Savio Lule Mark Badangayo, the founder of The Youth Hub Uganda, is among 116 people worldwide who have been selected to join the Facebook Community Leadership Program.
In Africa, only even people were picked; 5 are from Kenya, one from Nigeria, another from Senegal, and South Africa sent three.
Lule and his fellow participants will each get US $50,000 (about Shs190 million).
In an appreciation statement posted on Facebook Monday, Lule said he grew up around underprivileged communities in Uganda, which inspired him to start The Youth Hub Uganda to skill and empower the underprivileged youths through arts.
He said the hub has conducted several outreach programs and hopes to benefit immensely from the funds and the Facebook Program.
“We have managed to organize community outreaches where we encourage skills and arts as a way of fostering talents while at the same time giving free counseling services to the youths not to engage themselves in acts of drug abuse and any form of criminal behaviors and also encouraging them to make informed decisions in life,” he posted on Monday.
“The Facebook Community Leadership program will boost our activities in terms of mentorship, financial support and as well enable us create a network of fellow changemakers around the world whom we can share knowledge with on ensuring how best we can transform our respective communities and bring about the desired positive change for inclusive and sustainable development for everyone!”
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Around a dozen African community leaders have been selected to become programme residents and fellows.
They will be meeting later at the Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, San Francisco.
Since announcing the programme in February, Facebook received more than 6,000 applications from all over the world.
A selection committee, which included employees as well as community experts from outside of Facebook, reviewed each application to identify leaders with a strong, clear and committed vision for their community, said Facebook in a statement.
Facebook Community Leadership Program (FCLP) was started to address the needs identified by community leaders.
“Through FCLP, we hope to elevate the role of community leaders as a critical piece in building diverse, supportive societies that bring people closer together, despite their differences,” reads a statement on FCLP website.
“Leaders in our program achieve success through collaborative and purpose-driven approaches. We are providing these leaders with the knowledge, skills, tools, funding, and support to activate their communities in new and innovative ways to promote positive and lasting impact.”
Apart from the above group, there are other five participants who have been selected globally as community Leaders in Residence.
Each will be awarded up to $1,000,000 to fund their community initiative, according to a Facebook statement.
The final amount received will be determined based on the final budget proposal created and submitted by each resident as part of their program training, said Facebook.
Kenya’s Noah Nasiali, the selected leader in residence for Africa, has brought together more than 100,000 farmers across Africa through a Facebook group in less than a year.
Farming is one of Africa’s most important industries, and Noah’s community helps farmers obtain and share critical information.
“Africa Farmers Club was formed to help farmers come together to access credible, reliable and applicable farming information that will help them develop their skills and most importantly help them to get a market for their products and in the end get returns for their hard work. I invite group members to share their stories both positive and negative through pictures so that we can learn together,” said Nasiali.
“Whenever possible I personally visit members face-to-face to see for myself their challenges and we discuss how they can overcome and at the same time and improve. Our community aims to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal which is to End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.”
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