Located in the Kamwenge District of southwestern Uganda, Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement is host to more than 80,000 people who are experiencing displacement from their home country. Set-up as only a temporary solution, the needs of the settlement quickly outpaced the capacity to provide much needed resources. It was time for an alternative approach that allow participants to lead change in their own lives.

We wanted to introduce the Peer-Driven Change approach to Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement for many reasons… the first being, we hadn’t encountered any programs using a model like this yet. One of our core values as an organization is the belief that successful projects start with solid partnerships. Connecting with local leaders in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement would be key. At the recommendation of our UNHCR contacts, we met with two different local organizations: AVSI Foundation and Youth Arise Network (YAN) who were both interested in helping us form a Peer Driven Change Initiative in the settlement. We decided to move forward with two initiatives instead of just one.