› Welcome

AEI is an indigenous non governmental organization that was initiated in 2001 by a cross section of Acholi society in the Acholi subregion of northern Uganda in Kampala and in the diaspora under the auspices of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI). This was as a civil society response to the crisis in education sector among the war affected adolescents in the Districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader and Amuru.

It is non-partisan and is registered with the National Board of non- governmental organizations under the Ministry of internal affairs.

› AEI's Vision

AEI has a vision of empowering war affected youth for sustainable peace and development in the country.

› Mission Statement

To promote and encourage education as a mechanism for sustainable development for the people of Northern Uganda and in particular the war affected youth.

› Objectives

The overall objective is to eradicate poverty in Northern Uganda, by strengthening the region's human resource base and hence feeding in to effort aiming at creating and sustaining peace in Acholi effectively.

Immediate project objectives are:

(i) To protect the right to access to formal education for war affected youth in the Acholi sub region.
(ii) To raise awareness about the special scholarship programme in the community
(iii) To build the capacity of AEI to manage a sponsorship fund for secondary education including the capacity to fund raise through a variety of local, national and international mechanisms.
(iv) To help restore self confidence, respect and esteem among the war affected youth and the wider society.

› AEI's Values

1. Peace and Love
2. Equity
3. Integrity
4. Accountability
5. Development

› Organizational Structure

The initiators and the immediate stakeholders of AEI formed themselves into an organization structure consisting of:

General Assembly (GA) which is the supreme decision making organ on all policy matters of AEI

The Board of Trustees (BOT) which is composed of 11 members, 5 of these are from ARLPI and 6 co-opted members nominated and appointed by the General Assembly is the trustee of funds that represent AEI to the outside world and raise funds for the initiative.

The Board of Directors (BOD) which is the governing authority and policy making body of the organization has nine (9) members elected and appointed by the General Assembly.

The project Steering Committee (PSC) is the implementing body together with:

The Secretariat that is headed by the project coordinator is the management unit compromising of techincal personnel charged with the implementation of the project activities that are in line with the existing policies.

› Target Group

This includes the war affected youth within the range of 13 to 25 years in the group of:

1. (60%) Former abductees who have managed to return home and still have interest in education.
2. (20%) Orphans who have lost both parents and cannot meet the cost of attaining education
3. (20%) Children of IDP's (Internally Displaced People) and the poor who have no ability to meet the costs of education.
4. Due to the special vulnerability of the girl child, 65% of the total beneficiaries will go towards their education.

› Activities of AEI

1. Protecting the right to formal education through provision of scholarships, medical care and transport back home at the end of every term.

2. Carrying out fundraising activities to mobilize the resources for addition scholarships and also to ensure sustainability of the project. \

3. Follow up visits in schools to monitor academic performance and welfare of the beneficiaries in the host schools.

4. Sensitization of the community about the scholarship project to ensure their participation during the process of selecting the scholarship beneficiaries and their roles in the project.

5. Training of the scholarship beneficiaries on psychosocial issues that are considered relevant to their needs

6. Promotion of the girl child education through the provision of special support to them and children with parental responsibilities.

7. Provision of counseling and guidance services to beneficiaries in school during monitoring visits.

Well Thats all I can be bothered to do sorry. Other things in the stylesheet include .left/.right/.center So if you want an image to be right add class="right" to it and it will float right!! cool eh? nah not really.