The Night is Long for a Hungry Child

pursuing prosperity measured by children’s well-being

This is a campaign inspired by the plight of young people and communities caught up in the intertwined challenges of Climate Change, Conflict and Poverty.

Our outcome-focused scalable response plan prioritises addressing the interconnected root causes of those three main threats by;

  • Creating a supportive environment where young people can thrive,
  • Ensuring Families living more secured, dignified and fulfilling lives, and
  • Improving populations’ well-being through self-help for self-reliance activities

The message of “The Night is Long for a Hungry Child”, as sung by the iconic South-African musician Lucky Dube, goes beyond giving hope where there is despair, neither is it cry for help; but partnership to build effective system such as healthcare, education, road, job creation, and leadership the population can trust and count on.

More Links

http://go.ted.com/victorochen

https://blog.ted.com/big-bets-ted-talks-on-transformation-supported-by-the-rockefeller-foundation/amp/

CALL to action

We appeal for support towards

Addressing Causes of Poverty, Climate Change and Conflict.

Donate towards the cause

Getting in touch uganda@ayinet.org Tel: +256772539879 

 If you have ideas, resources our contacts that could help implement or scale up our actions, in the targeted regions or beyond, we would love to hear from you.

This multifaceted actionable flagship program builds on AYINET’s work on empowering youth and promoting peace in Africa.  By addressing root causes of poverty, preventing conflicts and tackling the of climate change, this will guarantee that no African child goes to bed with an empty stomach and ultimately ensure a stable future for Africa. We work on solutions to the following interwoven questions.

How do we address poverty caused by climate change and conflict?

Today, 80% of global unemployment is in Africa. Today, 23 out of 28 global nations below the poverty line are in Africa. In the year 2024, Africa nations are paying over 500 billion Dollars in debts - more than the budget the entire continent is spending on health and education. Health and Education are the biggest victims of conflict, and lack of them is the biggest accelerator of poverty. With 70% of Sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30, young people represent the most impacted population on the continent. In order to overcome this, we need to focus on empowering young people to become active participants in the continents development.

  • Education – the plan is to build 10 Learning/Skill Development Centers in 10 conflict affected African Countries of (Uganda, South Sudan, DRC, Burundi, Central African Republic, South Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Mozambique). The pilot project will be implemented being in Uganda. The Learning/Skill Development Centers will promote equal access and specialised catch-up education dedicated to cater for the most vulnerable youth affected by conflict, poverty and climate change effects (displaced, refugees) with focus integration and reintegration especially providing language, mental health support, economic and vocational skill developments – also, it should be an innovative labour market integration for returning African migrants.
How do we address the environmental destruction caused by poverty and conflict?

This generation is facing the most difficult challenges because climate crisis is aggravating conflicts, affecting peace and stability, and causing serious political and economic threats.

There is growing fight over usages of diminishing or protected natural resources such as water, forest and minerals. African society are in urgently need for industrial growth tied to climate adaptation, innovation that can accelerate the human progress while restraining the unsustainable consumption of natural resources (over-fishing, deforestation, mining) and addressing the collateral damages of industrialization.

Pursuing the local economic growth should be measured by People’s well-being, based on sustainable means to improve the resilience of African food system, and local community access to finance for small to medium enterprises (SME). This should be done to support society’s ability to develop new skills and capability especially in strengthening entrepreneurial skills through effective and regenerative use of environment.  

  • Youth Innovation Villages in Africa (YIVA) – this will be regenerative and accelerator agriculture and farming programs, with the goal as to empower young people who are solution providers with the tools and skills they need to own and scale their solutions to hard-to-reach communities. It will incorporate technological innovation to support small farmers - key stakeholders include CSOs, Schools, Private Sector and Governments. This will involve empowering and engaging youth in the learning journeys and exchange across Africa.
  • Shea Tree Plantations – 5 million – this will be implemented in northern Uganda, a Shea belt region that experienced over 20 years of violent conflict. Currently the region is grappling with severe effects of conflict induced environmental destruction, especially the near extinction of the valuable indigenous Shea Trees which were destroyed for survival. The idea is to support re-planting of 5 million Shea Trees, protect and preserve the existing/surviving trees, making people appreciate and benefit by introducing the economic value the indigenous Shea tree and combine with growing other fruits like Mangoes, Avocado, Guavas etc. Make Shea regeneration a job opportunity for the families, where a stipend support will be accorded towards the children’s education. This will be done by Introducing “Shea Bank”, a micro-finance service which could be considered the model local climate financing. The Shea Bank will support the conflict affected population who is also bearing the disproportionate impact of climate change.
How do we address conflict caused by poverty and climate change?

Climate change is evidently deteriorating the security situation in Africa, worse in Sahel and Horn of African regions. Climate change gives all the preconditions for instability such as unemployment, disrupted agricultural activities, migration, fight over natural resources such as land water and forest; refugee flows, hunger, diseases and most critical is, it undermines the state legitimacy among the citizens. And addressing this requires keeping pace with the changing world, by creating a new moral political economy - development, effective property rights regimes, dignity, ownership, democracy, stability and rule of law.

  • Partnership for Peace in Africa (PAPA) - preventive approaches aimed at correcting the narrative, using arts, sports and culture (including music, drama, comedy, TEDx, regional cultural conventions) to promote social cohesion. This will enhance the Pan-Africanism rooted in our culture and heritage and create an environment for tolerance and inter-generational co-leadership. It will foster a sense of belonging and appreciation of diversity that exist in our continent, and promote strong mechanisms for climate accountability that can deter behaviours that exacerbate the climate crisis in some of the most vulnerable places.