Spectrum Uganda Initiative (SUI) is a Key population led organization whose activities are carried out across Uganda. We collaborate with various stakeholders to advocate for human rights, especially the health rights of vulnerable communities at national, regional and international levels. Spectrum also promotes access to quality and appropriate health services for all vulnerable communities in Uganda.
Spectrum envisages a society where all people are treated equally and with dignity; it is driven by the passion for advocating for the recognition, protection, and actualization of human rights in Uganda, particularly the right to health for Key populations.
In 2004 a group of forty vulnerable people were denied health care, jobs, and protection, held a meeting, and Spectrum Uganda Initiatives was founded. Over the years, our primary focus has been providing services, documentation, and advocacy on HIV/AIDS among Key populations in Uganda. In addition to direct client service, the organization advocates and lobbies to include Key populations in national health programs and fights discrimination in the public sector, focusing on human rights awareness and economic empowerment. Spectrum Uganda has coordinated, mobilized and partnered in research, working closely with allies. We first began working with partners in 2006, when the first research on behavioral change among Key populations was conducted in Kampala.
It is also an organization with a clear mandate and has developed a reputation for being consistent in its research and advocacy for the rights of Key populations and their access to health. As a result, SUI has been invited to several fora to discuss health and human rights issues affecting our beneficiaries.