A few words about

What We Do

Peace building and Leadership

Leadership Capacity Building Training for Refugee Councillors in Kiryandongo

At AYAN, we believe and champion leadership development for those on the forefront and those supporting their communities. We think, if South Sudanese refugee leaders understand their important roles in promoting community led peace initiatives and right to participate in national
peace processes and their outcomes, they will be better able to play an active role in helping to secure sustained peace in their villages, communities, settlements and eventually when they return to South Sudan.

Programme that works with, young people through training as peer educators to conduct peace awareness, open forum workshops, panel discussions, ‘meet your leader’ accountability sessions and organize other methods of community advocacy, focusing on governance, where a key focus is the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan and its Implementation. Undertaking workshops and advocacy programmes amongst youth in schools, colleges, churches, mosques, barazas to promote national cohesion and respect for diversity. The aim is to harness the voice and positive contribution of young people in the implementation of the ARCSS.

To achieve this, Refugee and local host leaders needed to understand their roles, local council laws in order to effectively manage non-violent conflicts and become effective leaders in the Settlements.

AYAN together with KAS Uganda conducted a 2-days capacity strengthening training for 130 Refugee leaders in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlements. The training focused on the RWCs Roles and responsibilities, Conflict Resolution mechanisms, and Tactics on how to lead effectively.

The activities we carry out under this focus area include;

Dialogue
Leadership Training
Youth for peace
Food Relief

Enterprise Development

The Refugee Accelerate Entrepreneurship Challenge selects refugee youth entrepreneurs, especially young women, in Uganda who are already running a small business and want to take it to the next level. The young entrepreneurs had an opportunity to pitch their expansion ideas and work alongside AYAN and YSAT teams to receive a comprehensive suite of tailored support. By experimenting with the combination of support provided, REACH aim to contribute to employment creation and increased incomes in refugee communities, generating evidence and insights on what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to supporting refugee youth-led businesses.

REACH is organized by the Youth Social Advocacy Team (YSAT) and African Youth Action Network (AYAN) with funding from The MasterCard Foundation under the theme “Building Self-reliance and resilience of young refugee entrepreneurs to enhance employability in Urban & Refugee Settlements.” It runs till July 2023

25 refugee leaders have been selected in Kampala and Kiryandongo refugee settlement. These will benefit from seeds funding from 1 million to 5 million Uganda Shillings.

REFUGEE ACCELERATE CHALLENGE – REACH PROJECT PARTNERSHIP

Advocacy and Policy

The programm aims at supporting and connecting young people in South Sudan and diaspora work in the performing and visual arts that promote peaceful coexistence among the different tribes of South Sudan. By connecting amateur, upcoming and establish artists through collaborative projects in Refugee settlements and across South Sudan aimed at providing them an independent arts platform where they can express their creativity, vision and talent and interact with new audiences. Enabling the arts aims at enabling a dynamic environment that supports artistic endeavors and challenges existing molds to expand the outreach of the arts.

Under this focus areas, we implement the following activities

Understanding sexuality, gender, health, rights and HIV/AIDS
Helping young refugees get access to Education opportunities