HANDLE is a local grassroots NGO formed in 2009 to serve communities in Northern Uganda, with its headquarters in Gulu. From 1986 to 2008, Northern Uganda was engulfed in a brutal conflict between LRA and the Government of Uganda. Over 1.5 million people were displaced and placed in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across the sub-region. Youth, children and women suffered some of the most gruesome abuses during this time. While Uganda’s North currently enjoys peace, women’s and children’s living conditions continue to be affected by the lack of interest shown by the government and other development agencies whose response to the needs of youth and women remained limited to advocacy, education an mobilization of resources. Concrete expenditures during the implementation of these initiatives does not reflect the magnitude of issues. As a result of a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the findings of a needs assessment to bring sustainable development that targets these vulnerable populations, HANDLE was born.
HANDLE believes that the psychosocial well-being of a war affected person is determined by the interplay between psychological and social factors; it consists of healthy emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual development. This includes social integration, a sense of economic and physical security and identity. It is crucial that people are professionally supported n overcoming the effects of armed conflict on their personal development.