From Participant to Leader: Nelly Kamikazi’s Climate Action Journey in Nakivale Refugee Settlement - Uganda
When Kamikazi Nelly, a young leader from Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, first attended a training in 2021 by the Uganda Girl Guides Association (UGGA), she didn’t imagine it would spark a lifelong commitment to community change.
The training, designed to build leadership and environmental action skills among young women wasn’t just a learning opportunity; it was an invitation into decision-making, ownership, and leadership.
“That opportunity changed my life,” Nelly reflects. “I moved from being a participant to being someone who can mobilize and inspire other young people in my community.”
Youth Leadership in Action
Today, Nelly co-leads the Empowering Youth for Climate Action project, part of the WAGGGS Global Programmes – GYM initiative, which actively involves refugee youth in planning, implementing, and evaluating climate solutions in their own communities.
Nelly and her peers are not passive beneficiaries they are decision-makers, trainers, and project designers. Their work includes:
- Promoting clean energy adoption by demonstrating energy-saving stoves in homes and schools.
- Organizing and leading community clean-ups, making public spaces healthier and safer.
- Spearheading reforestation campaigns, with tree planting in schools and public areas.
- Driving plastic recycling initiatives creating both environmental and economic benefits.
Through these youth-led actions, they have reached more than 1,000 households in the Refugee Settlement with Nelly personally training community members and mentoring younger girls to take on leadership roles.
This project in Nakivale embodies all the principles of meaningful youth participation:
- Youth-led decision-making: Nelly is involved in setting priorities and planning activities, not just delivering pre-designed programmes.
- Skills development & leadership growth: From public speaking to community mobilization, Nelly is gaining lifelong leadership skills.
- Peer-to-peer influence: Young people are inspiring other young people, multiplying the impact.
- Intergenerational collaboration: Youth work alongside adult allies, ensuring their ideas are heard and acted upon.
- Sustainability through ownership: By involving youth in every stage, the project’s impact is embedded in the community.
Beyond the Refugee Label
Uganda hosts over 1.8 million refugees, making it the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa. While the challenges are real—limited resources, high arrivals, and climate threats young leaders like Nelly are showing that refugee youth are not just recipients of aid.
They are agents of change, shaping their own futures and contributing to the global fight against climate change.
As Nelly says:
“We may have been displaced, but we are not voiceless. Our ideas matter, and our actions can change our world.”
From Nakivale to the global stage, Nelly Kamikazi’s story is proof that when young people are meaningfully involved, they don’t just participate—they transform communities.
