Youth Peace Champions: Disarming the Minds

This is Karamoja in Northern Uganda. In the region, like in most of Uganda, young people are faced with many problems. Many of them grew up in a culture of violence, where the weapon was the norm.

With the project ‘Building peace through young adult peace champions in Uganda’, CECORE and GPPAC address both root causes as well as driving factors of conflicts in Ugandan communities. We provide young people skills in peacebuilding, while also training them to become entrepreneurs.

Now, many young people in Karamoja are moving away from violence and also have the means to provide for their families. As youth leaders, they speak out against destructive ways and embrace dialogue for peace. And with much success: the young peace champions reconcile conflicting parties, support fellow youth and speak out against violence and practices like forced marriage. Another success is the steady decrease in cattle raiding across the region.