- +256 (0) 764-201-899
- P.O Box 16772, Kampala-Uganda Plot 1496, Block 15, Zzembe Road, Nsambya
- Gudele One, Block 8, Near Zain Office, Juba, South Sudan
A few words
About Us
History
AYAN, the African Youth Action Network, was established in 2015 by refugee youth for refugee youth across South Sudan and Uganda.
MISSION
Our Mission is to harness and nurture young people’s personal, community and national aspirations and potential to promote peace and development through informed,
innovative and value-driven approaches.
At the heart of our mission lies a commitment to fostering a value-driven organization—one that
places people above personal interests. We believe that true leadership is built on strong moral
ethics, integrity, and an unwavering dedication to justice. If our global leaders prioritized these
values, we would see fewer wars, fewer injustices, and less violence, allowing people to remain
in their homelands by choice rather than by force.
Through our work with displaced youth, we strive to cultivate the next generation of ethical
leaders. Leaders who will shape businesses, communities, and societies with integrity and
purpose. We aim to empower young individuals to lead with character, ensuring that the
decisions they make contribute to a more just and compassionate world.
The African Youth Action Network (AYAN) is a youth-led organization fronting youth as advocates for social and integrated development. AYAN is motivated to bestow overall responsibility upon the youth to coordinate, execute and oversee delivery of a suite of services and economic empowerment initiatives to refugee communities, Internally Displaced Persons, and youth in Uganda and South Sudan. Over the years, AYAN’s focus has continuously evolved due to the emerging challenges that form barriers to peace and development, as a result AYAN adapts, adopts and innovates new mechanisms that align development interventions to the prevailing circumstances and pressing needs of the target population.
Founded in June 2015, in Uganda, the organization is currently registered in South Sudan as a National NGO and Regional NGO in Uganda.
The Organization was supported by UNHCR in 2016 through the Youth Initiative Fund (YIF) to train young refugees and host Community Youths in Peace Building and Conflict resolutions in Uganda. At AYAN, we believe that the youth are well positioned to organize and participate in promoting a movement of sustainable peace through the organization of positive, non-violent, community-building activities, through trainings, mentorship, community outreach programmes in the Great Lakes Region and other volatile Parts of Africa. The organization has reached out to adolescents and young people below 35 years of age in refugee settlements and urban centres where there are south Sudanese Youth to address consequence of conflict and violence in South Sudan such as stress and psycho social trauma among young South Sudanese living in Uganda.
Vision
As refugee youth ourselves, our work is defined in part by our own experiences of war, displacement and
violence. Our dream is that no other young people should suffer these same challenges.
We, therefore, envision a peaceful world offering youth an opportunity to participate in socio-economic
development decisions and activities.
Core Values
We strive to be value-driven and commit to the following principles in all that we do:
1. Equity: We distribute resources and opportunities as needed by the youth to create
equal development for all.
2. Transparency, Integrity and Accountability: We are open to youth in our processes
and actions, we are accountable to our actions, and we serve the interest of the young
people first.
3. Social Justice: We ensure fair treatment and equitable status for all in our work.
Our Journey and Vision
We began in 2015 as the Youth Empowerment Network for Peace and
Reconciliation, a year after the conflict in South Sudan.
In Uganda, we observed that displaced young people were organizing themselves along tribal, regional, and clan lines. However, we saw an opportunity—here, in exile, they could build lasting bonds across these divisions. We believed that if they formed friendships now, they could carry those connections back home, breaking the cycle of tribal stereotypes passed down through generations.
In 2016, with support from UNHCR through the Youth Initiative Fund (2016-2018), we launched our first Peace Ambassadors Training with 20 participants. Our vision was to
create a movement of young people dedicated to peacebuilding. However, as refugees
in Uganda, we were advised to operate as a civic education group or association to
avoid the risk of deportation.
Over time, we trained 100 young peace ambassadors in Rhino Camp refugee
settlements. Six months later, they shared a critical challenge with us: while
peacebuilding skills were valuable, they could not sustain peace while living in poverty
and uncertainty. Many lacked opportunities to earn a living, afford an education, or see a
future beyond the refugee settlements.
Recognizing this need, in 2018, we introduced entrepreneurship and craft training
for peace, thanks to support from Ulrike Zu Salam from Munich, Germany. This
initiative provided young people with practical skills to support themselves while
reinforcing the values of peace and reconciliation.
Today, we believe that breaking the cycle of conflict in Africa requires a new
approach—one centered on entrepreneurship, leadership development, and
mindset change. By equipping young people with the skills and vision to lead, we are
nurturing a generation that will transform their communities. We know that even if just
one or two individuals emerge as changemakers, they will be the catalyst for the
transformation we have long awaited.