AFSC nominates Ugandan advocate for 2015 nobel peace prize
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We are excited to join the rest of Africa and the world to endorse Mr Victor Ochen and African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET) for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Award. Read more
Victor Ochen, himself a childhood victim of war, and the African Youth Initiative Network, which he founded to work for the healing of trauma and to promote youth leadership, have been nominated for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Read More
Nomination Acceptance
Since 2011, Kreisau-Initiative has been AYINET’s proud partner in building a better tomorrow by engaging with the wounds from the past. There are many ways to rebuild a post-conflict society, but as long as individuals are still suffering the pain and traumas created in a conflict, we cannot move forward to a constructive future. By focusing on removing the prolonged physical and emotional effects of the violence the victims in Uganda were subjected to, AYINET is creating transitional justice tools that are emphatic, personal and remedying.
It is a great honor for Mr. Victor Ochen and the African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET) to have been nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, 2015. We sincerely thank the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organisation devoted to serving the community, development, peace and justice throughout the world, for nominating Mr. Victor Ochen and AYINET for the most prestigious award.
Both Victor Ochen and AYINET accept the nomination with gratitude. We are both surprised and humbled by the overwhelming approval expressed for our values and work. We thank AFSC for the faith that we deserve the nomination they have earlier awarded to Martin Luther King Jr. and His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the faith that Victor Ochen belongs in the group that hosts outstanding leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Kofi Anan, Barack Obama, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the faith that AYINET should join organisations, such as the American Friends Service Committee or the International Committee of the Red Cross, as one of the humanitarian actors that make this world a better place for all humanity.
We recognise the outstanding personalities who are the nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize and we are inspired by the great responsibility this nomination comes with. It reinforces our determination to work unyieldingly for peace and justice, not only in Uganda and Africa, but around the world.
The nomination is a sign of deep respect for victims and survivors of unspeakable atrocities who, instead of being crushed by war, struggled and regained their dignity that allows them to leave in peace with their fellow humans. Further, it is a recognition for those victims who have devoted their lives to heal others. Many such people represent AYINET today, notably our director and founder, Mr. Victor Ochen.
Even though the nomination recognises our work of the past, it also affirms our vision that no matter how violent our history has been, the current generation can invigorate and achieve the idea of a peaceful Africa. It provides the much needed motivation for the young Africans who seem to struggle endlessly and without results. It is a reminder that good can come out of bad, as we have seen that it was out of the deepest darkness that heroes such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu emerged. When in doubt, we shall choose peace! We, the youth, are responsible for our actions and we can choose peace that this continent desperately needs.
Finally, we have hope that this nomination will contribute to a change of perception of Africa’s youth. We are not a tool of injustice, but agents of prosperity and peace. We have the potential to change the reality and image of Africa. On behalf of the youth of Uganda and the youth of Africa, we thank the AFSC for acknowledging that!
Endorsements
Desmond Tutu backs Ugandan for Nobel Peace Prize
“My heart swells with pride to hear of one of my ‘children’ leading change in Africa,” commented Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “Victor is part of a special group of African leaders who have graduated from the program that bears my name and I wish him well as a potential recipient of this auspicious honour.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Uganda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, congratulates Mr. Victor Ochen and AYINET on the joint Nobel Peace Prize nomination
Congratulations to @Victor_OCHEN Founder of African Youth Initiative Network & a Young Ugandan, for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nomination
— Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda (@RuhakanaR) February 22, 2015
@victor_ochen We are proud of you, and salute your efforts of supporting the most vulnerable in our society. We wish you the best of luck.
— Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda (@RuhakanaR) February 22, 2015
The Martin Luther King Center congratulates Victor OCHEN and AYINET for the Nobel peace Nomination
Tutu Fellow Victor Ochen Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
We heartily endorse the nomination of Victor Ochen, AYINET, for the Nobel Peace Prize 2015
Trust Africa is delighted to join His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ugandan President H.E Y.K Museveni, Fatou Bensouda – ICC Chief Prosecutor, and H.E. Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of Uganda, and countless others in congratulating Victor Ochen and the African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET) for their joint 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nomination. Read more
GAPS Strongly Endorses Victor Ochen and African Youth Initiative Network for the Nobel Peace Prize!!
It is with great pleasure and sincerity that GAPS Centre for Governance, Peace, and Securitystrongly endorses the joint Nobel Peace Prize Nomination for Victor Ochen and his organization African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET).
Victor Ochen: 3 reasons we endorse the youngest African to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize Award
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The work of Victor Ochen and Ayinet – Uganda is the living proof that fulfilment of human rights is the fastest road to lasting peace. Read more
Kreisau-Initiative endorses Victor Ochen's and AYINET's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize 2015
We are thrilled by the nomination of Victor Ochen and the African Youth Initiative Network for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. Read more
His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu appeals to Ugandans to embrace Transitional Justice as it offers the possibility for a better future. Read more
Elizabeth Silkes, Executive Director of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience,congratulating Victor Ochen and the African Youth Initiative Network for their Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
The news of his nomination came as a sweet surprise and Victor Ochen, possibly Africa’s youngest Nobel Prize nominee, CCTV Africa brings you the story
2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Victor Ochen is interview by Daniel Mumbere of URBAN TV
Speaking to UBC TV’S Rhoda Ngonzi, Ochen says the prestigious nomination is not only good for the image of Uganda, but of Africa as a whole.
Editor of The London Evening Post, Henry Gombya, joined Charles Aniagolu on Africa Wrap to discuss Victor Ochen being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
'I Employed My Brother's Kidnapper'
Victor Ochen’s work to reconcile Uganda after civil war has won him a Nobel nomination
Picture credit: Heather McClintock Read more
Mark Goldberg talks to Victor Ochen who grew up in displaced persons camps in Northern Uganda, fleeing from the Lord’s Resistance Army. He emerged from that difficult situation to become a civic leader and peacemaker. And this year, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of war crimes victims in Uganda. Victor and Mark are old friends, and Victor opens up about growing up in a war zone, losing a brother, and becoming a self-taught social entrepreneur. Read more
2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Victor Ochen is the youngest African and first Ugandan to receive the peace prize nomination. Despite spending most of his life surrounded by war, crimes against humanity, and often surviving on one meal per day, Victor maintained a deep love for peace and powerfully activated his community. His organization, the African Youth Initiative (AYINET), assists victims of serious war crimes and creates post-conflict programs to wage widespread reconciliation. Find out how a 13-year-old boy’s peace club led to a Nobel nomination,