Formed in 2001 in response to violence against asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in New Cross Roads – Nyanga (Township) in Cape Town, Africa Unite, AU has broadened its reach to include youth and any other groups at risk of human rights violation.
With the assistance of IDASA (the Institute for Democracy in South Africa), an initial workshop was held with 46 young adults mainly from New Crossroads- it was here that they expressed their deep frustrations about the problems facing their community. Most of these problems stemmed from the high levels of unemployment in the townships, and a sense of abandonment that prevailed among the youth.
They felt that no commitment had been shown from government, at any level, to give young people in the townships confidence to face the future. In contrast, they felt refugees coming from other African countries living in their areas were successful in achieving a better quality of life, whereas they couldn’t. Although this was a misperception, it caused great resentment between local South African youth and refugees.
As a first step, support was requested so that the group could begin building channels of communication and co-operation between themselves and refugees living in their area, so that a mutual and supportive relationship could develop. 


Our strategic objectives are:
1. To build united human rights communities by promoting social cohesion
2. To empower children and youth in Africa in order to achieve peace and stability
3. To promote self-sufficiency towards the realization of socio-economic rights
4. To build the long-term sustainability of the organization.

AU achieves these objectives through:
1. Human rights peer education
2. Capacity development
3. Social dialogues
4. Advocacy
5. Psychosocial counselling
6. Cultural exchanges


AU has developed two programmes in order to achieve its objectives: Human Rights for Social Cohesion and Children at risk( Singamakhalipa).

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