August 25, 2023 – Training the entrepreneurs of tomorrow is a crucial component of our approach to creating conditions for lasting peace in communities fraught with violence and instability. Experience has proven that if we give underprivileged youths and women the right skills to carry out income generation projects, they are more likely to flourish, with precious additional benefits for their communities in terms of jobs and new services created. Stable economic conditions foster stable social conditions, and mean that individuals are less likely to resort to violence and conflict to resolve local issues and disputes. This is why we designed our Business Bootcamp. It provides aspiring entrepreneurs who would otherwise have had little access to modern business training the opportunity to learn transformational skills in business management, leadership and entrepreneurship. It also gives women a chance to empower themselves and become real leaders in their communities.
In September 2022, we launched a new round of the Business Bootcamp program across 15 counties in the 8 districts of the Acholi Sub-Region in Uganda, focused on strengthening access to entrepreneurship for young people and particularly women. The 6-month program’s training sessions were led by a group of WPDI-trained Youth Peacemakers and focused on our certified curriculum at both basic and intermediate levels. The final assessment took place at the beginning of June, with 197 people passing the course (60 youths and 137 women) out of 225 participants!
For participants, the course was a positive experience that allowed them to learn new, transformative skills, and also changed their attitudes to life in general. “I am very happy and excited about what is happening. The certificates I received today have cleared my doubt and fear. I am confident and very positive my time spent on this training was not a waste but it will yield me more success. We are happy and grateful for the soft skills achieved. My goal is to have a permanent house in the compound using the skills and knowledge acquired in business skills training,” said Lalam Beatrice, a female beneficiary from Kilak North County, Amuru District.
The Business Bootcamp is, at heart, a comprehensive business incubation platform that serves to assist entrepreneurs in the pursuit of their dreams. What is more, the program serves to disseminate a culture of self-sustenance and financial independence in target areas. This is crucial, because for peacebuilding to occur as a grassroots process, communities must rely on endogenous forces and resources. Possessing productive assets, such as a job or a business, is empowering in itself; it brings self-confidence and the values necessary for maintaining a livelihood. Supporting small businesses designed and managed by young people, women, and local community members, who have set them up following participation in the bootcamp, is a key part of our support to marginalized communities in the regions where we operate around the world.
This program is made possible thanks to the financial support of a foundation that wishes to remain anonymous.