About

Youth Initiative for Community Empowerment (YICE) is a registered community based organization founded in May 2011 in Mubende district-Uganda. YICE’s mission is to apply innovative initiatives aimed at empowering vulnerable women and youth to achieve sustainable, self-sufficient livelihoods and dignified lives. We implement our activities in Mubende district, Uganda, which is over 120 Kilometers from Kampala – Ugandan capital City. Our major target groups are Youths, Women and Children.
YICE was officially registered with the district local government as a community based organization in July 2012 (Reg. No. CD.233/1039/12).
Our Vision
“Rural Ugandan communities united in their shared efforts to secure a decent and dignified livelihood for the vulnerable”
Our Mission
“To apply innovative initiatives aimed at empowering vulnerable women and youth to achieve sustainable, self-sufficient livelihoods and dignified lives.”
Our Goal
“To break down structural barriers to women’s and youth’s advancement, to make financial and material resources available and to bridge skills gaps in entrepreneurship.”
Our Programs
Women Small enterprise development and farming as a business: We train vulnerable women in better farming practices through their small village self-help groups. These interactive trainings empower beneficiaries with key skills required to establish profit making farming enterprises like vegetable growing for sale, pig rearing, local poultry rearing crop management, among others.
Sexual Reproductive health & HIV/AIDs education: We implement an HIV/AIDs education program and provide HIV/AIDs prevention services like voluntary counseling and testing, condom distribution, and referral for ARVs. This program mainly targets youths.
Care and Support to Orphans and other Vulnerable Children: We support a group of 145 OVCs. We provide them with basic human and psychological needs and also establish sustainable small income activities like piggery, goat rearing and poultry through which they earn an income and be in position to pay for school fees and attain other needs.
Youth Skills development and vocational training: The program targets youths both in school and those out of school. We partner with other organizations to provide trainings to rural youths in handcraft, Small business management and Entrepreneurship, computer trainings and Life skills training.
Our unique approach
At YICE, we provide a complete “self-empowerment” package that involves training in farming-as-business and entrepreneurship, advancement of small group micro loans, access to agricultural information and sexual reproductive health education. Our model empowers the vulnerable woman and youths as a whole. It builds beneficiaries’ capacity, ensures access to micro loans, agricultural information and health education.
Our micro loans are given to women and youths that have attended training and acquired knowledge in farming-as-business and are ready to establish small farming enterprises. Being farming micro loans, beneficiaries are given 3 months of grace period and are given chance to pay in 12 monthly installments. Very few organizations provide farming loans, with a grace period and long pay period!
Our health education takes on trainings in Sexual Reproductive health education for school youths, condom distribution and HIV/AIDs screening and referrals for ARVS. We also offer Life skills trainings for youths so as to live responsible behaviors.
We work with our beneficiaries to monitor their work, provide on-demand support for successful and profitable enterprises. We network and partner with other development partners in to deliver on our mission effectively.
What we have done:
• In partnership with the ministry of IT in Uganda, We training 265 youths (102 females and 163 Males) in short computer application packages in Mubende district. 21 of the trained girls have already received employment as secretaries for schools in Mubende.
• We have trained 243 vulnerable women, including young mothers in farming as a business and provided start-up capital to 72 as micro loans through our partnership with Kiva. This year we intend to train more 200 women and provide them with startup capital.
• We started a hand and craft training project for 26 young mothers. These have started producing hand craft items used by locally available resources. They have produced baskets, ropes, mats, and table mats. These are sold in our local craft shop in the community.
• In 2012, we conducted three HIV/AIDs awareness rising workshops, reaching over 600 people, where a total number of 179 tested for HIV/AIDs and helped 5 to enroll for drugs. We have distributed over 600 pieces of condoms and provided psycho-social support to 12 people living with HIV/AIDs.
•  We have distributed clothes and scholastic materials to 121 Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) and conducted an OVC mentorship workshop where 102 OVCs were trained in life skills and the importance of education.