Founded by the UNESCO Peace Education Laureate 2000 Noble Prize Winner, Rt. Rev. Bishop Nelson Onono Onweng, Jamii Ya Kupatanisha (JYAK) - a Swahili phrase meaning Fellowship of Reconciliation - is engaged in peacebuilding and conflict management. From its beginning as a peace club in 1988, JYAK has grown into a vibrant national organisation for peacebuilding, conflict management and human rights promotion, with a particular focus on regions that are affected by military and civil conflicts in Uganda.
In the past few years, JYAK has been active in seeking a peaceful end to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict in northern Uganda, and in 2007 began engaging in post-conflict and reintegration programmes. One such programme involves reintegrating ex-combatants that were formerly abducted by the LRA and resettling internally displaced persons in northern Uganda; providing peace education for conflict-ridden communities in the region, including the Amuru, Gulu, Pader and Kitgum districts; and carrying out national and regional-based lobbying and advocacy campaigns for peace, good governance and the respect of human rights in Uganda.