May 7, 2024 – Since our inception back in 2012, WPDI has been committed to helping communities in need develop the capacity to build peace from the grassroots up. This has meant expanding our Youth Peacemaker Network, building Community Learning Centers where tailored programs in Conflict Resolution, ICT, Business and Entrepreneurship, and Arts & Crafts are offered to young people, and working in partnership with local schools to ensure attitudes to conflict and instability are transformed from an early age. Development, female empowerment, economic progress… These are some of the principles on which we base our activities in order to foster a stable peace. Uganda and South Sudan are two of our focus countries in this regard.
In order to directly take stock of our progress and meet with our teams on the ground, our Executive Director, Caroline Descombris, recently traveled to Uganda and South Sudan, where she had the privilege of visiting our remarkable teams, including Youth Peacemakers, Community Learning Centers, local schools, and small businesses that we proudly support. Along with her Chief of Staff, Valentine Goret, she was able to witness firsthand not just the efficiency of our programs, but also the enthusiasm and the sense of appropriation that WPDI’s programs rarely fail to generate among beneficiaries, officials, and all stakeholders.
The Executive Director’s visit took her through the three regions of Uganda where WPDI operates: the Acholi Sub-Region, the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, and the Karamoja Sub-Region. Witnessing the impact of our diverse programs on local communities was truly heartening, especially observing how young people and women have emerged as proactive agents of change. WPDI’s message of peace has undeniably taken root in a country that has endured prolonged internal conflicts. Among others, she paid a visit to our Community Learning Center (CLC) in Gulu, where she liaised with our Uganda team and a group of Youth Peacemakers who have been working with WPDI since 2017, delivering our activities in the field, and sowing seeds of peace in local communities.
During the visit to the CLC, a Business Plan Competition was held, giving local entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business ideas in front of an expert panel and, if successful, gain access to WPDI seed funding and mentoring. To date, we support 385 small businesses in Uganda, and 742 overall across all our countries of operation. Caroline Descombris was also able to visit local businesses run by women entrepreneurs, which were able to launch thanks to our Business Bootcamp program, giving otherwise underprivileged communities access to vocational business and entrepreneurship training. Giving young entrepreneurs access to otherwise out-of-reach vocational training is a key component of our peacebuilding strategy, because developing economic stability helps create a society less conducive to violence and conflict.
The visit to Uganda also included visits to local schools where she was cheerfully greeted by the pupils and students who participate in the Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) programs that we specifically implement in educational institutions to empower children and youths as promoters of peace in their communities. She received a similar welcome in the different places where we have programs tailored for children and youths, notably at a graduation ceremony at our CLC in Moroto in the Karamoja Subregion that took place for over 50 students who participated in CRE, business, ICT and Arts & Crafts courses.
In South Sudan, our Executive Director visited our Community Learning Centers spread across the nation, local schools, and small businesses that we steadfastly support, notably in Juba and Yambio. She engaged with entrepreneurs at our CLC in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, witnessing firsthand the economic revitalization facilitated by WPDI-supported ventures, where we were honored by the presence of the Minister of Youth and Sports of Western Equatoria State. Their presence assuredly symbolized our productive relationship with local authorities, who warmly welcomed our efforts to develop and foster peace among their constituencies.
The visit presented many other opportunities to meet and exchange with local stakeholders, which is uniquely key for obtaining information on our programs that sometimes do not make it into the reports In Terekeka county, for example, she connected with participants of our Women’s Livelihood Program, which prioritizes women’s empowerment through comprehensive business training. She also participated in an advocacy campaign at a school focused on the importance of education, preventing delinquency, and promoting the participation of girls in education.
Witnessing the unwavering dedication to peacebuilding demonstrated by individuals from all walks of life in South Sudan and Uganda our Executive Director came back from her mission very optimistic about the future of the communities that we support in these countries.
This mission enabled our Executive Director to see the impact of our programs firsthand, hear directly from our partners and discuss their feedback on our activities, and meet beneficiaries who emphasized how life-changing the programs were to them. This visit has reinforced our determination to continue and expand our work for peace and development in both Uganda and South Sudan.