We envision educated youth in African communities
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world
Building Futures Through Education
YIDA Youth Initiative is a refugee-led and youth-led organization empowering children and young people through quality education, skills development, and entrepreneurship. We work alongside refugee and host communities to create opportunities for sustainable and dignified livelihoods.
Our History
YIDA Youth Initiative is a refugee-led and not-for-profit NGO started in 2013 as a school, the school was founded by Baraka Benedict and James Ntakiruti Gihoma. Baraka worked as a teacher, whereas James worked as the head teacher. The idea of making it an organization was then generated in 2015 and the organization was registered as a CBO in 2017 in the name of Youth Initiative for Development in Africa (YIDA). In 2023 it was registered as a regional not-for-profit organization as the YIDA Youth Initiative.
#NTAKIRUTI James
Welcoming message from CEO
Dear Partners, supporters, and followers of YIDA, It is believed that youths are at the forefront of developing communities through resilience and commitment mostly during times of crisis like the pandemic, wars, and climate change. It is then unfortunate that most of the systems and policies in government and non-government structures at different levels do not favor or consider youth and the crisis situation worsens. Youth pass through hard times to legalize their own entities and have less engagement in decision-making that concerns them even in national planning. Still, many companies do not trust that youth can be trusted and…
