FOCUS AREAS
Joel is quite passionate about youth leadership, politics and international relations,, and social science research.
His work range from Chinese domestic and foreign politics, Sino-Africa relations, Sino-U.S. relations, foreign and humanitarian aid, climate change, gender, technology and education, and public health.
LIST OF ISSUES
Education and Tech
Joel is passionate about education and was trained as a high school teacher of history and geography at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
He has since been puzzled as to how to make the most of the current education system to meet the real demands of society.
Joel has researched and executed practical projects on e-learning, the digital job market, and soft tech skills for fresh graduates. He was part of the team of experts that developed an IT self-learning manual on the Civil Society in Uganda Support Program (CUSP), funded by GIZ.
He is hopeful that technology and education could solve most of today's academic and career needs.
Politics and International Relations
Joel earned his master of politics and international relations (with a thesis) from Peking University in China.
His research has included international organisations, global peace and security relations, Indo-Pacific geopolitics, regional integration, Sino-American relations, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the broader Sino-Africa engagements.
Public Health and Environment
Joel worked for Hope for Humans Uganda between 2015 and 2016 on a nodding syndrome care project in Northern Uganda and has since built a passion for public health. In 2020, he joined the Kitgum district COVID-19 task force to fight the coronavirus pandemic. He also worked as a UN Online volunteer for environmental sustainability projects.
At Peking, he took the "Environmental Governance course" offered by the School of International Studies.
Joel has written extensively in this field and will continue to research public health and environment issues.
Youth Leadership
In May 2016, Joel joined a small group of youth from the East African region in Nairobi to attend a 3-month leadership development course by the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) of the U.S. Department of State.
For him, it was only the beginning of his growth into a global leader. He made connections, learned and unlearned and sharpened his leadership skills.
Joel kept on growing! Shortly after returning home from the YALI program, he initiated the Lamwo Youth Forum for Change (YALI), a youth-led community-based organisation in his district.
To this day, Joel has emerged as a prominent international figure and a frequent speaker at numerous global events.