Engabu Za Tooro (Tooro Youth Platform for Action) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Fort Portal in western Uganda. It was founded in 1999 by local university graduates whose mission is to build community capacity through culture, talent and economic development. It is a membership organization structured with a patron, an annual general meeting, a board of directors and a management.
The organization is dedicated to culture and development with several major programmes: Culture in Development, Talent Development, Women’s Empowerment Programme and Entrepreneurship Promotion Programme.
It has 9 objectives:
- Safeguard community folklore, folk art and folk traditions and promote research on indigenous knowledge in Uganda;
- Use cultural heritage to mobilize, develop and promote young talents and creative enterprises and help them generate income, become self-reliant and strengthen their sense of identity;
- Use cultural heritage to mobilize women for the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality;
- Contribute to the development of indigenous languages as vectors of cultural expression in communities;
- Use cultural heritage to promote peaceful coexistence between communities;
- Use cultural heritage and expressions to promote good governance and public responsibility;
- Use cultural heritage and expressions to promote environmental sustainability;
- Promote the development of responsible cultural tourism in Uganda;
- Use cultural heritage to promote the rights of minorities and indigenous communities.
