At the Heart: Youth Participation
At the Heart: Youth Participation
We often hear that young people are lazy, disengaged, or indifferent to the issues that affect them. This is simply not true. The young people involved in Omoana’s projects are living proof of the opposite. In both Uganda and Iraq, they demonstrate remarkable energy, commitment, and determination every day. This is one of the greatest strengths of our work.
Beyond addressing essential health needs, Omoana is committed to strengthening key life skills: public speaking, self-confidence, critical thinking, respect for others, and active listening. These skills not only help uphold a fundamental right—the right to participate—but also contribute to building a more inclusive society shaped by engaged citizens who understand their ability to create change.
Since 2022, I have had the privilege of being involved with Omoana, first as a staff member and later as a committee member. This experience has allowed me to travel regularly to Uganda, build trusting relationships with local teams, and meet the young people involved in our projects. Through these encounters, I have witnessed remarkable transformations.
One example is Anisha, who could barely bring herself to say hello to me during her first workshop. A year later, she had become one of the spokespersons for the project implemented with St. Francis HCS. Today, she facilitates workshops, confidently shares her ideas, and encourages others to make their voices heard.
Omoana’s strength lies not only in providing children and young people with a space to express themselves, but also in genuinely listening to them. By taking the time to understand their perspectives and aspirations, we ensure that our responses address real needs in a relevant and respectful way. This is how we design all of our projects: by placing those most directly concerned at the centre of the process, remaining open to challenge and reflection, and affirming that every voice matters.
I invite you to discover, through the articles below, how these principles come to life in our projects in Uganda and Iraq.
Enjoy the reading!
Chloé Collier
Committee Member
Youth Clubs: Spaces for Solidarity and Active Participation
In Uganda, Omoana’s partners support youth clubs as genuine spaces for expression, participation, and mutual support. Established in schools and communities, these clubs provide safe environments where children and young people can share their experiences, strengthen their skills, and actively engage in local initiatives. Beyond peer support, they empower young people to become agents of change—able to identify challenges, propose solutions, and take concrete action to improve their communities.
In schools, Backup Uganda runs Inclusion Clubs. These clubs enable students to become advocates for change by supporting classmates with learning difficulties. They demonstrate that creating an inclusive environment depends not only on adults but also on the commitment and involvement of peers.
Within communities, Omoana House and St. Francis HCS support youth clubs for young people living with HIV. Members, often those with greater experience or confidence, provide emotional support to their peers, particularly in encouraging adherence to treatment. This role has become even more important in the context of USAID funding cuts, which have weakened many support systems. These clubs also operate collective savings groups, strengthening solidarity and helping young people plan for their future.
In Iganga, Girls Menarch Initiative runs inclusive menstrual health clubs involving both girls and boys as menstrual health ambassadors. These clubs also create opportunities for discussion on gender, violence prevention, and self-confidence through interactive activities and peer learning.
A particularly inspiring aspect of these initiatives is that several of their leaders are former beneficiaries of clubs previously supported by Omoana. Their journeys demonstrate the long-term impact of these spaces, which foster confidence, autonomy, leadership, and sustained engagement among young people.
Peace Initiatives: Youth Driving Change in Mosul
In Mosul, a city shaped by years of conflict, division, and reconstruction, young people are emerging as a powerful force for social transformation. A crossroads of identities, histories, and communities, the city continues to face challenges, but it is also a place where hopeful initiatives promoting dialogue and understanding are taking root.
The project implemented by Aid Gate Organization, Omoana’s partner in Iraq, aims to give young people a stronger voice by supporting them in reflecting on their identities and their capacity to create change. Identity is never singular: each person carries multiple layers of belonging, including gender, family, beliefs, community, and personal history. While some aspects of identity are inherited or imposed, others are shaped by our choices—our words, our attitudes, and the way we relate to others. Peace begins with these everyday choices: rejecting narratives of division and choosing dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect.
To support this process, young people take part in artistic activities such as drawing, music, and forum theatre, which provide opportunities to express their experiences and imagine alternative futures beyond imposed narratives. At the same time, training sessions for peace education facilitators and advocacy workshops have been launched to strengthen their skills and engagement.
Advocacy is approached as a practical tool for change. It involves raising awareness, mobilising communities, and influencing behaviours, decisions, or policies around issues that matter to young people. Through the Civic Engagement Together programme, participants develop essential skills in public speaking, storytelling, and community mobilisation while learning how to design collective actions promoting human rights, peace, and sustainable development.
In the coming months, young participants will develop and propose their own peace initiatives, which will be selected and supported for implementation. This important step will further strengthen their civic engagement and reinforce their role as active agents of change within their communities.
Every Child Can Learn: Omoana strengthens school inclusion in Uganda
From 1 December 2025 onward, Omoana is supporting the expansion of the “Every Child Can Learn” project led by Backup Uganda in Northern Uganda.
This program aims to build a truly inclusive school environment for children with learning difficulties or disabilities — an issue that remains insufficiently recognized in Uganda. In Ugandan public schools, the challenges are many: overcrowded classrooms, a lack of materials, and low household incomes. When a child experiences a learning difficulty — dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism, or attention deficit and/or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — these barriers become even heavier to bear. Without understanding from adults, many children develop feelings of rejection, lose confidence, and gradually drop out of school, jeopardizing their future.
To address this situation, the project invests in strengthening the capacities of education teams. Six hundred teachers and school administrators will be trained to detect learning difficulties early and adapt their teaching practices. In-person workshops, classroom coaching, and hybrid learning modules also make it possible to reach rural schools, while providing teams with practical tools to support every child according to their specific needs.
Collaboration with parents and caregivers is another essential pillar. Many are unaware of the existence of learning difficulties or interpret them through local beliefs. Community meetings and episodes of the “Every Child Can Learn” podcast, available in several languages, help improve family understanding and engagement. Digital tools make information more accessible, but in-person exchanges remain indispensable to build trust and answer questions.
Finally, the introduction of inclusion clubs will enable students to become active contributors to a caring and supportive school environment. These clubs create spaces where each student can express themselves, share experiences, and encourage their peers — helping transform school culture from within.
Through this project, Omoana contributes to building schools where every child can learn, thrive, and find their place — whatever their differences may be.
In Mosul, a Youth Committed to Peace
Since 1 July 2025, Omoana and its partner Aid Gate Organization (AGO) have launched a new phase of their project supporting young people in Mosul as they rebuild themselves, their communities, and their futures. In a city deeply marked by conflict and loss, young people are seeking spaces where they can express themselves, heal, and reclaim an active role in society.
The project draws on creativity, art, and collective learning to strengthen the resilience and talents of Mosul’s youth. More than 600 young people will take part in structured programs combining drawing, painting, music composition, performance, filmmaking, theatre, and fashion design. Each cycle of 15 sessions helps participants develop artistic skills while fostering self-esteem, confidence, and the expression of lived experiences. Here, art becomes a shared language that brings people together, soothes, and opens new horizons.
This new phase also places youth-led advocacy at its core. Three days of training will reinforce participants’ knowledge of human rights, violence prevention, and peacebuilding. They will then receive support to implement 25 innovative initiatives ranging from forum theatre performances to awareness-raising videos and public murals.
By sharing their messages, young people help transform mindsets and rebuild social cohesion.
Finally, the project promotes peer learning by training youth trainers in peace education and art with psychosocial aims, enabling a further 700 young people to benefit indirectly.
With this renewed momentum, Omoana is empowering a generation that is rebuilding itself by creating, sharing, and taking action for lasting peace.
Therapy for Women and Girls Survivors of Sexual Violence in Northern Uganda
During the war with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), sexual violence against women and girls was widespread. It was used as a means of terror, but also to force them to conceive children who were intended to become future fighters. vivo documents and tracks these acts of violence, both during the war and within post-conflict society.
The majority of vivo’s clients (60 to 70% of formerly abducted girls and women) experienced sexual violence, some as early as six years old, with an average age of 15 at the time of the first assault. Many were repeatedly raped by rebels, often as part of their forced assignment as “wives.” Women also suffered other forms of gender-based violence at the hands of the LRA, including beatings or executions for cooking during menstruation or for wearing trousers.
Beyond the psychological trauma, these survivors still face long-lasting consequences today: 30% of the women and girls who were raped became pregnant in captivity, many of them giving birth without any medical assistance. In today’s post-conflict society, they suffer from stigma, struggle to explain to their children the violent circumstances of their conception, and are often denied rights to paternal land—both for themselves and their children. Many also live with chronic health issues (such as HIV), financial insecurity, and must take on the role of mother alone or live with partners who reject their stepchildren.
Sexual violence against women remains a pressing issue in northern Uganda’s post-war society, with survivors continuing to face stigma and social exclusion. vivo has established a broad network of actors providing various forms of support for survivors of gender-based violence, including legal, medical, and social assistance. Within this network, vivo is responsible for trauma-focused therapy for survivors, as well as general psychological support, family mediation, and emergency planning for women in high-risk relationships. vivo also offers anger management training for violent partners who are willing to change. Additionally, vivo trains public and private partner organizations on the psychological impact of sexual violence, helping them better support survivors.
Anett Pfeiffer
vivo Uganda
