JAMAA Grands Lacs receives the first prize award
On December 9, 2025, in Nairobi, JAMAA Grands Lacs had the honor of being recognized at a regional ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Unite...
Building peace at the grassroots level, strengthening the leadership of young people and women, and supporting the resilience of conflict-affected communities in the Great Lakes region.
To effectively address complex ground challenges, our interventions focus on key programs centered on peace, governance, and civic engagement.
JAMAA Grands Lacs is a non-governmental organization committed to building more peaceful, inclusive, resilient, and economically empowered societies.
In a Great Lakes region marked by decades of conflict, displacement, exclusion, and trauma, we believe that lasting change begins with dignity, participation, and community empowerment.
We work alongside youth, women, conflict-affected communities, and marginalized populations to prevent and transform conflicts, strengthen dialogue and social cohesion, promote transformational leadership, and create opportunities for communities to recover.
On December 9, 2025, in Nairobi, JAMAA Grands Lacs had the honor of being recognized at a regional ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Unite...
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Le monde est confronté depuis quelque temps déjà à des crises multiples et sans précédent. L’année 2023 a été marquée, en Afrique notamment, par une recrudescence des guerres et par la propagation du terrorisme et de l’extrémisme violent, en particulier dans la région des Grands Lacs et dans les États du Sahel. Parallèlement, nous avons assisté à un recul des valeurs démocratiques, avec l’érosion de la signification des élections en tant que l’un des piliers de la démocratie. De plus, la crise climatique s’est accélérée, exigeant une action stratégique immédiate aux niveaux local, continental et mondial. Ces facteurs ont mis en évidence l’importance d’une action concertée et d’un renforcement de nos efforts pour promouvoir des sociétés plus démocratiques, inclusives et pacifiques, résilientes face au changement climatique et aux excès de certains pouvoirs politiques. Il a été essentiel d’encourager l’émergence de nouveaux acteurs du changement, de soutenir leurs actions et de promouvoir des institutions démocratiques respectueuses des droits fondamentaux des peuples et des individus, tout en faisant de la diversité une opportunité et un moteur d’harmonie sociale. En 2023, nous avons concentré nos efforts sur la mobilisation, l’éducation, le dialogue, le travail en réseau, le plaidoyer et les partenariats stratégiques et participatifs avec les jeunes et les femmes en Afrique (notamment en République démocratique du Congo, en Tanzanie et au Togo). Ces actions ont considérablement renforcé leur engagement en faveur de la paix, de la démocratie participative et de l’action pour le climat. Nous avons encouragé et promu une gouvernance responsable et transparente, un leadership éthique, la justice climatique, ainsi que la protection et le soutien des plus vulnérables sur les plans sanitaire, psychologique et juridique. Nous avons encouragé et promu une gouvernance responsable et transparente, un leadership éthique, la justice climatique, ainsi que la protection et le soutien sanitaires, psychologiques et juridiques des plus vulnérables, à savoir les personnes déplacées, les réfugiés, les femmes et les filles victimes de violences sexuelles en RDC, les personnes en situation de handicap, etc. L'impact de ces actions se traduit par le renforcement de la résilience collective, à la contribution aux processus de réconciliation intercommunautaire, à l’amélioration du leadership civique des acteurs de la société civile, à l’inclusion des jeunes et des femmes dans la sphère de la gouvernance locale et nationale au sein de leurs pays, à l’élargissement de notre réseau d’acteurs du changement en Afrique, au rétablissement de l’espoir et du sens de la vie pour des centaines de personnes déplacées par la guerre et de femmes victimes de violences sexuelles dans les camps de l’est de la RDC, ainsi qu’au rétablissement de la confiance des individus en leur capacité à apporter un changement transformateur au sein de leurs communautés locales. Avec notre vaste communauté de jeunes et de femmes, agents du changement dans les régions des Grands Lacs et du Sahel en Afrique, nous continuons à œuvrer pour l’émergence de sociétés démocratiques, justes et pacifiques. Construire la paix et redonner de l’espoir dans le cœur des êtres humains est l’une des nobles missions de notre génération, à une époque où l’humanité est confrontée à une crise systémique à laquelle personne n’a encore apporté de véritable réponse. En 2024, au-delà de nos activités traditionnelles, nous nous appuierons sur l'esprit d'innovation de nos équipes pour développer de nouvelles approches, tout en exploitant le potentiel inexploité et illimité offert par les nouvelles technologies, en particulier l'intelligence artificielle, au service de la paix, de la démocratie, de l'action pour le climat et du développement durable des communautés. Nous espérons sincèrement pouvoir compter sur votre confiance et votre soutien pour poursuivre ce travail.
The world has been facing multifaceted and unprecedented crises for some time now. The year 2023 was marked in Africa in particular by a resurgence of wars and the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, particularly in the Great Lakes region and the Sahel states. At the same time, we have witnessed a decline in democratic values with the erosion of the meaning of elections as one of the pillars of democracy. In addition, the climate crisis has accelerated, requiring immediate strategic action at the local, continental, and global levels. These factors have highlighted the importance of taking concerted action and stepping up our efforts to promote more democratic, inclusive, peaceful societies that are resilient to climate change and the excesses of certain political powers. It has been essential to encourage the emergence of new agents of change, support their actions, and promote democratic institutions that respect the fundamental rights of peoples and individuals, while making diversity an opportunity and a driving force for social harmony. In 2023, we focused our efforts on mobilization, education, dialogue, networking, advocacy, and strategic and participatory partnerships with young people and women in Africa (particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Togo). These actions have significantly strengthened their commitment to peace, participatory democracy, and climate action. We have encouraged and promoted responsible and transparent governance, ethical leadership, climate justice, and the protection and support of the most vulnerable in terms of health, psychology, and legal issues. We encouraged and promoted responsible and transparent governance, ethical leadership, climate justice, and health, psychological, and legal protection and support for the most vulnerable, namely displaced persons, refugees, women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence in the DRC, people living with disabilities, etc. The impact of these actions is reflected in the strengthening of collective resilience, the contribution to inter-community reconciliation processes, the elevation of the level of civic leadership of civil society actors, the inclusion of young people and women in the sphere of local and national governance in their countries, the expansion of our network of change agents in Africa, the rebuilding of hope and meaning in life for hundreds of people displaced by war and women survivors of sexual violence in camps in eastern DRC, and the restoration of individuals' confidence in their power to bring about transformative change within local communities. With our vast community of young people and women who are agents of change in Africa's Great Lakes and Sahel regions, we continue to work towards the emergence of democratic, just, and peaceful societies. Building peace and restoring hope in the hearts of human beings is one of the noble missions of our generation at a time when humanity is facing a systemic crisis to which no one yet has a real answer. In 2024, beyond our traditional activities, we will rely on our teams' sense of innovation to develop new approaches, while exploiting the untapped and unlimited potential offered by new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, in the service of peace, democracy, climate action, and sustainable community development. We sincerely hope to benefit from your trust and support in continuing this work.
The climate crisis is already here, and today’s youth and future generations will face its most severe consequences. That includes the approximately one billion young people who live in less developed regions—one-quarter of whom live in the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where climate change impacts are the most severe. Indeed, without accelerated climate action, children born in the year 2020 could experience up to seven times more extreme weather events like scorching heatwaves during their lifetimes compared to their grandparents.1 While young people have contributed little to climate change, they are the ones who are and will continue to be disproportionately affected by its damaging environmental and social impacts. Moreover, while climate change alone does not cause conflict, its impacts can exacerbate vulnerabilities, undermine livelihoods, and increase grievances and tensions which may in some cases increase the risk of violent conflict. These interlinked challenges demand urgent and collective action. Across the globe, many young people are now assuming responsibility for responding to the unsustainable societal and environmental trajectories set by previous generations. They are driving change in their communities and on the global stage to address the interlinked climate and conflict crises—everything from leading efforts to restore our natural world to influencing the outcomes of climate negotiations and leading efforts for climate justice and intergenerational equity in courtrooms. Others are finding innovative ways of adapting to new uncertain realities. It is crucial to move beyond viewing young people only as vulnerable and to recognize their resilient responses, while reinforcing their pivotal roles as leaders in climate and peace action. Young people, in all their diversity, have the undeniable right to participate in decision-making processes, charting paths toward mitigating the impacts of climate-related risks and sustaining peace. Their meaningful engagement is not optional; it is essential for effectively addressing climate-related security risks and ensuring a sustainable future. Although the connections between youth, climate, peace and security are evident in reality, they have not been adequately translated into integrated policy and programming approaches. This guidance note by the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is the first of its kind that bridges the climate, peace and security (CPS) and youth, peace and security (YPS) agendas. It sheds new light on how young people are at the leading edge of these efforts already acting and working in an integrated manner to address climate-related security risks. It also provides practitioners with exploratory guidance and considerations for creating an integrated agenda on youth, climate, peace and security within research and analysis, programming, strategic planning, policy-making, and funding that can ultimately drive progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. We extend our deepest gratitude to the young expert contributors and partners who have collaborated on this guidance note. As countries now embark on the design of their crucial third generation Nationally Determined Contributions in advance of COP30 in Brazil in 2025 that will be vital to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we hope that this report will empower young people and partners to youth with innovative tools and new impetus a proven means to help navigate a pathway out of the turbulent waters of an escalating climate crisis and mounting global instability.
Across the Great Lakes region, we measure the effectiveness of our actions promoting peace, inclusive governance, and civic leadership.
People supported through our programs.
Active regional intervention zones.
Introduced to leadership & innovation.
Politically and economically empowered.
Civil society actors & institutions.
Resources, guides, and digitized documents.
Analysis reports and field studies.
Successfully implemented field initiatives.