NEED FOR THE PROJECT

Social

Over 1.8 million people have been internally displaced and forced to live in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the period of the 22 year old conflict.
Between 1998 and 2002, it was reported that more than 25,000 children and youth were abducted by the LRA to serve as young combatants and sexual slaves.
Inhabitants of northern Uganda live in absolute poverty, many households earning less than one dollar a day. Subsistence farming activities represents the most commonly used survival strategy.
Young mothers who are often known as ‘child mothers’ have been affected by this war as they are more often than not single parents and have no means of supporting themselves or their children. As most of these young women have missed the opportunity to attend school or skills training programs, they have disproportionately suffered from the task of basic survival.
Acholi social structures have been debilitated as the community elders struggle to provide guidance for its large youth population. It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of IDP camp dwellers are under the age of 15 years of age.
There is a serious need for youth empowerment programs and community peace building initiatives to help ensure long-term social reconstruction and development in northern Uganda.

Since August 2006, the Government of Southern Sudan, and the United Nations by their own initiatives, have offered to mediate and host the Juba peace talks in Juba, southern Sudan.
Given the above described social and political realities, our organization, Project Shelter Wakadogo felt that the situation in the Gulu district was sufficiently stable and secure enough to establish and operate a nursery school in the area.

Education is highly valued in northern Uganda and the impacts of the war upon the region’s educational system are deeply felt.
Twenty three years of war have seriously undermined the educational potential of an entire generation of children, destroying the region’s prospects for future development in which case education should be high on the agenda.
The World Food Program (WFP) estimates that 66% of the population of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader in the north is under the age of 15 years compared to 50% for Uganda as a whole 77% of rural schools in Gulu district are non-functioning, leaving 98% of classrooms in disuse and dilapidated.
250,000 children receive no education.
In Gulu district, classroom to pupil ratio is 1:264 and teacher to pupil ratio is 1:69 compared to the recommended national ratio of 1:52.
84% of women are illiterate.
In Gulu district; 65% of the population live below the national poverty line (less than $ US 1 a day) compared to 35% for the rest of the country