YONECO
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Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) is a non-political, non-profit making non-governmental organization that was formed in September 1997. It was established to address the social injustices and reproductive health issues affecting the youth, women and children. YONECO registered with National Youth Council of Malawi under the National Youth Council (1996) Act, under the Trustees Incorporation Act (1962) in October 1999 and with the NGO Board in 2003.
YONECO seeks to create a self-reliant HIV/AIDS free society that respects democratic values and principles. YONECO is a non governmental organization (NGO) that is committed to: Empowering the youth, women and children; Combating the spread of HIV infection; Mitigating the impact of AIDS; and, Promoting human rights and democracy for socio – economic development.
YONECO seeks to achieve these through four key service programmes that operate currently in 7 districts: Youth Development, Women and Children, Care and Support, and Human Rights and Democracy.
YONECO is governed by a nine member Board of Trustees from various backgrounds. The Board of YONECO is responsible for policy direction and fiduciary responsibility of the organization. The Board develops policies for YONECO, recruits key organizational staff and monitors both the financial and programmatic activities of the organization. The Board is responsible to community it serves and also to the donors that funds its various activities. YONECO has a secretariat which led and supervised by the Executive Director. The Secretariat has 4 strategic managers that include the Director, the Director of Programmes, Director of Finance and Human Resources and Administration Manager. The strategic team members are responsible for the translation of the policies into programmes and projects. The managers are supported by the two Programme Managers for Youth Development, Human Rights and Democracy on one hand and Women, Children, Care and Support on the other. YONECO however, recruits staff depending on the need and number of projects at any time in the project management.
YONECO is a member to a number of networks locally and internationally. At local level, YONECO is a member of Council for Non Governmental Organizations in Malawi (CONGOMA), Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE), Malawi Network of AIDS Service Organization (MANASO), Forum for NGOs in Youth Development (FONYODE), Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC), NGO Gender Coordination Network, Malawi Health Equity Network, Sexual and Reproductive Health NGO Network, National Youth Council among other. At international level, YONECO is a member of Child Rights Network, International Juvenile Justice Network, Child Helpline International Network, World Association of Non Governmental Organizations (WANGO), Gender Based Violence Prevention Network, East and Southern Africa Network on Youth, Children and HIV/AIDS (ESANYA) among others.
YONECO has been working in the field of human rights, juvenile justice, child rights, HIV/AIDS for vulnerable groups since 1999. Through the years, YONECO has amassed extensive knowledge and skills in programming in HIV/AIDS and human rights and democracy work. YONECO has worked with youth in and out of school in human rights and democracy programmes and has trained more than 5000 young people in school and out of school in human rights and good governance. YONECO has also implemented various projects such as Building Life Skills in Schools which focused on reducing violence and empowering school children with human rights education especially understanding international instruments such as the CRC, African Charter on the Rights of the Child, etc. YONECO runs the sole National Helpline in Malawi which receives calls from beyond the youth group to address issues of human rights and sexual and reproductive health. YONECO has education programmes about human rights and active participation of the youth in development and democratization process in both rural and urban areas.
The members of staff in YONECO have vast experience working at community, national and international levels on youth development, child rights and general human rights and governance.
The members have been trained in the fields and have ably delivered in all projects that YONECO has implemented related to youth development and human rights promotion. YONECO has members of staff below 30 years of age in the structure including in the senior management of the organisation. There are other young people that work in the district structures as full time members of staff who massively contribute to designing relevant projects for young people. A lot of young people too participate actively in the activities organised by YONECO.
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