Professional Affiliation

Programs Officer, Northwinds Foundation 

Expert Bio

Mr. Max Amanu is the Programs Officer of Northwind Foundation, an affiliate organization of Changing Lives Switzerland, an NGO which focuses on youth empowerment and livelihood through skills development. He is also the research team lead for the East and Southern African region in the UNESCO Youth As Researchers (YAR) COVID-19 Pandemic Response Project. He was a member of the committee which drafted the Seoul Youth Declaration for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, containing recommendations for youth inclusion in addressing issues related to Sustainable Development Goals, New and Emerging Technologies, gender, and disarmament. Which was adopted on 30th June 2021 by the participants of the Youth Forum on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, the first of its kind event co-hosted by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. He was also a member of the committee which spearheaded the introduction of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) program to Uganda in 2018. He consulted in the development of the National Coordination Mechanism for Youth Programs in Uganda. He is currently an active member of the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network and a summer 2021 program fellow at African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL Institute), an innovative online training academy for young human rights and civil society activists.