On the 10th September2016, Ugandan youth in the UK Diaspora will be meeting at the Ugandan Convention’s Youth Forum at Troxy, London to debate, discuss and engage on how to promote youth inclusion in shaping the future of Uganda and our Diaspora community and to dialogue around issues and challenges in their communities. Under the theme “Motivating and Empowering Youth to Embrace their Identity” the Youth Forum brings together a diversity of young voices: young women and men from various walks of life and tribal affiliations in the Diaspora and from Uganda. These include partners and members youth activists, youth mentors, motivation speakers, young social entrepreneurs, youth bloggers, members of youth NGOs and other civil society organizations, youth with disability and officials of the various Kingdoms from Uganda.

Through dialogue, we hope that young people will build understanding of each other’s’ points of view, and in the process find common ground. We hope that the forum will be a catalyst for sustained youth dialogue and organizing in the Diaspora, with committed and open engagement from youth. The forum will include poem reciting, talks and discussions.

Some of the guest speakers invited include; Hon. Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Omulangira Crispin Kiweewa Juunju, Pastor Jesicca Kayanja, founder Girl Power and other high profile speakers.

[infopane color=”1″ icon=”0101.png”]Motivating and Empowering Youth to Embrace their Identity[/infopane]

London, United Kingdom. We welcome you to the sixth Ugandan UK youth forum run by Ugandan Convention on the 10th Sept 2016 at the Troxy Arena. As the Ugandan immigrant population ages, we need to prepare our youth to take over when most of us have gone back home; and, believe it or not, the country is enjoying over $800 million from the Diaspora now. The average age of active money remitters is 45years and within the next 10 years most of them will be retiring or have less energy to work, leading to less money remitted back home and less foreign deposits. So the time is now to prepare them not only as future leaders, business people but as Ugandans who can sustain or increase the flow of remittance to Uganda and also looking after their parents and relatives who would have immigrated back to Uganda.

The purpose of this annual Youth forum is to promote youth inclusion in shaping the future of Uganda and our Diaspora community and to dialogue around issues and challenges in their communities. The Forum brings together a diversity of young voices: young women and men from various walks of life and tribal affiliations in the Diaspora and from Uganda. These include partners and members youth activists, youth mentors, motivation speakers, young social entrepreneurs, youth bloggers, members of youth NGOs and other civil society organizations, youth with disability and officials of the various Kingdoms from Uganda.

Through dialogue, we hope that young people will build understanding of each other’s’ points of view, and in the process find common ground. We hope that the forum will be a catalyst for sustained youth dialogue and organizing in the Diaspora, with committed and open engagement from youth. The forum will include poem reciting, talks and discussions.

The youth Forum’s main Objectives includes:

1. To promote the  preservation and strengthen positive Ugandan morals, identity, traditional values and cultures and foster the development of national and Ugandan identity and pride;
2. To inculcate a sense of cultural identity, belonging, and commitment to the course of the socio-economic development of Uganda.
3. To promote inter-cultural awareness by organising exchange programs between young people and youth organisations within and across the Diasporas, as well as participating in developmental activities in Uganda.
4. To promote increased political participation and interest of young people in Uganda’s politics and democratic governance and develop concrete plans of action for increasing the role of young people in development processes, democracy and peace in Uganda;
5. To promote widespread access to information and communication technology as a means for education, employment creation, interacting effectively with the world and building understanding, tolerance and appreciation of other youth cultures;

The forum will discuss, among others; the theme of the forum is “Embracing Your Identity”

1. What is identity and what does it mean to be a Ugandan?
2. I am of a mixed nationality what does it mean for me to be a Ugandan?
3. Deliberate on challenges that the Diaspora youth face to fully contribute to the development of Uganda  and propose key recommendations for the consideration of the Ugandan government
4. Countering youth exclusion, vulnerability and violence
5. Empowering young people to improve the quality of life through the use of ICTs and the utilisation of social media (Facebook, twitter, BB, WhatsApp…) as a means of self-empowerment, self advancement beyond a social platform.
6. Support the use of new social media, particularly in terms of building networks and sharing best practices on youth participation in decision-making.

Some other issues to consider in the discussions:

• Subject – sense of belonging. Most youth in London don’t have a sense of belonging, so they resort to other means such as, gangs, groups, crime, and rebellion and so on.
• Parents- Often time’s parents in London are too busy with work to have time for their children, and so the children fill rejected therefore from this values (if anywhere learned from home or school) maybe compromised. Due to lack of positive reinforcement and role models.
• Media and Technology – the media plays a huge role in the way the youth in London behave has it gives temporal and substitute role models.
• Family life and Home life- stable family life or home life is relevant for the individual to pursue whatever further plans one has, good relationships with parents and siblings helps in shaping and form good behaviour and identity.
• Exploring the predominant image of young people today as alienated, apathetic, and uninvolved in their communities. (How young people can get involved in the social and political fabric of UK including the promotion of civil society.
• “Countering youth exclusion, vulnerability and violence”: this thematic area will examine the different facets of exclusion and their causal relation with violence and vulnerability among youth. It will look into different types of violence, including street violence, gender based violence and violence in school. The objective would be to identify concrete and innovative ways to address social exclusion as a way to prevent violence affecting youth, both as victims and as perpetrators, and to address the needs of vulnerable groups. The debate on this sub-theme will build on experiences of youth organizations, testimonies of vulnerable groups of youth participating in the Forum.

The most important factor is for one to be able to understand and have the own identity. In that, they cannot be easily influenced by bad company and that by this; strong values can be strongly up held to the next generation.

Youth entrepreneurship

A presentation and discussion on youth entrepreneurship: Uganda’s key to prosperity for all and the importance of job creation through entrepreneurial pursuits and the impact of bringing professional Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA)’s to create a positive effect within industries, or potentially influencing policy that can improve the nation as a whole. The session will also touch on “The importance of maintaining your culture while adapting to the norms of the British culture and cultural differences amongst Ugandan UK Youth”.
This is a call to all Ugandan parents with youth to encourage them to attend the
forum not only to experience how Ugandans network and debate business but also to learn about future prospects in Uganda. The Convention has reserved a special room
for the forum (White Room  – 2nd Floor).

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The youth Forum’s main Objectives includes:

1. To promote the  preservation and strengthen positive Ugandan morals, identity, traditional values and cultures and foster the development of national and Ugandan identity and pride;
2. To inculcate a sense of cultural identity, belonging, and commitment to the course of the socio-economic development of Uganda.
3. To promote inter-cultural awareness by organising exchange programs between young people and youth organisations within and across the Diasporas, as well as participating in developmental activities in Uganda.
4. To promote increased political participation and interest of young people in Uganda’s politics and democratic governance and develop concrete plans of action for increasing the role of young people in development processes, democracy and peace in Uganda;
5. To promote widespread access to information and communication technology as a means for education, employment creation, interacting effectively with the world and building understanding, tolerance and appreciation of other youth cultures;

The forum will discuss, among others; the theme of the forum is “Embracing Your Identity”

1. What is identity and what does it mean to be a Ugandan?
2. I am of a mixed nationality what does it mean for me to be a Ugandan?
3. Deliberate on challenges that the Diaspora youth face to fully contribute to the development of Uganda  and propose key recommendations for the consideration of the Ugandan government
4. Countering youth exclusion, vulnerability and violence
5. Empowering young people to improve the quality of life through the use of ICTs and the utilisation of social media (Facebook, twitter, BB, WhatsApp…) as a means of self-empowerment, self advancement beyond a social platform.
6. Support the use of new social media, particularly in terms of building networks and sharing best practices on youth participation in decision-making.

Some other issues to consider in the discussions:

• Subject – sense of belonging. Most youth in London don’t have a sense of belonging, so they resort to other means such as, gangs, groups, crime, and rebellion and so on.
• Parents- Often time’s parents in London are too busy with work to have time for their children, and so the children fill rejected therefore from this values (if anywhere learned from home or school) maybe compromised. Due to lack of positive reinforcement and role models.
• Media and Technology – the media plays a huge role in the way the youth in London behave has it gives temporal and substitute role models.
• Family life and Home life- stable family life or home life is relevant for the individual to pursue whatever further plans one has, good relationships with parents and siblings helps in shaping and form good behaviour and identity.
• Exploring the predominant image of young people today as alienated, apathetic, and uninvolved in their communities. (How young people can get involved in the social and political fabric of UK including the promotion of civil society.
• “Countering youth exclusion, vulnerability and violence”: this thematic area will examine the different facets of exclusion and their causal relation with violence and vulnerability among youth. It will look into different types of violence, including street violence, gender based violence and violence in school. The objective would be to identify concrete and innovative ways to address social exclusion as a way to prevent violence affecting youth, both as victims and as perpetrators, and to address the needs of vulnerable groups. The debate on this sub-theme will build on experiences of youth organizations, testimonies of vulnerable groups of youth participating in the Forum. The Forum will equally examine the challenges facing youth and which impede upon their capacity to contribute to their societies: unemployment, gender inequalities, lack of access to education, marginalization, discrimination, limited or no involvement in public affairs.