Introduction 

Africa Initiative for Rural Development (AIRD) is a legally registered non-profit organization focusing on women, children and youth starting at the grassroots level. We are presently headquartered in Juba and a Field Office in Bor, Fangak, Pibor and Malakal with an immediate plan to expand to all the other regions of the country, one state at a time.

Rationale 

Children and youth are South Sudan’s most valuable resource worth an investment. According to National Bureau of Statistics, 51% of South Sudanese population is aged below 24, and 72% below 30.

However, most of these youth are socially, politically and economically underdeveloped and can be impediments to peace-building and sustainable development of the country.

In a youth survey conducted by Mercy Corps (2014), one respondent stated solemnly:  

“South Sudan isn’t like other countries. Other countries have two-way streets, multiple lanes and you can arrive where you’re trying to go. Here, streets are one-way, one lane and you always end up at a dead end or told you’re going the wrong way. Life is like that for youth in South Sudan—there are lots of dead ends and you have to turn back and start again”.

It is out of this grim reality that AIRD was conceived. AIRD exists to eradicate the above harrowing dead ends and roadblocks to South Sudanese youth, thereby transforming them into agents of positive change and engines for sustainable development of the country.