Young Women Initiative for Development abbreviated as YWIDE, was founded in 2005 during the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency to empower women to be productive and contribute to public life and be self-reliant. Most of the children born during the insurgency did not have opportunity to go to school which led to illiteracy. Ywide anticipated the challenges that this would create and set out to equip girls, women and youth affected by the war with vocational and life skills.
YWIDE’s work has evolved over time since becoming operational in 2006 from providing vocational skills training for girls, young women and young persons affected by the LRA war to, behavior change communication, psychosocial support to people affected by war. Ywide’s currently seeks to address; the root causes of girls and women’s social and economic marginalization, and promote an enabling environment for women’s agency to thrive. Currently, Ywide is being financially and technically supported by Girls First Fund.