YSA - Youth Social Work Association Uganda

Youth Social Work Association Uganda (YSA) is a non-profit making organisation (NGO) founded to promote the welfare of the children and youth in Uganda and the East African Region as a whole.

YSA uses a unique approach in community development called the TWIGA (a Swahili word for giraffe). The approach was developed within the development cooperation work for the promotion of the children and the youth between the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social development and The German Development Agency - GTZ. The main objective of the approach is to activate the self-help potentials of, and to animate the youth to form groups and consequently contribute to their community development. This approach targets social workers, youth leaders, youth groups, district youth officers, NGOs staff and other stakeholders who are working with young people. It is a peer group approach that generates a multiplier effect through replicating and that way reach a much larger number of youth.

The approach has a strong emphasis on active participation of the beneficiaries. To ensure this, interactive / animated pedagogical methods are used. The approach is also a very flexible one. The Modules used can be easily adapted to the various concrete situations in which they are used. Thematically, the training modules used cover a wide range of important areas. These include; Participatory children and youth appraisals, organisation, moderation, alternative livelihoods/ entrepreneurship skills development, health, peace building and creation of networks for children and youth promotion.