BUNDIBUGYO YOUTH PROMOTE CO-EXISTENCE USING SPORTS.

August 2018 became a month of peace and building hope among the youth. With involvement of different Youth groups from greater Kasitu a tornament of football for peace was organized to create synergies how the youth can be interacting for co-existence. The sports events involved the youth both in and out of school, women and men from all cultural diversity in the district.

“our history dictate that we need activities that can unify us” after realizing the fruits the community is reaping from Bumate United, a community owned football club, the youth have moved a step towards developing other Bumate from among themselves With support from other partners and CSO.Sport has proven itself to be a useful tool in supporting conflict resolvers and peace builders.

The task of building on past and current successes in the field is something that youth and politicians are keen to do. The future goals of sport as a tool for peace building and conflict resolution are clear, “We need more networking to promote the positive impact of sport on community welfare, with better awareness of inspiring case studies, of which there are many. We need also to improve on lessons learned and good practice.”

According to Baguma Roberts one of the organizers from Ntandi, he mentioned that the events reduced crimes in the villages as most of the youth are engaging in preparation or come to cheer their teams, events promoted team work and unity, we promoted identity as people from same sub county as well we promoted talents and body physical fitness.

Other events that took place along sport and football for peace was, HIV testing and counseling, blood donation being supported by Red Cross and tree planting along the public institutions.

Ready to fend for ourselves after this training: conflict affected girls in Rwamwanja

Realizing the need to work together  with local CBOs to address needs of special interest groups especially conflict affect Girls affected by Conflict in Rwamwanja Settlement; RIC-NET signed partnership with Community Empowerment Agency-Kamwenge (CEA-Ka).

This partnership has seen in three years 45 (Forty five)  vulnerable / disabled  refuge girls acquire Vocational skills in areas of tailoring, computer skills, hairdressing and business management ; offered start up kits that led them to be self employed.

On 14th August 2018, RIC-NET graduated the last batch of  5 conflict affected girls completing the livelihood course, offered certificates and start up tools. this is the last batch because the funders Global fund for children (GFC) have shifted the budget to only those in schools and funding is phasing out in May 2019. 

In 2018/19, RIC-NET will continue supporting  35 conflict affected girls in schools   with psycho-social support, non school fees dues, scholastic and sanitary materials.

In 2018, the selected girls from Rwamwanja were as shown bellow.

SN	NAME	AGE	VILLAGE	VULNERABILITY STATUS
1	Uwaase Elizabeth	18	Mahani 2	Youth out of school and SGBV Survivor.
2	Mapendo Lear Gakuru  baziyaka 429-12HO1531	19	Base camp  2	Youth out of School heading a family of three  young Siblings . All parents dead. The children under her care are four in Number.
3	Uwiringiye  Perusi 429-12HO2836	18	Mahani 1	SGBV Survivor and has no source of Livelihood. School dropout. She was raped twice. Once by rebels in DRC and here by  fellow refugees. Takes care of four siblings under her care.
4	Jeanate Bahiyi. 766-00056750	22	Kaihora D	Single mother, survivor of SGBV .She has no source of livelihood. She has seven children. One is  a fostered child. She has a husband who was beaten severely and shot bullets and insane.
5	Providance  Nyirarukundo 429-12h02252	22	Nkoma	Grew as an orphan, SGBV Survivor and has no source of livelihood. She is in charge of 6 children .The husband abandoned her and went to unknown place
6	Mujawimaana Elizabeth	18	Basecamp  1	Grown in Rwamwanja Settlement as unaccompanied child. Fostered as her all parents died in Congo war
7	Noela Samvura	19	Wijagahe	Vulnerable youth at risk who grew under foster ship as her all parents died during the war.
8	NyiramutuzoAngelick	18	Mikole	All parents died and survivor of SGBV
09	Sara Muhire	22	Kaihora	School dropout, survivor of SGBV.
10	Penina Alliance	21	Nkoma A	Single mother, survivor of SGBV and has no source of livelihood.

The above undergone vocational skills training for 8 Months from August 2017 to End of April 2018. The training  covered  areas including  Business management ,reproductive health; communication, child feeding/ nutrition etc. This was to help them  effectively pass through the competitive world.

During the training continuous assessment both practical and theoretical was done on monthly basis to assess the level of the skills acquired and how they could put it to use. The best performing students were as shown below.

NAME	THEORY	PRACTICAL	BUSINESS SKILLS	Totals
Jeanate Bahiyi.	85	95	75	255
Providance   Nyirarukundo	80	90	68	238
Penina  Alliance	70	85	70	225
Sara Muhire	60	85	70	215
Mapendo Lear	65	70	55	190

PEACE WEEK 2018 "Talk Peace , Live Peace"

Bundibugyo youth celebrated the  PEACE WEEK 20I8  with climax on 4th august 2018 at Bundibugyo Boma Ground  under the them "Talk Peace , Live Peace"  Bundibugyo Students Association (BUSA) to lead in organizing the function with support from RIC-NET and other NGOs. The Peace week’s events involved, inter school debate, Peace marathon, tree planting and youth dialogue with district leaders. 

During the dialogue and debate that was held at RDC’s hall and library hall respectively, it was noted that Youth across still face major difficulties in the realms of access to quality education, employment, health and effective participation in decision-making processes. Poverty and social exclusion have led young people to migrate from rural to urban areas, in search of better opportunities and livelihoods. Evidence abounds to show that dissatisfied youth, unlike older persons, can be a socially destabilizing force, as witnessed by attacks on the army installations if Kanyamwirima

Hon Jane on the right

According the Hon Jane, the former Mp bundibugyo district, she noted that the Young people play as positive role in preventing and countering violent extremism, and conflicts if handled properly. 

The youth should exploit established special programmes aimed at generating employment through skills development and entrepreneurship. In order to realize full advantage of a bustling youth population and to ensure future prosperity, heavy investment is required in the fields of education, health and employment. Skills-based education is the most potent weapons against unemployment

Therefore, to be able to address issues of violence and build lasting peace it’s imperative that we focus on proactive measures that create inclusive and enabling environments for youth to be able to prosper and achieve their dreams and ambitions.

We should Promotes a culture of peace tolerance, intercultural and inter religious dialogue that involves all the peace actors and community.

The chairperson BUSA advised the gathering that “it is our generational responsibility to get involved and safeguard our future interests that are threatened by the effects of violent conflicts. Our numbers, dynamism and interconnectedness through the various social networks are our greatest assets in challenging violent conflicts”.

promote peaceful co-existence around the world

"The practice by Western powers to forcibly impose their ideas and choices on developing countries is a threat to world peace" said President Museveni said at the Global Peace Leadership Foundation conference in Munyonyo Kampala. 

Later he was  awarded the 2018 Global Peace Award in honour of his leading peace efforts and initiatives in the Great Lakes region and beyond .

This was at the three-day conference under the theme “Moral and Innovative Leadership: New Models for Sustainable Peace and Development,” which ended on 3rd August 2018  organised by US-based interfaith NGO, the Global Peace Foundation (GPF). The three days conference  attracted the participation of various heads of state, religious leaders, cultural leaders, entrepreneurs, youth, innovators, women, community organisers, development partners, celebrities, teachers, policy makers, media, environmentalists and civil society organisations had far reaching impact on the advocacy for peace from United States, India, Nigeria, South Korea, Tanzania,  Kenya, Burundi, DRC Congo, Somalia and Uganda under the theme, “Moral and innovative leadership: new models for sustainable peace and development". RIC-NET was represented to the conference by the Executive Director M John Silco.

  

 President Yoweri Museveni, former President  Zanzibar Dr. Amani Abeid Karume, South Sudan’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai , Burundian Vice President Gaston Sindimwo, Dr Hyun Jin Preston Moon- overall founder and Global President Global Peace Foundation , Mr Mukesh- chairperson of Global Peace Leadership Foundation , Dr Robert Anthony Schuller- American televangelist,  Dr. Augustine Mahiga-Tanzania’s Prime minister;  Mr. Eugene Wamalwa- Kenya’s Cabinet secretary for Devolution  made moving speeches at the conference on peace building. 

Mr Mukesh the proprietor of Shumuk Group  siad “The moral to do business across the globe relies entirely on the peace situation at hand, you simply cannot do business or attract investments to a volatile region, we all know this and those are some of the issues we shall be brain-storming on and sharing thoughts about in our business forum at the conference,among others”.

Dr Rugunda the Prime Minister of Uganda said a harmonious agreement on new models for sustainable peace and development from the conference deliberations is key to guaranteeing a safe and prosperous future for the region. “As you aware, amid great development potential, the Great Lakes region has for many decades been characterised by identity-based conflicts, violent extremism and a refugee crisis. I would like to thank the leaders in the region and international community for standing with us and supporting us in our quest to resolve these conflicts,” he added.

The GPF offered President Museveni a global peace leadership award for his “tireless contribution” to peace efforts both at home and in the region.

Resolutions:

 The Global Peace Foundation, following yesterday’s deliberations, generated a six-point declaration detailing mechanisms for conflict resolution and sustainable peace. The declaration was signed by President Museveni, GPF’s chairman Dr Hyun Jin Moon and President Karume, and will feed into the subsequent summit due in South Korea next March.