Giriyuja

Founded in 2006, Giriyuja supports street children living in Bujumbura, Burundi. Giriyuja’s target group has a wide variety of pressing needs that the organisation seeks to address. It does this by creating a framework of protection for children living on the streets, encouraging children’s participation, and using the views of children and youth to help find solutions to social problems. The organisation also advocates for governments and donors to have a community-based response that favours women and children.

Giriyuja bases its activities around the pillars of protection, education, and advocacy.  It uses football as an important tool for psychosocial support activities, as well as for reintegration and decreasing social stigma. Football is the key tool Giriyuja uses to engage with its beneficiaries, to teach them life skills, and to provide the staff an entry point to provide children access to basic healthcare services and psychosocial support.

Giriyuja runs the Kabondo Football for Hope Centre, which opened in March 2014.