Uganda celebrates its young people with impactful royal visit from His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh

This week, Chair of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh, visited Uganda on a three-day visit to grow awareness of the Award and the impact Non-Formal Education and Learning can have on young people and their communities.   

Kampala, Uganda: On Monday 18 March, The Duke arrived in Uganda – where he was hosted by The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Uganda – for a very successful three-day visit. The Duke met students participating in the global Non –Formal Education and Learning programme and took part in an Award in Action trip to a Wildlife Education Centre where Award participants are volunteering. Together with the State of Foreign Affairs, His Royal Highness attended the Award’s Africa regional conference to highlight the vital role Non-Formal Education and Learning can play on a young person’s development and to discuss the sustainability of the Award in the Africa region. 

The British High Commissioner to Uganda, H.E Kate Airey OBE hosted His Royal Highness at a welcome reception to commemorate this very important visit. She said “No single society has achieved perfection, and no single receipt for success – but we know giving people access to education and opportunity only helps societies thrive. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award embodies this ambition for which we are very proud”.  

National Director of the Award in Uganda said: “The Royal visit has come at a time when The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Uganda has set an ambitious plan of enabling as many young people as possible in all regions of the country to access the Award. The Duke has not only enabled us to mobilise key stakeholders that will support the long-term sustainability of the programme but also re-emphasised the position of Non-Formal Education and Learning in the holistic development of young people.” 

 His Royal Highness was hosted by the Prime Minister of Buganda Kingdom at the Buganda Kingdom headquarters of Bulange – Mengo to witness the signing of a memorandum of Understanding that established a formal collaboration between Buganda Kingdom and The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award-Uganda to encourage more young people to take part in the Award programme. 

  The Duke met Head of State of Uganda, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni where they discussed issues of mutual benefit with the President officially accepting the role of Patron to the Award in Uganda. 

 During his visit The Duke also interacted with numerous Ugandan youth leaders who shared their positive impact in society in the areas of climate, IT, women empowerment and entrepreneurship to gain an appreciation of their contribution in Uganda’s development. 

 The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Uganda, is a Non-Formal Education and Learning framework that encourages young people to find their purpose, passion and place in the world. It currently delivers the Award to more than 6000 young people across the country. 

ENDS 

For more information, case studies or Award content please visit:  

The Award in Uganda: www.dofeuganda.org 

International Award Foundation: www.intaward.org 

About the Award in Uganda  

•  The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Uganda was formally launched in Kampala in 1995. as the Source of the Nile Award Scheme. It has since expanded to reach young people in over 20 districts in central, Eastern, Northern and Mid-western Uganda. 
• It is a Not -For- Profit Institution. 
• Since its inception, it has been delivered to over 200,000 young people. It is available to all young people regardless of their background or circumstances. 
• The Award is delivered through partner youth focused organizations such as the Scouts, Girl Guides, Red Cross, Boys and Girl’s Brigades, several uniformed and non-uniformed in and out of school youth groups, schools, amongst others. 

About The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award 

• The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a global, non-formal education framework which challenges young people to develop new skills, get physically active, learn about teamwork and leadership through adventurous journey and volunteer within their community. 
• The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award operates in more than 120 countries and territories. It helps 14 – 24-year-olds to build essential skills such as resilience, adaptability, communication, teamwork and problem solving.   
• Around a million young people are currently completing their own unique programme, via hundreds of thousands of youth-focused partners and operators. 
• It was founded by HRH Prince Philip, The Late Duke of Edinburgh in 1956, in conjunction with German educationalist Kurt Hahn.  
• The Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh is Chair of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation. 
• It is known by a range of different names around the world – including the DofE in the UK, The President’s Award in South Africa, The International Award for Young People in India and Mednarodno priznanje za mlade (MEPI) in Slovenia.