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Current donation appeal “Africa for Ukraine”

Wars come with various forms of atrocities and violations. Each war or armed conflict is unique and different. Every war or armed conflict has varying interest parties to it. When war breaks out, it comes with multifaceted consequences: displacement, destruction, death, torture, abductions, sexual abuses, hunger, disruptions in education, economic, social, and political activities etc.

From the time of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, numerous atrocities have been committed. Nearly 6 million Ukrainians majorly women, children and the elderly fled the country and are currently living as refugees in other countries, while about 8 million people are internally displaced in addition to death, torture, abduction and destructions of cities, schools, and other social amenities. Therefore, the amount of psychological and physical harms is enormous. Like in many situations, women and children are often the most vulnerable group in violent conflicts with prolonged impact.

AYINET Uganda was contacted to by teams of Ukrainian psychologists and institutions devoted to respond to the psychological and psychosocial needs of the affected Ukrainian population for support through sharing of practice, skills, and experiences, given the fact that AYINET Uganda has been working on similar situation for more than a decade.

AYINET Uganda was founded in 2005, a time when the greater northern region of Uganda was gradually going towards the end of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) war that lasted nearly 20 years. It resulted into gross violations which affect the region to date. Since that time, AYINET, in addition to its other objectives, is deeply devoted to working with victims of war in various capacities. However, providing medical and psychosocial rehabilitations became the core of our work with the affected communities. We have worked and continue to work with torture survivors, former child soldiers, ex-combatants, children born in captivity, survivors of sexual abuses, displaced persons etc., of all age brackets.

As AYINET, we acknowledge that all wars are different however, victims and survivors often suffer common effects: displacement, loss of loved ones, property and livelihoods, sexual violence, distortion of identities and values, etc. All these come with heavy psychological crises, and the consequences borne by individuals and families.

It a common global practice that years after war, societies try to move on, government attention and priorities shifted to development and restoration of infrastructure. The farther time goes, the more we tend to ignore. From this point, the weight of war is left to the shoulders of individuals and families hit hard by the war/conflicts. They live and lead their daily lives in what they witnessed, experienced, or encountered. A life of trauma, full of anxiety, fear, grief, depression, and PTSD. Our experience working with victims and survivors in Uganda proves clearly that the guns may go silent, but the dust remains unsettled for a long time.

Please read the article published online by the German Newspaper taz to find out more about the engagement of AYINET Uganda with its Ukrainian counterparts, supporting the teams in helping the going through mental and emotional turbulence because of war.

AYINET intends to do more by physically bringing various experts from the Africa who have been working on complex war, genocides and apartheid related cases and situations around the continent to meet, share knowledge and experiences with Ukrainian teams of practitioners for purpose of learning. For this to be successful, we ask for donations in any capacity from individual donors, foundations, organisations, etc, so we can be able to make it happen.

Your contribution counts, no matter if you donate a little or a lot. Any amount, no matter how small, helps. Thank you for your support.

Use the information below to make a donation by bank transfer.

IBAN: DE02 5003 1000 1092 3995 04

BIC: TRODDEF1

Bank name: Triodos Bank Deutschland

Bank address: Falkstrasse 5, 60487 Frankfurt am Main

Account name: African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET) Germany