IST plays direct role of empowering women, promoting gender equality and social justice. Adopting Paulo Freire’s philosophy, the organization strongly believes that through critical conscientisation and community mobilization different players both individuals, groups and organizations nurture a cadre of changes agents that can cause and influence change at different levels of society. As such, IST endeavours to mobilize and work with multi-level players to influence change on current and emerging social economic development concern for women, youth and it promote gender responsiveness in policy planning and implementation. mindset change.

Over the years, IST has reached women and youth in the informal sector, both in urban and rural setting including refugees; building capacity to improve economic productivity through entrepreneurship/business advisory development services, collective organizing into groups and cooperatives, skilling, access to financing, leadership participation. IST also promotes sustainable initiatives to prevent gender-based violence, sustainable agriculture, climate resilience and technology innovations.

The organization is a pillar of transformational learning in East Africa region. Transformational Learning and leadership development is offered to youth and women both in the formal and informal sectors to build a carder of leaders as agents of change, amplifying voices of vulnerable women, powering and facilitating meaningful participation to influence decisions at varying levels.

IST’s work has resulted in establishment of women and youth leadership structures in communities and some markets across the country. It has provided platform for informal sector women to advocacy, engage and network; pioneered through “the National Market Women Symposium,” a national event with the market community in Uganda.

In terms of innovation and technology, IST works to facilitate development of digital market platform, to revolutionize informal women’s business practice, increase market access and business information. To this effect. IST has developed a fully functional Market Garden Application (MGA), an online sale system that enables women to conduct business using smart phones. Although relatively new application in informal sector business, the MGA has picked up, boosting business through access to virtual markets. This is also acting as tool to reduce the digital gender-divide. This platform is also used to enable market women and the youth to get access to information on GBV and SRH services and enhance referral systems.

Policy Advocacy. IST engages in higher level advocacy, as a key player at local, national and regional level. Among the major milestones has been to influence the engendering and repeal of the Market Act of 1942, by steering consultative meetings to review and repeal the Act, with interest to address the challenges in establishment, management and operation of markets in Uganda. The focus of the repeal was intended to promote decent workplaces for women and inclusion in leadership. This was a success as a new Markets Act of 2023, came to force in June 2023, abandoning the 1942 law. At regional and international levels IST participates in influencing policies to promote participation of informal sector youth and women in regional, continental and global economic and social activities.