It was founded by Rebecca Lolosoli, a Samburu woman, as a sanctuary for homeless survivors of violence against women, and young girls running from forced marriages or female genital mutilation.

They run a primary school, cultural center and camping site for tourists visiting the adjacent Samburu National Reserve.

[2] They can be subject to female genital mutilation, forced marriage with the elders, rape, and domestic violence.

[4] In 2003, Amnesty International reported credible evidence of numerous rapes of Kenyan women by members of the British Army for decades.

"[8] Other men drove the women out of their houses fearing they would now contract sexually transmitted diseases from their raped wives.

[10] Rebecca Lolosoli is one of the founders of Umoja,[11] and came up with the idea of creating a village for women when she was recovering after being beaten for speaking out against female genital mutilation.

[16] The Kenya Wildlife Services took notice and helped the women learn from successful groups in areas such as the Maasai Mara, in order to improve Umoja's business.

[4] As of 2021, the village's application for a community title over a tract of grazing land is undergoing government consideration.

[4] The village is made up of manyata huts[3] built from a mixture of earth and cow dung on an abandoned grassland.

[8] Crafts include colorful beads,[13] a home-brewed low-alcohol beer analogue[citation needed] and more.

[1][21] Every woman donates ten percent of her earnings to the village as a tax to support the school and other needs.