Karamoja Sub-Region

Ouganda
Programmes

The population of Karamoja is young with the average age being 15 years

61%

of the 1.2 million people of Karamoja live in absolute poverty

of 18-30 year-old youth in Karamoja have used the Internet

63%

of the youth aged 15-24 have never attended school

Karamoja has been affected by decades of conflict in the recent past, leaving behind a footprint that the current generation is still grappling with. A chief concern is that these post-conflict challenges come in combination with another set of difficulties: Karamoja is the poorest sub-region of Uganda, a country where 70% of youth population lives on less than $2 per day and where 80% of youths are unemployed. Many challenges exist also in terms of access to quality education, infrastructure, and other crucial necessities. Additionally, Karamoja is a region where inter-ethnic conflict has historically generated insecurity, instability, and fragility. Many claim that it is difficult to foster peace and sustainable development in the sub-region because of the very intricacy of these challenges.

We believe that change is possible – if it is designed and driven by endogenous forces and if it draws on local energies. The purpose of the Youth Peacemaker Network branch that we launched in Karamoja in 2020 is precisely to nurture and channel these forces and energies. The work of our peacemakers, through Community Dialogues, teaching Peace Education in local primary and secondary schools, or the small businesses we strive to support, all adds up to ensure that, in the end, local actors can transform their communities at the grassroots level.