Youth Alive is a registered Catholic non-governmental organisation for and by the youth.
How We Began
Youth Alive was started under the guidance of Sr. Dr. Miriam Duggan in Kamwokya - a Kampala suburb, which was severely affected by a diversity of social and health problems; chief among them HIV & AIDS. It was realised that the most infected and affected were the youth. As such, a youth friendly HIV & AIDS prevention strategy was designed which resulted in the establishment of Youth Alive Uganda.
Youth Alive started as a peer support group. As more groups were formed, the first one became the Secretariat with an established office on the 1st July 1993. In fulfillment of the legal requirements, Youth Alive Uganda was registered as an NGO in 1995.
Youth Alive continues to focus on behaviour change and character tranformation of the youth in preventing and mitigating HIV/AIDS.
It was and is still Youth Alive's core goal to help children, adoloscents and young adults lead a healthy life free of HIV/AIDS so as to see out or fullfil their future dreams and ambitions through committing to healthy and proactive life styles.
Our Vision
Youth living life to the full.
Our Mission
Working with and through children, adoloscents and young adults 9 - 25 so as to lead a healthy and proactive lifestyle with reverence to God and respect for humanity.
Youth Alive accomplishes this goal by:
-Encouraging beneficiaries to live exemplary and moral life styles,
-Training in life and livelihood skills,
-Counselling,
-Forming positive peer groups, and
-Identifying and mobilizing individual talents, skills, gifts and community resources to meet people's concerns and needs.
Our Goal
Enhancing abilities and opportunities of children, adolescents and young adults for integral development.
Recognised Gaps
Inadquate youth friendly information and health services including the following:
-Young people were often not exposed to accurate and relevant information about the risks of irresponsible sexual behaviour.
-The youth could not even use the available HIV & AIDS prevention resources because of distance, poor quality services, unfriendly attitudes of service providers and ignorance.
-Sources of HIV & AIDS information such as radios, television programs and newspaper articles were noted to e expensive, inaccessible and at times presented conflicting messages.
-Expected communication avenues such as parents/guardians dialogue and community communication networks were noted to be weak or to have collapsed under the weight of urbanisation and modernisation.
Life Skills:
Helping individuals develop and internalize life skills to bridge this gap. Life skills in this sense, act as a link between motivating factors - that is knowledge of positive behaviour and action. Life skills therefore create the capacity and will to choose and implement the desired choices. In both the short and long run, life skills translate knowledge of what to do, into how to do it and provide the enabling factors for doing it.
Values
-Respect for life and reverence to God
-Transparency, accountability and responsibility
-Character of integrity and honesty
-Love and respect for each other
-Determination and commitment
-Exemplary life style
General Objective
To plan, implement, monitor and evaluate youth development, sexual and reproductive health activities for young people.
Specific Objectives
-To create awareness on the causes, effects and prevention of HIV & AIDS.
-To disseminate information about behavioural related issues that foster positive attitudes and enable young people make responsible decisions and choices.
-To help young people discover na develop their skills, competencies and talents and link them to resources and institutions that can utilise them.
-To enhance family health and family life education.
-To design and implementt life skills development activities.
-To train peer educators in behaviour change communication as a strategy to avaoid risky behaviours among young people.
-To link and network with community NGOs, CBOs, government and business institutions in serving young people.
-To form positive peer support clubs so as to facilitate the sustainability of positive behaviour, internalization and development of life among young people.
Governance/Management
The overall supreme Youth Alive body is the Annual General Meeting followed by the Board of Directors/Governors.
Youth Alive is managed by technocrats (management) headed by the Executive Director.