Core – Advance Afrika

Growth of Advance Afrika

Advance Afrika — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 04:03:29 +0000

Advance Afrika’s unique focus on appreciation and affirmation is a powerful antidote to the poverty mindset that we are seeking to overcome. Of key importance is to preserve the vibrant culture and values of the Advance Afrika team as we grow; ensuring that leaders, in particular, live and breathe our philosophy. Effective HR Management and strong systems are also critical to ensure that standards of professionalism and behaviour are upheld as we grow.

Advocacy and Communication for Changed Systems, Policies and Mindsets

Advance Afrika — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 04:02:11 +0000

Critical to effectiveness in other areas is our capacity to influence the enabling environment. Unfortunately, vulnerability of individuals in the community is interconnected with large scale systemic issues such as poor infrastructure development, un-supportive legislation, low capacity in government institutions and lack of political will. Advance Afrika has a track record of effective advocacy. For instance, we have been raising the voice of rights of women in Prison leading to building the children day care center in Gulu and Arua.

We have also seen an improvement in the services provided for prison inmates in Uganda including: A shift from the punitive retributive culture to a rehabilitative approach; improved conditions of inmates in incarceration and ensuring inmates are prepared for re-entry into the community among others.

Business and Job Creation

Advance Afrika — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 04:01:09 +0000

Advance Afrika set itself a goal of transforming society through the creation and support of successful business ventures that will provide opportunities for income generation and employment. The empowerment of vulnerable youth to become successful entrepreneurs takes into account different aspirations, opportunities and societal roles of men and women. Projects engage either young prison inmates (see Transforming Vulnerable Individuals and Communities) or self-formed groups of young men and women in the communities. Trainings have been blended with mentorship / coaching programs which, critically, have had the double-purpose of engaging community members with vulnerable individuals. We recognise that a major root cause of vulnerability to both poverty and criminality is absence of employment, especially for youth.

Advance Afrika is supporting small business ventures at prison stations, such as saloons at Gulu Women Prison and Arua Women Prison. Advance Afrika is also establishing a Music Academy with musical trainings in modern band instruments which shall benefit ex-prison inmates and be self-sustaining through attracting other individuals in position to pay for the trainings provided. The organisation is currently establishing a moringa farm as a social enterprise aimed at enhancing income and creating job opportunities as well as alleviating food insecurity and ensuring a healthy diet by promoting the consumption, production, and sales of Moringa, one of the most versatile plants with high nutritional value.

Creation of Employment Opportunities

As an organization, we have a track record of transformation of vulnerable youth through a range of highly effective interventions....

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Skill Building Vulnerable Individuals to Support Workplace Success

Advance Afrika has a track record of supporting young people in job creation through entrepreneurship training and mentoring....

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Transforming Vulnerable Individuals & Communities

Advance Afrika — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 04:00:09 +0000

The organisation runs specific programmes on rehabilitation and reintegration of prison inmates, victim- offender relationships and upholding the dignity of women and children. These are closely linked with research and advocacy as they include the specific reintegration and rehabilitation needs of female (ex-)prison inmates (including, but not limited to needs for psycho-social support as well as addressing issues of domestic and gender-based violence). Equally the specific needs and situation of young men are taken into consideration. Men and women are trained separately (due to prisons protocol and structures). This also allows to adjust the support according to the specific needs, capacities and background of each group. In the selection process, it is envisioned that women benefit from projects just as men (yet the male prison population is much larger, than the number of women in prison).

Our focus on the transformation of the most vulnerable will remain at our heart. In particular, by identifying who & where they are, and proactively identifying and addressing the root cause

issues to bring about positive change. Inmates & ex-inmates remain a key target group for us, as are vulnerable youth in communities; but we will also be proactive in identifying and working with others.

Community Engagement for Transformation and Peace Building

Advance Afrika has a unique offering when it comes to peace building. We understand both the conceptual framework and the practicalities of restorative justice....

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Rehabilitation, Reformation and Reintegration of Offenders

As an organization, we have gained national acclaim for our ground-breaking work with young offenders. Based on a solid research foundation, our approaches have been highly effective in restoring ex-offenders...

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