Agency for Humanitarian Assistance and Development (AHD) is a national NGO that inspires and empowers people to build peaceful, united, and prosperous societies where everyone enjoys a high quality of life. Founded in January 2015, the organization is incorporated with Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) of the Republic of South Sudan with registration number 419. The organization was formerly called Organizing People for Prosperity (OPP). But this name was changed in September 2019 because there is a group of South Sudanese politicians named “Other Political Parties (OPP)” in the IGAD-mediated revitalized peace agreement of 2018. So, the change of name was to avoid this confusion. The organization is regarded by the communities we serve as a reliable mentor of youth in transformation leadership, an igniter of community progress, and an emancipator of women. We are an active member of the South Sudan NGO Forum and were the first Secretariat for the Youth Partners’ Forum (2016-2019) coordinated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Republic of South Sudan. Energized by our motto “Inspiring Communities,” our values are nonviolence; nonpartisanship; respect for diversity; integrity; commitment; compassion; professionalism; and teamwork.

Size and geographical coverage
AHD has its head office in Juba with a strong field presence in Juba, Central Equatoria State and Rumbek, Lakes State, reaching out to approximately a million people in both regions. Plans are underway to expand to Nimule, Torit and Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria State and the other counties of Central Equatoria State, namely: Kajo-Keji, Lainya, Morobo, Yei, and Terekeka.

Strategic Focus 2020-2025

Community impact objectives

Peacebuilding
We build cohesive, secure, and resilient communities by:
• Strengthening the social cohesion of communities;
• Strengthening community security;
• Developing community livelihoods to make communities resilient to negative effects of violent conflicts and other disasters;
• Providing psychosocial support to communities affected by violent conflicts and other disasters; and
• Protecting vulnerable groups: children, youth, women and persons with disabilities from abuse or exploitation in conflict or emergency situations.

Education
We endeavor to increase the access of vulnerable children and youth to educational opportunities by:
• Lobbying people with a stake in education to provide resources for facilitating the government initiated Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP), and enroll vulnerable children and youth, who are above the normal school going age, to access quality basic education from the programme.
• Mobilizing scholarship opportunities for the most vulnerable children and youth, such as orphans, neglected girls, neglected children with disabilities, refugees, and children from very poor families, to enable them enroll to school and attain quality education.
• Supporting both formal and non-formal (technical) vocational skills development programmes to facilitate the access of vulnerable out-of-school youth to these programmes, to enable them acquire life-long skills for immediate employment and generation of income.
• Mobilizing resources to facilitate teacher education programmes, focusing on training early childhood educators and primary school teachers.
• Mobilizing technical assistance and resources for improving basic literacy and numeracy in public and community-aided basic schools.
• Advocating and facilitating the teaching of art and craft in primary schools.

Health
We contribute to strengthening community health by:
• Increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections among adolescents and youth;
• Lobbying people and institutions who have a stake in community health to provide resources for improving the quality of community water and sanitation and hygiene; and
• Responding to the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable groups of people such as children, lactating mothers, persons with disabilities and the elderly in communities affected by violent conflicts or other disasters.