Victor ochen biography
•
Peace Activist & Youth Advocate
Victor is the youngest ever African to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was born into a family of 10 children in Uganda amidst violent conflict that displaced over 3 million people, and that saw more than 60,000 children abducted and forcefully recruited as child-soldiers, including his own brother. He spent his childhood in refugee camps. In 2005 he founded the African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET), a human rights organisation that provides practical support for people devastated by conflict, that seeks to engage people and communities in the transitional justice process, and empowers and trains youth in leadership skills. AYINET has provided reconstructive medical repair to over 21,000 victims of rape, mutilation and other violence caused by war.
Follow Victor
Like this:
LikeLoading...
•
Victor Ochen
Victor Ochen, the United Nations Global Goals Ambassador for Peace and Justice, is a 34 year-old peace activist from Uganda. His organization, the African Youth Initiative Network, helps thousands of victims of the Ugandan civil war to obtain treatment and overcome the traumas of the war. The organization also organizes many youth programs with the goal of making wars less common in Africa.
In 2015, Ochen was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and endorsed for the prize by Mahatma Gandhi’s family. He is the youngest African and first Ugandan to receive the peace prize nomination. Despite spending most of his life surrounded by war, crimes against humanity, and often surviving on one meal per day, Victor maintained a deep love for peace and powerfully activated his community.
Ochen was born and raised in Lira district in northern Uganda. His experience growing up in a camp for internally displaced persons shaped his desire to be part of the peace building and communi
•
Victor Ochen
Bellagio Residency: October 2023
Project: “Memoir”
Victor Ochen is a Nobel Peace Prize nominated activist and member of the Global Advisory Group to the UN Refugee Agency on Gender, Forced Displacement and Protection. He grew up amidst the violent conflict in Uganda where 60,000+ children were abducted and forcefully recruited as child-soldiers, including his brother who is still missing. Victor visited Bellagio in October 2023 to write a memoir, which he hopes will bring hope to millions of children around the world who identify with his life story. He is currently the Founder and Executive Director of the African Youth Initiative Network, which provides reconstructive medical repair to LRA war victims of rape, mutilation, and gun shots.
Featured Talk: TED Salon
Victor Ochen is the founder and executive director of the African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET). Born in Northern Uganda, he spent 21 years living amid violent conflict that displa