From Victims to Community Peacebuilding Champions

As part of the Uganda Unites, From Victims to Community Peacebuilding Champions initiative, the “Promoting Positive Dialogue Among Youth” workshop was successfully held at the American Centre in Kampala. This session brought together youth from diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds to foster empathy, coexistence, and mutual respect through open dialogue. Facilitated by Abdul-Malik, Maxwell, Amos, and Fedres, the three-hour program featured interactive learning methods such as the mini-lecture on understanding hate speech. These activities created an inclusive environment that emphasized the importance of respectful communication as a proactive tool for peacebuilding and social cohesion across Uganda’s communities.

The workshop focused on equipping participants with practical skills to recognize and respond to harmful speech constructively. Through the Dialogue Role-Play and Language Shift Challenge exercises, participants practiced reframing divisive or prejudiced language into positive, unifying messages. These sessions empowered youth to transform everyday conversations—from social media debates to community interactions—into opportunities for bridge-building rather than division. The facilitators encouraged participants to take leadership in promoting empathy and inclusion, underscoring that each person has a role to play in cultivating peace at the grassroots level.

The event concluded with a thought-provoking panel discussion led by youth advocate and social commentator Kaduyu Muhsin, who shared insights on promoting respectful dialogue in divided times. Participants actively engaged in the conversation, drawing lessons from both Ugandan and international examples of community solidarity. The session ended with participants making personal “One Action Pledges” to integrate the lessons learned into their daily lives and networks. This workshop reaffirmed Uganda Unites’ commitment to transforming young people from passive observers of conflict into proactive champions of peace, dialogue, and unity—directly advancing the project’s goal of building resilient, inclusive communities across Uganda.