Victor Ochen

Founder and 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, African Youth Initiative Network

Uganda

Victor Ochen is the first ever Ugandan and the youngest African to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Ochen's childhood took place during the bloody conflict of the Lord Resistance Army, which raged Northern Uganda for over 20 years. He grew up in the internally displaced people’s/refugees camps, amidst deep poverty where Mr. Ochen together with his family lived on one meal a day. He struggled to survive daily threats of abductions and forceful recruitment as child soldier, and chose to work for peace. Mr. Ochen managed to complete his primary education while his home schools were destroyed by war and he studied in several learning centres in the IDP camps.