Unveiling Women as Pillars of Peace Peace Building in ...

a problem occurs, elders and other groups visit affected areas, investigate the crime, broker peace
and hand the criminal(s) over to the government....” Finally, the people of Wajir had become
stakeholders in running affairs concerning them.
Creating Peace Infrastructure
The first task within the Wajir Peace and Development Committee was to create an
infrastructure to sustain peace. These structures were formed from the district level to the village
level. At the District level, the WPDC consisted of 27-30 members drawn from all sectors. Four
Members of Parliament, the NGOs operating in Wajir, the five members of the District Security
Committee, chaired by the District Commissioner, four religious leaders, one businessman, two
women, three to four civil servants, two youth representatives and four elders made up the WPDC.
The WPDC meets once a month. It serves as the peace making policy body and the co-ordinating
unit for peace in the entire district. Each division has also established a divisional peace and
development committee that feeds into the district peace and development committee.
Under the WPDC are its four working subcommittees. These include the Council of Elders
for Peace (36 elders), Women for Peace (13 Women) Youth for Peace (13 representatives) and
Religious leaders (9). While each subcommittee is autonomous of the others, and organises its
own programmes, all are contributing members to the WPDC. The Women for Peace subcommittee
has established six branches at the village level. Each of these committees meets once a month and
sends information about the situation to the 13-member committee. In each division, the Council of
Elders for Peace has two representatives who monitor the local situation and regularly transfer
information to the council.
Creation of a Rapid Response Team
Recognising that criminal acts have a potential of escalating into conflicts between clans,
the WPDC created a permanent Rapid Response team. Like the WPDC, this team drew its
members from women, youths, the district security committee and elders. Their mandate was to
“listen continuously and act immediately” in potentially volatile situations. After an incident is
reported to them, they visit the place where the crime has occurred, secure evidence, meet with all
sides involved, and act appropriately. Actions might include mediation, reporting to security
forces, or facilitating the arrest of the perpetrator of a crime. The issue may also be referred to a
subcommittee. For instance, the Rapid Response Team calls upon the Women for Peace
subcommittee to deal with matters concerning women. In this way, the Rapid Response Team
works like a fire-fighting engine. It puts out the fire and provides a space for dialogue and peace
building.
In one case, this approach solved a problem that could have been manipulated politically.
A seven-year-old girl was raped within Wajir Municipality. Unfortunately, the victim belonged to
the clan that lost in the last general election while the culprit came from the winning clan. After
these facts were established, the case was referred to the subcommittee of women. All 13
members then visited the elders and chiefs of the clan to which the girl belonged. They spoke to
them, explaining that this was not just their problem and appealed to be given time to deal with the
matter, with the government. During this visit, the elders confessed that 50 of their young men
were preparing to act. This meant engaging in a revenge orgy of killing, looting or raping members
of the clan of the culprit. The visit by the women calmed the elders who talked their youths out of
revenge. This incident shows how much trust the women have cultivated in the society including
the elders who are primary opinion makers.
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