February 23, 2022 – In recent months, WPDI organized training workshops for the group of young people our cohort of Youth Peacemakers have recruited in the Karamoja Sub-Region. These 150 local youths – who come from communities throughout the sub-region’s nine districts – were enlisted to become part of a grassroots, youth-led force working to foster peace in the Karamoja Sub-Region. With their training now complete, they will work hand-in-hand with our Youth Peacemakers to do just that.
The trainings marked the third and fourth workshops we have held for the youths, all of whom completed an extensive interview and recruitment process designed to examine their motivation and determination to work for positive change in the Karamoja Sub-Region. Since Karamoja has the lowest developmental index out of all of Uganda’s sub-regions, the skills in peacebuilding as well as business and entrepreneurship that the youths have honed over the past year will be key to bringing about positive change there. As such, the four training workshops that WPDI hosted for the youths – which included 114 hours of training in the two topics – focused on helping them develop these vital skills; skills that they will now utilize in their daily lives.
Indeed, the youths have big plans in store for the coming weeks and months. As Joseph, from Lodiko, said, “These trainings have changed my mindset. I never knew how to analyze conflict before, but now that I have more knowledge, I understand the causes and effects of conflict on my community. I plan to pass this same knowledge on to my peers back home.” Another youth, Gloria, from Kakomongole, mentioned to us how the training impacted her entrepreneurial outlook: “Now that I have been trained in business, I see how I could have a profitable venture. I’m thinking about potential business opportunities in my village and have some ideas already that I want to explore.”
Now that all the 150 youths have completed the four training workshops in peacebuilding and business and entrepreneurship, they have returned to their communities to start working to bring about positive change within them. Soon, they will next work with WPDI’s cohort of Youth Peacemakers in Karamoja to develop business plans for the 36 ventures they will work to launch together, with WPDI’s support. If their enthusiasm for this next step is any indicator, we know they will work hard to be successful.
