In order to develop an action plan for conflict resolution among American and African youth in Uganda, AU grad students Charmagne Campbell-Patton and Jaime Alvis participated in the Global Youth Summit in Kampala with students from around the world.
Campbell-Patton and Alvis traveled with 23 other American students from 20 different universities to Makerere University in Kampala, where they met up with 25 students from ten different universities in Uganda.
"The purpose of the summit was ... to take actual clear steps to finding resolution to conflict in the country," Campbell-Patton said.
"I had studied about East Africa and this was an opportunity for me to go to East Africa with a group that was interested in action and finding solutions to what's going on in Africa and that seemed valuable to me," she said.
Alvis went on the program for similar reasons.
"I've always been interested in Africa in general and because it was based with internally displaced persons and youth, I jumped on it because it was really interesting and exciting for me to be a part of that," Alvis said.
The humanitarian situation in northern Uganda is worse than in the war in Iraq, or anywhere else in the world, a senior United Nations official said in a BBC News article.
For nineteen years, war has plagued northern Uganda. Led by the messianic Joseph Kony, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has brutalized the Acholi, the largest ethnic group in the north, according to an article from Yale Global Online.
The summit was sponsored by the Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA), a non-profit organization that "seeks to develop a deeper appreciation, understanding, and respect between young American and African leaders, who are tomorrow's global decision-makers," according to a statement on its website. In doing so, the partnership cultivates young supporters for Africa's development and advocacy.
During the ten-day long summit, the students were divided into three separate groups dealing with the topics of women and gender, HIV/AIDS and peace and conflict resolution in Northern Uganda. Both Campbell-Patton and Alvis were in the conflict resolution group.
At the conference's end, the students released a statement of action that ensured both the American and Ugandan students would raise awareness in their respective countries about the northern conflict and advocate for a peaceful resolution. This action statement can be viewed on the Global Youth Partnership website.
Campbell-Patton felt that the summit as a whole was successful.
"I think that this is just a jumping off point," she said. "In order to make a difference we need to stay committed to this action strategy and I think this will result in a lot of action and support in the U.S. and Uganda. I think we've established a strategy that will make a difference in the long run."
Campbell-Patton plans to stay involved with the organization, particularly in planning campus events.
"For me personally, it [the program] definitely set the tone for the rest of my masters program," Alvis said. "Now I feel I have an avenue to express that through GYPA."
Alvis plans to work with Global Youth Partnership's Gomo Tong Project which according to their website, works to reintegrate former child soldiers from Uganda back into their communities and former lifestyles.
Students at AU who are interested in learning more about the partnership's global efforts can visit their website at www.gypafrica.com.
