• Civil Society and Governance
  • Civil Society and Governance Overview
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Civic Education
  • Citizen Participation
  • Advocacy
  • Democratic Governance
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Women's and Minority Rights
  • Disenfranchised Groups
• Education
  • Education Overview
  • Basic Education
  • Higher Education
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
  • Education for Vulnerable Groups
• HIV/AIDS
  • HIV/AIDS Overview
  • HIV/AIDS Prevention
  • Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
  • Grants Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Institutional Capacity Building
• International Visitors Exchanges
  • International Professional, Academic, and Cultural Exchanges Overview
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Professional Exchanges
  • Youth Exchanges
• Capacity Development and Training
  • Capacity Development and Training Overview
  • Participant Training
  • Institutional Capacity Building
  • Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Exchanges
  • Grant Solicitation and Management Capacity
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Kacel Watwero

For more than two decades, a civil war has been ravaging Northern Uganda. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives and nearly two million people have been forced to flee their homes.  Many of the most vulnerable children in Northern Uganda are orphaned, heads of households, neglected, abused, living apart from their families, or disabled. These children face the risk of continued insecurity, early marriage and motherhood, inadequate education, child labor, and insufficient health care. In addition, many of the children in Kitgum were abducted, and those who have returned have physical and psychological scars that need tending as they try to reintegrate into the community

To help meet these needs, World Learning, in partnership with the Ugandan NGO Straight Talk Foundation, is implementing a project called Kacel Watwero, which means "together we can" in Acholi. The goal of the project is to serve the needy and vulnerable children of Northern Uganda, by using the greatest resource available: the older brothers, sisters, and neighbors of the at-risk children. The project aimed to achieve its goals through the following three components:

• Learning for Improvement - World Learning conducted an assessment of needs, resources, and gaps in services available to children and youth in Kitgum district. The Assessment identified most vulnerable children and youth in Northern Uganda, examined which programmatic interventions for these at-risk children could be most effective, and identified community projects that can contribute to the rehabilitation and reintegration of conflict-affected children into their communities.
• Investment in Northern Uganda Youth - In 2008, WL implemented a youth leadership training targeting 20 young people from 6 sub-counties in Kitgum. The training sought to develop leadership and advocacy skills of young people as well as increase their awareness and capacity to respond to the needs of most vulnerable children in their communities with appropriate programming interventions.
• Reintegration, Recovery and Support: Assisting reintegration of former child soldiers and meeting urgent needs of children at risk – the program provided small grants to youth leaders trained in the program to implement community development initiatives which address gaps in needs and services identified in the Assessment Report.