Puntland Y-peer Network (PYPN) is a groundbreaking and comprehensive youth to youth initiative pioneered by UNFPA; the network was established in September 2009 after 28 Y-peers have been trained as TOTs on 2008. PYPN is a community-based, non-profit making and non-political youth network and also an active member of Global Youth Peer Education Network. This partnership paves the way for experience sharing and enriching the activities of our organisation.

Puntland Y-peer network intends to promote a healthy life style through peer to peer approach and to empower young people to make responsible decisions. The strategy of empowering youth themselves to take charge of their own destiny has multiple benefits. Firstly, the youth get to own the process and any interventions are seen as their own. That in itself means youth are motivated to drive the process forward recruiting peers for participation in any project design, implementation and review. Secondly, youth pay a heavy price for cultural and social dynamics and enlistment in unjustifiable cause like FGM. By making them change agents, they are able to reflect on these issues and question their merits and demerits. That way, it becomes easier to collectively and individually change attitudes and take a stand against the long held beliefs which keep the society in shackles. Thirdly and as a result, it augurs for a future generation which holds universal values of mutual respect, democratic decision-making, respect for womenfolk, rule of law and engaging in productive rather than destructive pursuits. Youth make a formidable force as the largest population group in addressing social, cultural, economic and political injustices and imbalances.

The network focuses on programs such as reproductive health (HIV/AIDs and STI) and Human rights, child protection and asylum seekers). The development of sustainable livelihood and environmental protection activities all over Puntland is pivotal in the revival of a progressive, violent-free society which embraces universal human rights principles as enshrined in national and international frame-works.  The latter include: UN Charter on Human Rights and Freedoms; Child Rights Convention (CRC), Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against Women (CEDAW); And UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD).  Peer education approaches will be used to improve knowledge, attitudes and habitudes of young people to improve their standard of life.

Nature of PYPN

PYPN is an active Puntland local CBO Network of youth associations, which is fully registered with national authorities and has since acquired membership of Global Youth Peer Education Network and Horn of African peace Engagement (HOPE). This accreditation to an international body is testimony of the vibrancy, focus and commitment of PYPN to positive youth programmes. This underscores the organisation’s pursuance of universal values of accountability, transparency, gender mainstreaming, equal opportunities, self determination and collection as well as democratic decision-making. This is the unalienable guarantee that any partnerships will be driven along professional and ethical standards.

             Our Vision 

PYPN’s strives to realize a vibrant youth network which is pivotal in mobilizing peers to build a community which is free from health and environmental catastrophes, discrimination, violence and creates a conducive environment for livelihood development and sustainable use of natural resources.

 

            Our Mission

PYPN exists to mobilise youth groups to enhance their employable skills, self confidence, and information regarding their livelihood, environmental protection, sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDs, gender as well as to increase youth participation in the country’s decision making process.

 

                   Core values

PYPN believes in the following core principles which make the acronym -VATRIINA:

• Voluntarism
• Accountability
• Transparency
• Rule of law as stipulated in the constitution and other national/regional bylaws plus international frameworks.
• Impartiality
• International frameworks, policies and structures including Global Youth Peer Network policies and goals
• Nonpartisan and non-political participation
• Nationalism and one person- one vote principle of democracy.
• Adherence to Islamic religion and respect for other religions , Somali culture and good conduct

 Geographical coverage

PYPN programs cover all regions of PuntlandState of Somalia namely: Nugal, Mudug, Sool, Bari, Karkar, Ayn, Sanag and Haylan. The coverage according to the number of program participants is 200,000 beneficiaries, who are direct or indirect beneficiaries of the various programs.

 

 

PYPN is a network of youth-focused, community based, development oriented voluntary organizations operating in Puntland. It is also free from all human segregation in terms of race, gender, culture, social status and other values or attributes. This means PYPN carries out appropriate interventions, adopting a position in which there is no discrimination. All our programs and projects are implemented based on objective analysis of the felt and diagnosed needs of vulnerable people.

 

  PYPN Partners Include: