Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa.pdf - Project Ploughshares

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa3. Kenyawhere Pokot and Marakwet came together, because they don’thave weapons; instead, they participated in meetings held intheir own villages.”Both sides understood the disadvantages of not having peace.After raids, we were told in interviews, they faced so manyproblems that they decided to have peace. Although theresearch team did not probe this angle in interviews, there mayhave been an element of strategic thinking on the part of thePokot. If they had peace with the Marakwet, then they had oneless front to defend and attack. The Pokot interviewed gave noindication that they were interested in a similar peace with theTurkana.3.2. Reducing Armed Violence:The Impact of World Vision PeacebuildingIntroductionThe general conclusion of those interviewed was that securitybetween the Turkana and Pokot had been improved in the pastthree years. This was attributed to efforts by the governmentand NGOs, including WVK peacebuilding activities. Thefunctional peace between the Pokot and Marakwet wasattributed to a broad range of initiatives by government andNGOs including WVK, and to decisions by the Marakwet tochange key cultural and livelihood patterns. Contradictoryassessments were also heard. Some said conditions were worseor only a bit safer: “We used to be killed every day; however,there has been a reduction in raids.”Box 3.2.1. Mapotu Peace Project Activities• Conflict-sensitive training of WV staff, staff in NGOsand Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), as well asgovernment officials. Training was provided by WVK peacemonitors or animators in conflict mediation and resolution,as well as Do No Harm (DNH) and Local Capacities forPeace participatory analysis.• Engaging regional and local government institutions onpolicy issues arising from the work.• Making Sense of Turbulent Contexts (MSTC) analysis. 1 Onewas done in March 2008.• DNH and LCP assessments were completed.• The organisation of peace committees – a key strategy forengaging local leadership in defining and leading activities.• A range of community-level meetings, includingworkshops with women, youth, elders, warriors, provincialadministrators and civic leaders. District youth and women’sforums were organised. There were mediation meetingsbetween community leaders. Common meetings alongborder areas took place with Pokot and Turkana warriors,laibons and other leaders.1 At the national level, WV’s custom-designed Making Sense of TurbulentContexts (MSTC) workshop facilitates an analysis of the political, socialand economic dynamics that fuel instability in a country. MSTC workshopparticipants - drawn from civil society, government, and multilateralorganisations - determine appropriate programmatic and policy responses tothe turbulence.• International Peace Day on 21 September 2006 was celebratedwith a festival attended by Turkana and Pokot.• Turkana, Pokot and Marakwet warriors were taken on anexchange visit to Transmara to visit the Masai, who arepastoralists but no longer engage in cattle raids and fighting.• Dialogues were organised to assist people in responding topost-election violence so that displaced people could return totheir farms with their families and participate in communityceremonies.• Youth were exposed to examples of cattle herders who variedtheir income generation with guiding tourists to view wildlife.• WVK organised youth and adult cultural events and sportsmatches that crossed community lines.• Festivals and dance competitions were organised.Competitions were organised to write songs that stressedpeace and the importance of having peace in communities.Drama was used to promote peace.• School children participated in competitions to write poemsand songs about peace.• Children participated in music festivals and essay writing onhow they can be involved in peacebuilding.26
Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa3. KenyaGenerally it was much easier for those interviewed to explainthe security situation in their communities than it was forthem to describe WVK peacebuilding activities or the impactof those activities. As is to be expected, community memberswho were directly involved in peace committees, as well asWVK staff, provided more detailed comments on the WVKpeacebuilding activities and their impact.A key element in the WVK peacebuilding strategy wassupporting community peace committees. Because WVKworked closely with local government officials and securityforces in these activities, the peace committees were notnecessarily identified in interviews with the work of WVK perse. 4 It was also evident that the peace committees continuedto function in and between communities after formal WVKinvolvement had stopped, attesting to the post-projectsustainability of these efforts. However, interviewees did notclaim that WVK peacebuilding activities were comprehensivein their coverage or sufficient to eliminate or substantiallycontrol armed violence, particularly between the Turkana andthe Pokot. When asked what could be done to improve WVK4 This finding may actually be regarded as positive. For sustainability, itis preferable for peace committees to be “owned by” and associated firstand foremost with permanent community structures rather than with aninternational NGO – since the latter may eventually leave the community.peacebuilding, many people’s responses amounted to “do more”or “go further” or “apply more pressure on the government toprovide greater security”.WVK peacebuilding activitiesThere are 15 Area Development Programmes (ADPs) fundedby child sponsorship and 9 other grant-funded projectsin this WVK North Rift Valley zone of operations. In acomplementary fashion, North Rift grant-funded projectshave initiatives in food security, agricultural recovery, waterand sanitation, education, and child participation andempowerment, among others.There are a broad range of social and economic problems inthese communities such as HIV/AIDS, preventable diseasessuch as malaria, and food insecurity in times of drought.These problems are addressed in the work of both WVKADPs and grant-funded projects, and have an impact on thepeace and stability of the communities. However, these WVKADP activities were not a focus of the questions in this fieldresearch. Importantly, the Mapotu Peace Project is operationalwithin several ADPs; this project was discussed with researchparticipants as we sought to understand its impact.The following comments from interviews indicate that WVKhas provided the vital ingredient of peace awareness andstrategies for community-level action, both of which havecontributed to a reduction in violence:WVK has had an impact in the Baringo and West PokotDistricts. The organisation of peace committees hascontributed significantly to reducing conflict, using localpeople and local leaders. These are very good instrumentsfor reducing conflict in the regions where the committeesare active.WVK reaches down to the cattle rustling level, workingthrough peace committees. During times of escalatedconflict, WVK has the strength to remain on the groundwhen others pull out.JON WARREN / World Vision27WVK has been organising lots of meetings along theborder of the Pokot and Turkana. It has won people overand dissuaded them from cross-border raids.The Mapotu Peace Project has resulted in stopping theincrease of raids and related violence and was improvingthe situation.
Page 1 and 2: AddressingArmed Violencein East Afr
Page 3 and 4: Addressing Armed Violence in East A
Page 27: Addressing Armed Violence in East A
Page 79 and 80:
Addressing Armed Violence in East A
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91:
show all

Addressing Armed Violence in East Africa.pdf - Project Ploughshares

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?