In a bid to enable more
displaced young people into dignified and fulfilling work, Uganda Rural
Development and Training Institute together with War Child Canada, both
partnering with Mastercard Foundation have met to discuss the possible areas of
partnership.
The meeting took place
on the 21st of February, 2024 at URDT Campus in the Center for
Reflection and Development and was attended by URDT chairman board, Dr. Mwalimu
Musheshe, URDT management team, URDT-I staff and the Project Director War Child
Canada and her other three colleagues.
Ms. Dorothy Nabwire identified
the two organizations as having similar goals.
“We are here to learn
how best to collaborate with URDT-Institute for the betterment of the young
people under Young Africa Works’’.
Founded in 1999, War Child Canada is an
international organization working with war affected countries, providing
support in access to education, livelihood, finance, justice and other areas.
The organization is also implementing a project known as BRIDGE from 2022-2026 which is designed to
further the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy focusing on
refugee and host communities in Uganda’s refugee settlements of Adjumani,
Obongi, Isingiro, Kamwenge, Kikuube, Yumbe, Arua and Koboko districts.
According to Ms.
Dorothy Nabwire the project director War Child Canada, the project’s major
goals are to increase access to quality training, transition to dignified work,
access to market, as well as improving the capacity of education institutions.
These, she says are to be achieved with support from the Education Local Expertise
Center Uganda (ELECU), a women-led Non-Government Organization that strives to
improve basic education.
“While designing the
BRIDGE project, it was intentional to learn from URDT as an organization that
has used the satellite model for a long time,” Nabwire added.
Mr. Tom Kasalawo the
project manager ELECU, says the project targets youth school drop-outs between
the age of 15 and 35 who are attached to different artisans for training in
different occupations for a maximum of 3 months depending on the course one is
taking.
The URDT,Director of
Education and Training, Mr. Robert Katabazi appreciated War Child Canada for
recognizing the work URDT Institute is doing and looked forward to a possible
partnership in order to continue skilling the youth.
Both parties agreed
to discuss more details later in March with the War Child Canada regional coordinator,
Mr. David Ben Ochom
