee, tax, import charge, a 6% price-rise allowance and a 10% contingency included. Each project's page shows how each figure was reached, and a checked quote replaces each estimate before anything is bought.

Why is the endowment bigger than the cost of building?

Because building is paid once and running is paid every year, for good. At 4%, every $100,000 a year of running cost needs $2.50 million invested. The alternative is asking for running costs every year, which is exactly the model that has just failed in Nakivale.

Why 4%?

The Donum Endowment holds shillings and dollars in proportion to what it pays in each. Spending about 5% is careful on Ugandan government bonds after tax and inflation, and about 3.5% on dollar investments; weighted by what each plan costs to run, that is about 4%.

What if the government takes over salaries?

The running cost Donum carries for the six places falls from $2.96 million to $1.89 million a year, and the returns that paid those salaries go to the next most pressing need. The change is published.

What if not all the money comes in?

Nothing opens until its running costs are secured: its share of the endowment is in, or two years of its running costs are held. Units are built as the money for them comes, and no building is started that cannot be finished.

Why own and not rent?

Rent is paid every year and leaves nothing behind. A building Donum owns is kept in repair from the endowment and serves for decades.

Who benefits: refugees or Ugandans?

Both, side by side. Every place is open to refugees and their Ugandan neighbours, which is how Uganda's refugee policy works and how coexistence is protected ².

How will we know it worked?

A baseline survey of 1,500 refugee and host households in the first year, a yearly follow-up, and the measures listed for every project, all published, including what goes wrong.

Why dollars?

Every amount is set in US dollars so the projects can be compared and added up; local prices were converted at UGX 3,650 to the dollar, near the strong end of recent rates, so costs paid in shillings are not understated. You can see every amount in your own currency on the page.

What happens to a gift if a project cannot go ahead?

Gifts are held for the project, and work that needs an approval waits for it. The rule for a project that cannot go ahead is being finalised and will be on this page before it is needed.

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17. Assumptions

Every unit price, rate and allowance the plan uses, with its basis.

Read more: every assumption

Assumption	Value	Basis
Planning exchange rate	UGX 3,650 = USD 1, for every plan	Near the strong end of the last six months, so shilling costs are not understated in dollars; market UGX 3,917 to 3,933 in late September 202669
Land	70 acres at UGX 18,000,000 ($4,932) an acre	Isingiro listings UGX 9 to 17 million an acre70
R_STD	UGX 1,300,000 ($356)	per m2, durable standard building: reinforced concrete frame, solid blocks, galvanised steel trusses, long-life coated roof sheets, hard floors. Uganda 2026 cost guides put standard finishes at UGX 900,000 to 1,500,000 per m2; we take the upper part because these buildings must last.71
R_SVC	UGX 1,600,000 ($438)	per m2, service-heavy rooms (laboratories, clinical rooms, ICT): more plumbing, power points, gas, washable finishes. Above the guides' top figure on purpose; our estimate.
R_HALL	UGX 1,400,000 ($384)	per m2, long-span hall or kitchen: wider roof spans and heavier structure. Our estimate.
R_WORK	UGX 1,400,000 ($384)	per m2, workshop: heavy floor, three-phase power, ventilation. Our estimate.
R_HOUSE	UGX 1,150,000 ($315)	per m2, staff housing. Within the 2026 guides' range.
R_LIGHT	UGX 1,100,000 ($301)	per m2, simple shelter or store. Within the 2026 guides' range.
R_FARM	UGX 500,000 ($137)	per m2, open-sided farm building: half walls, mesh, steel roof frame, concrete floor. Our estimate.
R_FARM_HEAVY	UGX 700,000 ($192)	per m2, dairy unit: heavier concrete floors, troughs and drains. Our estimate.
WALK	UGX 450,000 ($123)	per m2, covered walkway: concrete slab, steel posts, roof. Our estimate.
FENCE	UGX 130,000 ($36)	per metre, 2.4 m chain-link fence on concrete posts with razor wire. Our estimate.
Architect, engineers, supervision	10% of building work (8% for campus and power works)	Usual practice
Price-rise allowance	6% of building work	Inflation 4.6%; energy and fuel 14.5% in September 202672
VAT	18% on building contracts, fees and imported equipment	Included in case no exemption is granted; deep-cycle batteries are exempt73
Import charges	8% shipping and clearing, 2.5% levies	Import declaration fee 1% and infrastructure levy 1.5%74
Contingency	10%	Unused contingency goes to the project's endowment share
Staff on-costs	15% on top of pay	NSSF employer 10%, medical cover and welfare 5%
Teachers' pay	Science UGX 4,000,000; arts UGX 1,200,360 a month	Government scales7576
Health workers	55 posts, UGX 1.1 billion a year before on-costs	Health Centre III structure77
Endowment spending	4% a year of a 12-quarter average, for the one Donum Endowment	We calculated that the endowment can pay 4% a year from its returns for good, without ever being spent. Its investments follow our investment policy, and are handled professionally in a trust owned by the foundation

For comparison, a government seed secondary school costs about UGX 3.2 to 3.3 billion (about $0.9 million),⁵⁸ for fewer classrooms and without boarding, a hall or teachers' homes on this scale; and solar mini-grids in Africa have cost an average of USD 6,824 per kW of solar,⁷⁸ against about USD 3,800 here for a larger plant that includes its battery, network and the campus water system.

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18. Sources

1. Uganda hosted 1,999,576 refugees and asylum-seekers on 31 March 2026, with 30,220 new arrivals registered since January and women and children 77% of the population; only 14% (USD 49.9 million) of UNHCR's 2026 requirement of USD 361 million had been met, forcing a 23% reduction in field operations; operational health facilities fell from 101 in 2024 to 89; 301,265 outpatient consultations and 9,711 live births were recorded in the quarter; secondary gross enrolment was 9%. UNHCR, Uganda Factsheet Q1 (January to March) 2026, 2026-03-31. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
2. EU humanitarian aid put Nakivale at about 130,000 refugees, and warned that the cuts threaten peaceful coexistence between refugees and hosts. European Commission ECHO, Uganda factsheet, 2025-04-14. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
3. OPM's regional refugee desk officer put Nakivale at 286,000 refugees in five zones; the district asked for Nakivale Health Centre III to be upgraded to a Health Centre IV to manage the numbers; HIV prevalence in the settlement is 2.4%. Office of the Prime Minister, OPM conducts health camp in Nakivale Settlement, 2026-05. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
4. WFP's support fell from 1.6 million refugees in Uganda in early 2025 to 663,000. World Food Programme, Funding shortfalls push Uganda's refugees deeper into hunger, 2026-03-23. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
5. Nakivale health workers reported that entire departments and wards were closed, triage stopped, and that cuts seemed to be unidirectional and rarely reversed. Lee and others, Global Aid Cuts and Local Health Consequences in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, JAMA Network Open 9(5):e2615000, 2026-05-26. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
6. Humanitarian contributions to Uganda's refugee response fell from USD 294 million in 2024 to an estimated USD 130 to 140 million in 2025; settlement land is exhausted; more than 50 refugee-led organisations operate; one refugee woman described washes clothes for UGX 3,000 to 5,000 a day. Refugees International, From Promise to Practice: Delivering on Uganda's Refugee Model, 2026-06-30. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
7. UNHCR shed nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025, more than a quarter of its workforce. Dawn, 8.3m refugees at risk due to severe funding cuts: UN, 2026-09-29. ↩ ↩
8. Uganda hosts about 2.02 million refugees, the largest refugee population in Africa. The Observer, Aid crisis threatens Uganda's refugees, 2026-07-02. ↩
9. Uganda's refugee response funding has fallen by more than 50%. The Observer, Aid crisis threatens Uganda's refugees, 2026-07-02. ↩ ↩
10. Government refugee funding fell from about USD 240 million to USD 100 million. Africa.com, Shrinking budgets threaten Uganda's open-door refugee policy, 2026-02-19. ↩
11. Nakivale is the oldest refugee settlement in Africa. UN-Habitat, Nakivale Settlement Profile, 2022. ↩ ↩
12. Nakivale hosts about 180,000 refugees, nearly half of them of school age. Finn Church Aid Uganda, 2026-03-26. ↩ ↩
13. Most people in Nakivale come from DR Congo (66%) and Burundi (17.4%). npj Climate Action, Behavioral savings sessions and solar products among refugees in Uganda, 2025-03-29. ↩ ↩
14. Only 6% of the funding needed for refugee health and nutrition in 2026 was secured by January. International Rescue Committee press release, 2026-01-26. ↩ ↩
15. A 2026 study in Nakivale found cuts to maternal health, HIV and TB services, staff reductions and supply shortages. JAMA Network Open, Global aid cuts and local health consequences in Nakivale, 2026-05-01. ↩
16. Maternal and child nutrition programmes were suspended in most settlements, including Nakivale. UN Uganda, The silent crisis, 2025. ↩
17. Refugee secondary gross enrolment was 9% at the end of 2024, against 34% for Uganda as a whole. UNHCR Uganda Annual Results Report 2024, 2025-05-27. ↩ ↩
18. Secondary gross enrolment was lowest in Kyangwali (6%), Rhino (6%), Nakivale (7%) and Palabek (7%). UNHCR Uganda, Education Dashboard, Refugee Response Plan 2024 to 2025, Term 3, 2026-03. ↩ ↩ ↩
19. Only 11% to 12.1% of refugee young people in Uganda are enrolled in secondary school. Finn Church Aid Uganda, 2026-03-26. ↩ ↩
20. 2.6% of households in Nakivale use the national grid for light, and 12.7% use off-grid solar. npj Climate Action, 2025-03-29. ↩ ↩ ↩
21. Deadwood for cooking is gone around Nakivale, and some residents cross into Tanzania for charcoal. Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings, 2023-05-06. ↩ ↩ ↩
22. Refugees and host community members in Nakivale reported that vocational training was inadequate for their needs. UNHCR and REACH, Nakivale settlement fact sheet, 2018. ↩ ↩
23. Over 1 million refugees in Uganda lost access to food assistance in 2025. World Food Programme, A lifeline at risk: global brief, 2025-09. ↩ ↩ ↩
24. Isingiro District grew from 486,360 people (2014) to 633,844 (2024 preliminary census). Uganda Bureau of Statistics, National Population and Housing Census 2024, preliminary results, 2024. ↩
25. Only 9% of Uganda's 2025 refugee response plan was funded in the first quarter; health and nutrition funding fell 61%. UNICEF Uganda, The silent crisis, 2025-05-08. ↩
26. A school founded by a foundation body can become grant-aided on application; government then pays the teachers' salaries. Education (Pre-Primary, Primary and Post-Primary) Act 2008, 2008. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
27. Private not-for-profit health facilities in Uganda receive government primary health care grants. International Journal for Equity in Health, 2018-10-05. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
28. A public water project from the Kagera River is being built to supply Nakivale, Oruchinga and Isingiro. Agence Francaise de Developpement, 2025. ↩ ↩ ↩
29. About 9% of refugees are enrolled in higher education worldwide. UNHCR, Education, 2025. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
30. Settlement land was not formally acquired under Uganda's Land Acquisition Act, and host villages inside it have been called encroachers; host narratives in Nakivale show both tension and coexistence. Bjorkhaug and others, Journal of Refugee Studies 38(3):541 to 553, 2025-09. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
31. The government grant-aided 51 primary schools in refugee-hosting districts in 2020/21, and has guidelines for grant-aiding community schools. Ministry of Education and Sports, Education Response Plan for Refugees and Host Communities II, 2023-05-24. ↩ ↩
32. Uganda plans a Health Centre III for a population of about 20,000. Human Resources for Health, Making the transition to workload-based staffing, 2015. ↩
33. RELON Uganda, the refugee-led organisations' network, has more than 50 member organisations. RELON Uganda, undated. ↩
34. Refugee-led organisations get seed grants of up to USD 25,000 from the Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative. Global Compact on Refugees, Supporting Refugee-Led Organizations Globally, undated. ↩
35. Registration with the Personal Data Protection Office costs UGX 100,000 and is renewed each year. ITLawCo, 2024-07-19. ↩
36. The one documented solar installation in Nakivale is a 10 kW container at Rubondo, designed for under 35 kWh a day. Whitewall Energy, Solar Container for Nakivale Refugee Camp, undated. ↩
37. Water from the Kagera project reached Mbarara's Boma reservoirs in March 2026, later than planned. New Vision, River Kagera water finally delivered to Mbarara's Boma reservoirs, 2026-03. ↩
38. Productive uses are a prerequisite for mini-grids to be viable; Ugandan mini-grid tenders paid about EUR 2 to 2.5 per installed watt. GET.transform, Success in Rural Electrification: Uganda, 2020-12. ↩ ↩
39. A refugee mini-grid in Ethiopia gave more than 1,000 households power around the clock at half the cost of two hours of diesel. Mercy Corps, On the grid: Connecting refugee communities to solar power, undated. ↩
40. Ugandan mini-grids priced near the grid tariff reached their design limit within two years; after electrification 42% of businesses in two Kyenjojo mini-grids opened, but demand outgrew capacity. Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, Socio-economic analysis of solar PV mini-grids: a Ugandan case study, 2022. ↩
41. Uganda's maternal mortality is 189 per 100,000 live births (UDHS 2022); neonatal mortality is 22 per 1,000, half of it from birth asphyxia, 18% from prematurity and 7% from sepsis. WHO Africa, Health topics: Uganda, 2025. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
42. Solar-powered oxygen at 20 Ugandan health facilities cut 48-hour deaths among children with low oxygen from 5.1% to 2.9%: one life saved for every 45 children treated. Conradi and others, Solar-powered O2 delivery for children with hypoxaemia in Uganda, The Lancet 403:756 to 765, 2024-02-24. ↩ ↩
43. IRC closed health services in 11 settlements; stock-outs reached up to 30%; acute malnutrition rose from 5.4% to 7.8% across 12 of 14 refugee locations. International Rescue Committee, Funding cuts push Uganda's refugee health system to the brink, 2026-01-26. ↩
44. A 2026 study assessed 8 of about 10 public health facilities in Nakivale: 6 Health Centre IIIs and 2 Health Centre IVs, 7 of them more than 10 km from the town council. Tropical Medicine and Health, Diagnostic capacity for neglected tropical diseases in a refugee settlement in Uganda, 2026. ↩ ↩
45. One Nakivale Health Centre III served about 94,000 people (82,000 refugees and 12,000 hosts) and saw about 400 antenatal clients a week. European Commission ECHO, A welcoming haven for those fleeing strife and insecurity (undated, probably before 2020), undated. ↩ ↩
46. The health workforce is at about 34% of the newly approved structure; a Health Centre III has 55 health workers including 2 doctors. New Vision, 2026-09-02. ↩
47. In a Ugandan newborn quality programme, survival to discharge of babies under 1,500 g rose from 79% to 95%. Healthy Newborn Network, Uganda, 2025. ↩
48. Uganda plans one Health Centre III, with 24-hour maternity, for each population of about 20,000. Ministry of Health, Health Sector Service Standards and Service Delivery Standards, 2016. ↩
49. There are only two secondary schools within or near Nakivale settlement; long, unsafe journeys and early marriage end many girls' schooling. Finn Church Aid Uganda, 2026-03-26. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
50. A total of 87,254 refugee children in Uganda are believed to be out of school. UNHCR Uganda, Child Protection Fact Sheet, 2026-05. ↩
51. Rubondo Community Secondary School in Nakivale was started in 2019 because the area had nine primary schools and no secondary school. AVSI Foundation, 2026-03-19. ↩ ↩
52. In Nakivale, early pregnancy and marriage are common for girls who drop out of school. UNHCR and REACH, Nakivale settlement profile, 2017. ↩
53. Uganda's competency-based lower secondary curriculum gives learners pathways into work, and some schools award trade certificates. Daily Monitor, New curriculum drives schools towards practical skills, 2026-09-18. ↩
54. Among refugees in Nakivale and Kampala, vocational training is associated with a 10.7 percentage point higher chance of having a job. Betts and others, The economic lives of refugees, World Development, 2024. ↩
55. Vocational courses at Nakivale Secondary School graduated 78 learners in 2017 and 110 in 2018; at least 30% were employed in their trade. Global Compact on Refugees, Vocationalisation of secondary education (Uganda), 2018. ↩
56. The Ministry of Education's principal economist told Parliament there were no funds in the 2025/26 budget for grant-aiding in parishes and sub-counties without schools. Parliament of Uganda, 2025-04-09. ↩
57. 22% of Nakivale's residents were aged 15 to 24, more than 30,000 young people, when the settlement held about 145,000 people. Windle International, Nakivale Secondary School has an environment that made me excel (undated, probably before 2020), undated. ↩
58. A government seed secondary school costs about UGX 3.2 to 3.3 billion. New Vision, Nyarugabu Seed Secondary School, 2026-07-01. ↩ ↩
59. 72% of working refugees in Uganda are self-employed, and they earn 32% less than comparable Ugandans. UNHCR, Uganda Employment Policy Brief, 2021-07. ↩ ↩
60. Refugee vocational programmes report between about 30% (Palorinya) and 81% (Rwamwanja, self-reported) of graduates working or running their own business. Global Compact on Refugees, FCA Linking Learning to Earning, 2015 to 2023. ↩ ↩ ↩
61. WFP reaches fewer than half of the 1.6 million refugees it supported in early 2025, and refugee food insecurity more than tripled in a year. CARE, Refugees in Uganda are turning food assistance into farms, trades, and savings, 2026. ↩
62. Youth groups in Nakivale run poultry and pig farms as their own businesses. AVSI Foundation, 2026-03-19. ↩
63. Four years after a Ugandan government programme gave young people cash for vocational training and tools, their income was 41% higher. J-PAL, Generating Skilled Self-Employment in Uganda, undated. ↩ ↩ ↩
64. Six months of vocational training in Uganda made trainees 9 percentage points (21%) more likely to be employed and raised their hourly wages by 11%. J-PAL, Effects of subsidized trainings for young workers and small firms: evidence from Uganda, undated. ↩
65. By 2018, vocationally trained workers in Uganda had on average 25% higher total monthly earnings. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, Facing job loss, more skills meant faster recovery in Uganda, undated. ↩ ↩
66. Mentoring Ugandan vocational students raised their labour market participation by 27% at three months. J-PAL, Meet Your Future, undated. ↩
67. World Bank livelihood programmes in Uganda's refugee-hosting areas raised participant household incomes by more than 17%. World Bank, Building livelihoods and trust in Uganda's refugee-hosting communities, 2026-03-19. ↩
68. About 250 refugees and hosts were assessed and certified through Nakivale Vocational Training Centre. ILO, Skills recognition initiative in Uganda, 2025. ↩
69. The US dollar traded at about UGX 3,917 to 3,933 in late September 2026. Exchange Rates 247; fx-rate.net, 2026-09-29. ↩
70. Isingiro farmland is listed at UGX 9 to 17 million an acre. Uganda Property Agents; Jiji Uganda listings, 2025-2026. ↩
71. Uganda building costs for standard finishes are about UGX 900,000 to 1,500,000 per square metre. Aura Build, Construction Rates in Uganda 2026; Basket Advisory 2026, 2026. ↩
72. Uganda's annual inflation was 4.6% in September 2026; energy, fuel and utilities 14.5%. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, CPI September 2026, 2026-09-30. ↩
73. Deep-cycle batteries are exempt from VAT from 1 July 2025. Uganda Investment Authority, 2025-07-02. ↩
74. A 1% import declaration fee and a 1.5% infrastructure levy apply to imports. Uganda Law Blog, proposed tax measures 2025-2026, 2025-06-12. ↩
75. Science teachers earn about UGX 4.2 million after the 2022 increase. Daily Monitor, 2026-02-21. ↩
76. Arts teachers with a degree earn UGX 1,200,360 a month from July 2026. The Independent Uganda, 2026-06-12. ↩
77. A Health Centre III is allocated 55 staff, with a wage bill of about UGX 1.1 billion a year. Daily Monitor, Health facilities in Tooro operate under a staffing crisis, 2025-09-01. ↩
78. Mini-grid investment in Africa averaged USD 6,824 per kW of solar over four years. ESI Africa, on the AMDA Benchmarking Africa's Minigrids report, 2025-04-03. ↩