We address the legal barriers young people face, from lack of awareness to limited access to justice, through five interconnected areas of work grounded in Uganda’s Constitution and the realities of everyday life.
What we do
Each programme addresses a distinct dimension of the access-to-justice crisis facing young Ugandans, and each connects to the others.
Overview
In Uganda and across the region, young people frequently experience or witness violations of their legal rights, yet the institutions mandated to uphold the law are often the same ones implicated in those violations. This creates a climate where abuse goes unaddressed, impunity becomes normal, and trust in the justice system erodes.
Nalaw Foundation's Accountability and Rule of Law programme is built on a simple conviction: that no one, no individual, institution, or government body, should be above the law. We work to document violations, build public pressure for accountability, and create pathways through which ordinary Ugandans can demand that those in power answer for what they do.
The Problem
In many communities, violations go undocumented and unchallenged because people do not know who to report them to, whether anyone will listen, or whether anything will change. Institutions that should provide oversight often lack independence, capacity, or political will.
Where an individual from an institution is implicated in perpetrating violations or abuses, it decreases the likelihood that accountability will be secured. The institutions themselves become both the problem and the obstacle to its solution.
Our Approach
We work with state institutions, civil society organisations, and communities to identify those entry points. We build both internal and international pressure for independent and impartial investigations into violations and abuses.
Overview
This gap, between legal protection on paper and legal protection in practice, is one of the most significant barriers to justice in Uganda today. Nalaw Foundation's Advocacy and Legal Awareness programme exists to close it. We translate the complex language of law into plain, practical knowledge that young people can understand, remember, and use.
We take that knowledge directly into communities, schools, and universities, and we advocate for systems and policies that make the law more accessible to everyone.
The Problem
Legal information in Uganda is largely inaccessible to ordinary people. It is written in technical language, distributed through formal channels many communities cannot reach, and rarely framed in ways that connect to real situations young people face. The result: many young Ugandans are vulnerable to exploitation and injustice, not because the law does not protect them, but because they do not know it does.
This gap particularly affects young women, people in rural and peri-urban areas, those with limited formal education, and communities historically underserved by the justice system.
Our Approach
We believe legal awareness is a form of empowerment. When a young person knows their rights under the Employment Act, the Domestic Violence Act, or the Constitution, they are better placed to protect themselves and participate in civic life.
Overview
The law affects every aspect of life, but in most communities, courts, arrests, and violations make headlines while the rights that protect people every day do not. Young Ugandans are largely absent from the legal and civic conversations that shape their lives.
Nalaw Foundation uses media and constructive journalism to change this. We produce content that brings legal stories to life, not just as reports of what went wrong, but as explanations of how the law works, why it matters, and what people can do.
The Problem
Most coverage focuses on high-profile cases and elite institutions. Everyday legal issues, land disputes, employment violations, domestic violence, remand without trial, receive little attention. When they do, coverage rarely explains the legal dimension in ways ordinary people can understand and act on.
Many young journalists also lack training to report on legal and court matters accurately, leading to coverage that is either sensationalised or oversimplified, and that fails to serve the public interest.
Our Approach
Our content is not neutral, it is constructive. We report on legal issues in ways that inform, educate, and mobilise. We tell human stories that show how the law affects real people. And we train a new generation of journalists to do the same.
What We Produce
Podcasts
The Na-Law Podcast explores legal issues through conversation and storytelling, breaking down complex laws, court decisions, and rights in plain, engaging language that anyone can follow.
Simplified Legal Content
We produce written explainers, guides, and summaries that translate Uganda's laws into everyday language, so that the law is no longer a barrier, but a tool people can actually use.
Written Articles & Legal Stories
Our journalists and writers cover real legal issues through carefully reported articles and human-centred legal stories, published on nalaw.org and shared across our platforms.
Legal Cards & Infographics
Short, shareable, visually clear — our Legal Cards distil a single legal right into one card that people can read, save, and share.
Overview
For many young Ugandans, particularly those in underserved communities, rural areas, and urban informal settlements, the formal legal system is distant, expensive, and difficult to navigate. Without practical support, those who most need the law's protection are least able to access it.
Nalaw Foundation's Community Legal Aid and Training programme bridges this gap by taking legal training and support directly into communities, equipping young people with the skills and connections to navigate the legal system with confidence.
The Problem
Access to legal services in Uganda is heavily skewed toward those who can afford private lawyers and those who live near urban centres. For the majority of young Ugandans, formal legal processes are effectively out of reach.
This exclusion is not neutral. Legal violations go unchallenged, rights are not asserted, and injustice compounds over time.
Our Approach
We train community members to be first points of contact for legal questions, so legal knowledge is always near at hand. Through partnerships with the Uganda Law Society, Justice Centres Uganda, and district legal aid providers, we ensure that those who need deeper support have somewhere to go.
How Our Trainings Work
At the heart of our community work are structured legal trainings that bring together qualified legal experts with young people and community members to directly address the legal challenges they face in their everyday lives.
Each session dissects a different legal topic in plain language, breaking down the relevant law, explaining what it means in practice, and walking participants through the steps they can actually take. By the end of each training, participants leave not just informed, but equipped — with contacts, referral pathways, and the confidence to act on what they have learned.
Overview
Nalaw Foundation recognises that gender inequality is a root cause of many human rights violations, and that addressing it requires more than individual legal responses. It requires a sustained, integrated effort to challenge the norms, structures, and systems that enable violence and discrimination to persist.
Our Gender Equality and GBV programme combines legal awareness, advocacy, survivor support, and community education to create conditions in which women and girls are safe, informed, and included.
The Problem
Despite strong constitutional protections and the Domestic Violence Act 2010, survivors frequently face barriers to justice: stigma, lack of awareness of legal remedies, institutional indifference, and a justice system that can feel hostile or inaccessible.
Sexual violence cannot be addressed in isolation. It requires an integrated approach that both dismantles the conditions that enable it and responds with care and dignity to those who experience it.
Our Approach
We advocate for the voices of women to be heard and maintain that women must be included in significant and meaningful roles throughout peacebuilding efforts. We recognise the distinct experiences of women, men, and young girls, and we work to address those experiences with specificity and care.
