Rwanda Youth in Action Organization (RYAO) is a youth-led, non- Governmental, and not for profit making organization legally operating in Rwanda since 2016.
RYAO was created in September 2014 by a group of youth themselves and was officially registered in September 2016 with the mission to work towards promoting entrepreneurship and health by providing young people with the knowledge and skills to help them be healthy and avoid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and unintended pregnancy.
The organization also intervenes in child protection and empowers youth to use their potentials to contribute to the socio-economic development of the society and bring a positive change It is legally operating in Rwanda under the registration number n° 017/RGB/NGO/2016.
RYAO nurtures and empowers youth to be the next generation of change-makers in order to contribute to the socio-economic development of their society.
The organization is motivated by its belief that when given space and opportunity for participation; young people have the strength and power of change towards a better country and contribute to where citizens will enjoy equal rights without discrimination. It also believes that the contribution of engaged young people is necessary for a strong community and vibrant country.
Vision
RYAO envisions a future where all young people are given space and equal opportunities to
participate and take part in decision-making processes for a life transformation
Mission
RYAO works to promote entrepreneurship and health, especially among youth and empowering
them to use their potential to contribute to the socio-economic development of society and
bring positive change. RYAO nurtures and empowers youth to be the next generation of change makers in order to contribute to the socio-economic development of their society.
Core values
• Integrity
• Excellence
• Innovation
• Community
• Equality
Organizational Structure of RWANDA YOUTH IN ACTION RWANDAYOUTH IN ACTION’s organizational structure is composed of:
• The General Assembly
• The Board of Directors
• The Executive Committee
• The Auditing Committee
• The Coordination Office.
• The General Assembly of Rwanda Youth in Action Organization is composed of all members of RWANDA YOUTH IN ACTION. The General Assembly acts also as the Board of Directors and is the main decision-making group.
• The Executive Committee is composed of the President, the Vice President,
the Secretary, the Treasurer and two Advisors. The President is the same as
the Chairman of the Board and also the Legal Representative of RWANDA
YOUTH IN ACTION.
• The Executive Committee works closely with the Auditing Committee and
the Coordination office and meets frequently to follow up on the daily
management of the organization and the decisions of the General Assembly.
• The Auditing Committee is composed by two internal auditors who are
appointed by the General Assembly to carry out
financial control of accounts and other assets of the Organization.
• The Coordination Office is composed of the team in charge of thedaily
operations of RWANDA YOUTH IN ACTION. It is headed by an Executive Director who is assisted by a Management team of Heads of Departments, assisted by the team of all Rwanda Youthin Action Organization personnel.
• Rwanda Youth in Action Organization has a team of full-time paidstaff and a team of volunteers (Facilitators and Counsellors).
Key areas of interventions:
- Education
RYAO promotes the formal education and vocational training of vulnerable children including
those with disabilities through paying school fees to those in need. The selection of vulnerable
children who benefit from our school fees scheme are selected in close collaboration with local
community leaderswho helped us to identify those who are poor than others.
RYAO does regular follow up to see how supported children are performing at school and this
help the organization to identify education gaps among children so we took measures to make
sure our children perform well.
• Empowerment and Employment
RYAO offers workshops and trainings to youth as part of its continued effortsin removing
barriers that hinder young people from acquiring necessary skills that allow them to compete on
the Employment Market. We mostly focus on vocational trainings for young people who had not
got a chance to go to school while at the same time providing equal chance to those young
people to select which area they want to focus on throughout the trainings.
We do this to create change through Entrepreneurship and Mentorshipprograms
• Awareness Campaigns
RYAO organizes campaigns to raise awareness about domestic violencetowards children and
youth and addresses various topics on sexual reproductive health which may impact youth, such
as gender, hygiene, self- care, HIV and drug plagues, entrepreneurship skills, teen pregnancy,
communication skills, and healthy relationships. We use media of different types, to bring
targeted individuals into participation in radio talk- shows, TVprograms and public debates) and
use those who benefited from our activities to showcase how their life changed as motivations to
help other regain hope for the future and help others to enjoy life through storytelling.
• Inclusion and Humanitarian Work
RYAO promotes inclusiveness in its work and provides counseling and other psychology
services to vulnerable children and young people including those with disabilities and their
family’s members to help them to regain hope and confidence for the future.
• Advocacy
We have advocacy programs which focus on change among various sectors including advocacy
for actions in dealing with Climate Change, Policy Changeand democratic change in decision
making and advocating for the inclusion of People with Disabilities in decision making and
administrative organs. We have also developed a program for building a space for young people
to communicate their concerns and issue to the decision makers.
• Fighting against Genocide Ideology propagation
RYAO has both genocide survivors members and non-genocide survivors members. The
organization has been committed to fighting the spread of genocide ideology through social media
expressing our thoughts, sharing true stories, debates, educating young people about Ndi
umunyarwanda and helping young people to visit genocide memorials to learn the true history of
Rwanda
Key achievements
• RYAO trained 1300 young people from vulnerable households in welding, tailoring,
bakery production, carpentry and culinary arts. Among those young people some were
teen mother, Orphans, former street children and others were from poor families.
• RYAO educated more than 5,000 young people from the Great Lakes region about conflict
transformation through mediation trainings, Alternative to Violence Program, Debates in
secondary schools and high learning institutions
• RYAO provided more than 6000 young people with technical skills to protect environment
and deal with climate change trough tee plantation, workshops and talk shows.
• Awareness that reached to more than 30,000 young people on health sexual reproduction
and GBV prevention, prevention mental health disorders, drug abuse prevention, HIV
prevention and prevention of early pregnancies
• RYAO educated more than 5,000 young people about “Ndi umunyarwanda”, unit and
reconciliation and the role of youths in fighting against Genocide Ideology
RYAO projection in the next 5 years:
• RYAO wants to build a youth in action training center that will provide skills in vocational
trainings, mental health, ASRH, peace, and training young people to be friends of
environment with an aim of dealing with climate change
Needs to achieve our goal:
To achieve our mission, RYAO needs the support of various people, government institutions,
private sector, local and international NGOs. The support can be:
• Financial aid
• Support in kind: computers, printers, office suppliers, a car that can facilitate access to our
beneficiaries, etc..
• More training for our members
• Partnership and sub-granting with international organizations