Generate evidence
Research development, governance and conflict issues and synthesise field evidence for decision-makers.
Institutional capability
Locally grounded evidence for public decisions and lasting development.
AFLI combines policy research, leadership and governance expertise, trusted community engagement and regional relationships to help institutions move from evidence to practical action.
Institutional profile
Independent, Ugandan and connected to the communities policy must serve.
The Africa Leadership Institute (AFLI) is an independent Ugandan institute for policy research, leadership and socio-economic development, established in 2004.
AFLI holds an NGO registration certificate and operating permit issued by the NGO Bureau on 28 October 2021 under file number MIA/NB/2008/03/3019. The permit authorises it to operate in Kampala, Yumbe and Moroto. The Institute's work spans policy research, governance, peacebuilding, regional development and community livelihoods. It has particular experience in Karamoja and the wider Ateker region, and among other peripheral and cross-border communities.
Mission: to educate and empower communities and positively influence their leaders for a better quality of life.
What AFLI does
Research, convening and technical support designed around real public challenges.
AFLI works with public institutions, local governments, communities, cultural institutions, civil society, development partners and regional actors.
Translate knowledge
Turn evidence and community perspectives into policy briefs, reports, investment plans and practical recommendations.
Strengthen accountability
Build leadership, civic participation, service monitoring and constructive engagement between citizens and institutions.
Support implementation
Provide analytical and technical support to peacebuilding, regional planning, livelihoods and policy processes.
Areas of capability
Multidisciplinary expertise across eight connected areas.
Each area combines institutional evidence with the perspectives and experience of communities.
Policy research and strategic advice
Policy and programme review, field research, analytical reports, executive briefs, strategy papers and planning documents. The OWC–AFLI memorandum effective 20 January 2023 provides a framework for strategic policy advice, research, information management and technical support.
Leadership, governance and civic accountability
Parliamentary performance scorecards, civic education, leadership training, public accountability, budget and service-delivery monitoring, anti-corruption and structured citizen engagement.
Peacebuilding and conflict transformation
Dialogue, conflict analysis and cooperation among communities, customary leaders, governments and regional actors, linking security with livelihoods, justice, resource access and public trust.
Cross-border cooperation and cultural governance
Technical support on pastoral mobility, shared resources, customary justice and cross-border relations, including the Ateker process and the 2026 Cross-Border Leaders’ Dialogue.
Regional development and investment planning
Research and analytical support for the Karamoja Regional Development Plan 2025–2035 and coordinated Lango development and investment materials for 2025–2036.
Community economic development and livelihoods
The KAR-I-LED model links settlement-based organisation and local ownership with skills, finance, appropriate technology, value addition and market access. Moroto District records AFLI support to 108 young agripreneurs, 70% women.
Land and natural-resource governance
Land rights, land-use conflict, community participation, mineral-resource governance, investment certainty, Community Land Associations and fair benefit-sharing.
Health, rights and inclusion
Child survival, public health, human-rights promotion and community engagement, with attention to women, young people, persons with disabilities and underserved communities.
Institutional evidence
A record built over more than two decades.
The chronology distinguishes founding, registration and later administrative records, and identifies draft or proposed work accurately.
Foundation and legal registration
AFLI was founded in 2003 and registered as a legal entity in Uganda in 2004, as recorded in its 2023–27 Strategic Plan.
Parliamentary accountability
The Institute established its parliamentary scorecard record, beginning with the 2004–05 performance period and continuing through subsequent parliamentary cycles.
Health, peace and cross-border cooperation
Work included the Standing Tall Together child-survival campaign, UNICEF-supported child-survival programming, Ateker peacebuilding and the process leading to the 2019 Uganda–Kenya Joint Cross-Border Development Framework for Karamoja and Turkana.
Policy research and institutional strategy
AFLI published research on COVID-19, education, water and sanitation, civic participation and women’s rights; developed the KAR-I-LED model; and prepared its 2023–27 Strategic Plan.
Strategic advisory and regional policy work
The OWC–AFLI memorandum took effect in January 2023. AFLI contributed to Karamoja regional planning, conflict diagnostics, land analysis, Turkana–Karamoja consultations, mineral-resource governance and an inventory of peace agreements covering 1973–2024.
Regional development and investment planning
AFLI and OWC technically supported the Lango development and investment portfolio and research on operationalising KRDP 2025–2035. AFLI also prepared a draft Karamoja investment profile and land deconfliction analysis.
11th Karamoja Cultural Event
AFLI supported OWC’s technical, analytical and reporting work, including the Cross-Border Leaders’ Dialogue. The dialogue adopted six follow-up actions and event resolutions were presented at Naitakwae Grounds.
Evidence and status
Clear about what is established, proposed and still under review.
The proposed Karamoja Cultural Union framework and draft constitution are materials for deliberation; they do not establish that the Union has been formally constituted or legally recognised. Draft investment profiles and concepts are similarly presented as planning materials for stakeholder review, data completion or future implementation.
AFLI’s documented collaborators include Operation Wealth Creation, Moroto District Local Government, UNICEF’s Karamoja Zonal Office, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and Uganda’s accountability institutions. Proposed cooperation agreements and memoranda are described as such until formally concluded.
This distinction protects the integrity of AFLI’s evidence and helps partners assess its experience on a transparent basis.
Work with AFLI