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   Ugandan Activist Victor Ochen is Africa's Youngest Ever Nobel Peace Prize
                                    Nominee

   by Serginho Roosblad

   The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded later this year, but we
   already know about one nominee. He is Ugandan activist Victor Ochen,
   Africa's youngest nominee ever.

   It is not everyday that you get a call that informs you that you have
   been nominated for a [1]Nobel Peace Prize, but this so-called "dream
   call" happened to 33-year-old Ugandan social activist Victor Ochen. The
   [2]American Friends Service Committee nominated him and his
   organization, the [3]African Youth Initiative Network, for their work
   with war victims in Northern Uganda.

   "I was in The Hague in January during the initial appearance of Dominic
   Ongwen, one of the suspects who was captured and brought to The Hague,"
   Ochen told VOA. "And when I was in The Hague, after appearing in
   discussions and media, then I got a mail from somebody from the United
   States saying, `I have some news I would like to share with you, so let
   me know when you have time we can talk about it."

   ''But the appearance of the first Lord's Resistance Army rebel at the
   International Criminal Court took up so much of Ochen's time and energy
   that he almost forgot to call back. But when he did, he heard one of
   the best things a social activist can hear.

   "We are glad to say that, because the work you have done, we do very
   much believe and [are] convinced that your good intention is very very
   clear, and we want to let you know that we have nominated you for the
   Nobel Peace Prize 2015," Ochen said, recalling the conversation.

   Ochen said he was left speechless. Previous nominees by the American
   Friends Service Committee who won the prize are Desmond Tutu, Jimmy
   Carter, and Martin Luther King.

   Perfect timing
   To Ochen, the nomination came at a perfect moment: after the arrest of
   LRA commander Ongwen. It brought world attention back to the plight of
   the victims of the war in Northern Uganda, he said.

   "We needed the world to understand that the call and the plea, and the
   wishes of the people who have suffered the violations. Often times so
   much attention is paid to the perpetrators, more than in attention and
   services and responses given to the victims," Ochen said.

   Having been a victim of war and displacement makes it easier for Ochen
   to understand the trauma of the people he works with every day.

   "I work in the community where I was born and raised. And I work with
   the people who are living the life I lived not so long ago," he
   explained. "The majority of my age mates did not make it. They died in
   the struggle. Either the struggle to run away from being abducted, or
   they died in the struggle to protect their families or they died in the
   struggle to escape from captivity.

   "Every time I think about a success, where someone is healed, someone
   is finally out of pain; someone's tears have been transformed into
   smiles. This is what really keeps me so ... happy and so inspired," he
   added.

   Message to youth
   Nobel winner or not, Ochen has a message to the youth living in
   post-conflict zones.

   "Living in a camp does not mean all hope are gone," Ochen stated.
   "Living as a refugee does not mean you cannot do it. Living the
   destitute life shapes your thinking and living in conflict zones as a
   young person tells you who the person is you should never be."

   This year 276 candidates worldwide are nominated for the Nobel Peace
   Prize. The winner of this year's prize will be announced in October -
   and then we'll know whether Africa's youngest nominee will also become
   Africa's youngest winner.

     __________________________________________________________________

   [4]http://www.voanews.com/content/ugandas-victor-ochen-ayinet-are-joint
   -nominees-for-the-2015-nobel-preace-prize/2678740.html

References

   1. http://www.nobelprize.org/
   2. http://afsc.org/about/
   3. http://www.africanyouthinitiative.org/
   4. http://www.voanews.com/content/ugandas-victor-ochen-ayinet-are-joint-nominees-for-the-2015-nobel-preace-prize/2678740.html