Our Mission is to strengthen the operational capabilities of young South Sudanese men and women in contributing to peaceful, resilient and inclusive communities through peacebuilding, skills development and healthcare services.
Our Story
Formed in Feb 2015 by young South Sudanese refugees in Uganda – The Young Adult Empowerment Initiative is a nonprofit, youth-led organization that mobilizes young South Sudanese men and women’s actions to become proactive stakeholders and partners in; (1) refugee crisis’ response in Uganda, and (2) recovery processes of Internally Displaced Communities’ across South Sudan, following the Dec 2013 South Sudan’s civil war.
Our founders – are both refugees and former refugees who were born during the Second Sudanese civil war (1983 – 2005), firmly believe that youth and women empowerment both in the Uganda’s refugees’ camps and across South Sudan – through; peacebuilding, skills development, healthcare and other social transformative pathways is critical to peaceful co-existence, resilience and social development in local communities.
Community Empowerment Programs
Peacebuilding
Our peacebuilding efforts seek to defuse ethnic tensions, restore social integrity, trust, and forge a common South Sudan’s shared identity through; community dialogues, mediation and conflict resolution, inter-cultural dialogues, psycho-social support, sports for peace and GBV mitigation. These peacebuilding tools are crucial for violent conflict mitigation and peaceful co-existence among ethnic communities.
Healthcare
We seek to build the capacity of the current community health workers, i.e nurses, mid-wives, traditional birthing attendants (TBA) and clinical officers to provide the much needed healthcare services, especially to mothers and under-five children in rural communities. We also conduct Health Education programs on HIV/AIDS, TB, Adolescent Reproductive Health, Maternal and child health both in schools and communities both in South Sudan and in refugees camps in Uganda.
Skills development
Skills development programs include: i) vocational services i.e Agribusiness, Computer literacy, Financial literacy, tailoring, baking, electric wiring and etc that target young men and women who do not have a high level of formal schooling, Enterprise development and ii) paying tuition fees through our scholarship program, (YES) for unaccompanied refugee kids and other unprivileged South Sudanese children who demonstrate promising academic achievements but lacking tuitions.
Stories of Impact
Inspiring featured stories
We are 2018 Tomorrow Peacebuilder Award Winner in Youth-led category
Young-adult Empowerment Initiative was one of 2018 Peace Direct’s Tomorrow Peacebuilders’ awards in the youth led peace building category. Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders Awards 2018: meet the winners Our Executive Director, Gatwal A.... Read More
Our Staff Capacity Building workshop
Date: Jan 14, 2019 | Head office-Kampala, Uganda Rationale: Young-adult Empowerment Initiative (YEi) in partnership with other development agencies intends to….. Read More
Civilians at crossroads: unpacking South Sudan's refugees crisis
Perspectives on the role of South Sudanese elites in Uganda in refugee management and the struggle for nation building and Civic Engagement: By Gatwal A. Gatkuoth | Executive Director Young-Adult Empowerment... Read More
