Community Empowerment for Creative Innovation (CECI) is a South Sudanese Youth founded Non-profit making Refugee-led Organization (RLO) registered with Koboko District Local Government (KDLG) as Community Based Organization (CBO) in August 2017, with registration number 563/124. CECI is incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee (Under section 18(3) of the Companies Act 2012), of the Republic of Uganda, with registration number 80020002697777, and holds a valid Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Kampala, Uganda which gives it full clearance in the Refugee Response Operations in the country.

CECI emerged to address the deteriorating relationships among refugees themselves and between refugees and the host communities characterized by (1) conflict tensions based on ethnicity, access to production resources such as land, water and wood fuel, interreligious marriages and employment opportunities (2) dire and deteriorating mental health concerns among young people leading to anti-social behaviour, high rates of insanity and deaths related to mental health, (3) deplorable living condition of refugees and host communities, and (4) inadequate awareness on COVID-19 symptoms, prevention and management. CECI envisages that peace, livelihood, envirment and education is a human right that must be enjoyed by all humanity both persons of concern or Refugees and the host community or Nationals. This enjoyment comes with a recognition that it has to be worked for owing to the dynamics that inform survival including limited resources, natural resources access and utilisation, differences in social cultures, corruption among and between PoCs and host communities-this therefore means fundamenat human rights. As CECI, it is practical to share that turning outputs into positive outcomes require multiple factors including effort of local structures and adopting creativity and innovations.

Peace Building and COVID Response Projects

Community Empowerement for Creative Innovation (CECI) secured and succesfully managed, in the year 2020 alone, five (5) projects with funding from Oxfam, Open Society Foundation, Wellsprings Philantrophy Fund, and the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) to implemnt Peacebuilding and COVID-19 Response interventions in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement to promote and strengthen social cohesion and community resilience, mobilize and sensitize local communities on COVID-19, Strengthen the capacity of Refugee Leadership, and improve access to information. Through which CECI undertook distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), handwashing facilities, and radio receivers to households of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and Elderly and public places, distribution of contextalized Information Education and Communication (IECs) materials at strategic public places, mass community sensitiztion through music, Blue Messenger Bicycle, Boda-boda-talk-talk (BBTT), and door-to-door awareness, and trainings for community leaders, youth, women, and teachers on COVID-19, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, trauma healing and hate speech mitigation, and rumor tracking. A total of 50,789 women, men, PWDs, elderly, youth, and community leaders were impacted. CECI is the winner of the COVID-19 Innovation Prize of the Response Innovation Lab (RIL) hoasted at Save the Children.

First Ever Multi-year Grant

Community Empowerement for Creative Innovation (CECI) has, for the first time, secured a 3-years project runing through April 2023 in partnership with Koboko Municipal Council (KMC) with funding from the European Union Trust Fund (EUTF) to implement a project titled ”Comprehesnsive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF): Inclusive Urban Development and Mobility in the Municipality of Koboko” to increase safety and well-being of refugees and host communities in Koboko Municipality and reduce inequalities between these groups. Specific activities CECI will be undertaking include: Activism to end gender based violence (GBV), sports events to promote talent development, inclusion and peaceful coexistence among learners in schools, schoold debates on protection, human rights, peaceful coexistence and other developmental concerns, and awareness campaigns on public health promotion and disease prevention.