Name of organization:
Uganda Muslim Youth Development Forum
Description of organization:
Founded by two young survivors of the 2010 al-Shabaab attack in Kampala, Uganda Muslim Youth Development Forum (UMYDF) is a youth-led, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting values of peace, pluralism, and the prevention of violent extremism. The organization operates through training and capacity-building, exchange programmes, vocational skills development for at-risk youth groups, research, community dialogues, policy advocacy, and campaigns to counter hate speech.
Context:
Uganda continues to face attacks from groups such as al-Shabaab and the Allied Democratic Forces. Though based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, research has found that the Allied Democratic Forces primarily recruits young people from Uganda. In Eastern Uganda particularly, divisive religious narratives are used to push young people into violent extremism. Such narratives have undermined interfaith relations, and values of religious tolerance and coexistence
Proposed project and expected results:
UMYDF proposes to address this issue through establishing two interfaith peace gardens in the Bugiri and Mayuge districts in Eastern Uganda. Young people will also take part in peace leadership camps and be selected for a garden fellowship, through which support will be provided to establish the interfaith peace gardens. In addition, a social media campaign will take place through the life of the project to share the interfaith experiences of the young people engaged in the project.
By the end of the project, UMYDF expects to:
- Conduct consultations with Christian and Muslim religious leaders, security officials, youth leaders, and youth-focused civil society organizations to identify and select project participants, as well as identifying and securing land for the interfaith peace gardens.
- Undertake two peace leadership camps to engage 150 youth drawn from nine religious sects of Islam and Christianity.
- Organize two interfaith exhibitions following the peace leadership camps, aimed at transforming religious stereotypes and promoting interfaith understanding.
- Select and train 50 youth who had taken part in the peace leadership camps to undergo a gardening fellowship, equipping them with skills in landscaping and horticulture.
- Establish two interfaith peace gardens in the Bugiri and Mayuge districts, with support from the young people who had undertaken the gardening fellowship.
- Conduct a social media campaign to document and share the project with a wider audience.
Project coordinator: Zulaika Nanfuka
Contact information: info@umydf.com
Website: umydf.org