September 6, 2019 – Last month, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI) launched its first-ever business plan competition at the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement thanks to the support of the Swedish Postkod Foundation and the Western Union Foundation. The competition is designed to help foster entrepreneurship within the settlement and host communities, a key component of our mandate to promote peace and sustainable development in Northern Uganda.
The launch of the competition was open to community members who had successfully completed the intermediate level of the free three-month Business and Entrepreneurship course at our Community Learning Center at the settlement. It took place under our Business Bootcamp program, an initiative designed to equip and support young entrepreneurs from vulnerable and violence-impacted areas by providing them with the resources and support necessary to create jobs and community-building initiatives. This is a format that we are now piloting in four countries – Uganda, South Sudan, South Africa, and Mexico – in an aim to grow a new generation of business and community leaders who will be able to strengthen the resilience and welfare of their communities. At the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, we aim to support refugee communities as well as those from the surrounding host population, creating an inclusive environment that will leave no one behind, true to the spirit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
At the launch of the competition, participants submitted 13 proposals to an oversight and review committee, which comprised of the WPDI Country Coordinator, Business Skills Officer, the District Community Development Officer, the District Youth Chairperson, and a representative from the NGO community. All found that process to be rewarding. Inga, a South Sudanese woman who completed her training with us in 2018, told the committee that “the 10 members of our group, the Glorious Nursery School, are skillful, innovative, and creative. We proposed starting a nursery school to support refugees at the settlement and help provide quality services for children. We are confident and determined!” Wilson, another South Sudanese youth, explained to the committee that “as a dream chaser, my group, the Dream Production Youth Group, is greatly inspired by the work of our role model Forest Whitaker. We want to work with the skills we have gained in information and communications technology and art to help refugees gain job opportunities.”
Needless to say, the oversight and review committee was very impressed with each of the well-designed proposals put forward by groups. After conducting several weeks of due diligence and deliberations, six groups were selected to be awarded prizes:
- Light the Nations Group, which will open a series of fish farms;
- Speedway Technology Youth Group, which is focusing on opening a retail bookshop for the settlement community;
- Glorious Kids Nursery School, which plans to open a nursery school – something in high demand in the area;
- Future Hope Youth Development Group, which is working to open a piggery;
- Blessed Hands Event Enterprise, which plans to open an event management business; and
- Dream Production Group, which has developed plans to work in music, entertainment, and film production.
In recognition of their hard work and success in the business plan competition, each group will next be awarded seed grants to help them put their proposals into practice. Then, the oversight committee will work closely with them over a one-year period to ensure the viability and sustainability of every project. We look forward to helping them grow, thrive, and positively impact their communities.