ABOUT
YIRDO

Our Story

The Youth Initiatives for Relief and Development(YIRDO)’s history began at the beginning of 2012with youth who were trained by CISP (an Italian organization that works in Somalia and implements various protection, education, culture, and health programs) for about two years with frequent training at various times on theater of the oppressed techniques to do awareness-raising on gender-based violence, child labor, and girls’ education.

The trained youth assisted CISP with community dialogue sessions on GBV, CP, girls’ education, human rights, and gender inequality as well as awareness-raising activities. Late in 2014, the trained youth made the decision to form an organization that helps the local community members, local and international NGOs, governmental organizations, and educational institutions to facilitate community dialogue sessions and conduct awareness-raising campaigns by using an innovative approach with the support of theater oppressed techniques to promote the transformation of the community from harmful norms and behaviors to positive attitudes and behaviors. The group is referred to as Theatre of Oppressed Somalia (TOPS).

THE SHIFT FROMTOPS TO YIRDO

In the middle of 2020, the board of directors of
TOPS made the decision to broaden the
operational focus of the organization in response
to suggestions from our partners, donors,
government organizations, and even the affected
communities to do so. It was necessary to modify
the organization’s vision, mission, strategic
objectives, operational objectives, and core
values in order to transition from a narrow focus
to a broader strategy. It is also advised that the
name of the organization be changed from
“Theatre of Oppressed Somalia (TOPS)” to “Youth
Initiatives for Relief and Development (YIRDO)” as
part of the organization change management
process.