Due to population pressure, politicised clan identity, high number of unemployed youth, shrinking natural resource base, increased cattle raiding and communal conflicts, a common and coherent peace building strategy is a framework to achieve peace and a tool to evaluate the peace building process which are; violence prevention, conflict management and resolution.
Security, justice and good governance adjacent to economic development is essential in the attainment of peace and prosperity. SOLO remains committed to the survival and peaceful integration of communities.
We invest in peace building programs to help communities from conflict-inflicted environment overcome prejudice, stereotyping, hatred and fear.
SOLO held different projects over the years at the grassroots level which contributed to sustainable peace.
UNFPA SUPPORTED YOUTH-LED PEACE BUILDING IN GEDO REGION, JUBALAND
The activity name was Intergenerational dialogue on youth-led peace building in Belet Hawa and Dollow.
We conducted forums on youth peace building which resulted in the following
- Created a greater understanding of peacebuilding issues and catalyzed youth participation
- Taught the role of youth in building sustainable peace in the communities, region and Somalia at large.
- Provided a safe space for youth to express themselves
- A forum where youth learnt from elders about peace building in their communities, region and country To understand the role of youth in the peace building and maintaining processes in the communities and Somalia at large.
- Explored barriers to youth peace building
- Trusted building between elders and youth
We carried out workshops whose objectives were
- To serve as a model of inclusive peace building processes where youth and elders come together as equals
- To create a safe environment where youth discuss peace building openly.
- To share experiences and learn from elders on peace building
- To build relationships and develop peace building ideas that youth sustain beyond the workshop.
BACKGROUND OF THE WORKSHOPS
For years, studies on youth and development in fragile countries such as Somalia has often focused on youth involvement in violence and terrorism rather than the potential of youth as agents of peace building. The perception that youth pose a potential security threat remains widespread and in fact hurts peace building processes because the assumption results in strategies that are inherently flawed. Somalis are well versed in peacebuilding approaches, having experienced multiple efforts to build peace with mixed results. There have been cultural and traditional challenges to peacebuilding generally and to the participation of youth in particular. In this regard, the prominence of Male elders and the role of clans has been cited. Young people also say that their participation in peacebuilding is constrained by lack of time, education, jobs, and awareness or knowledge of how to engage.
More and more reports on studies that have addressed youth engagement in the prevention and resolution of conflict have found that engaging youth has positive impacts on peacebuilding. The UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security that was unanimously adopted in 2015 recognized the positive role that young people play in promoting peace and preventing violence. Specifically, it “urges Member States to consider ways to increase inclusive representation of youth in decision making at all levels in local, national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflict… and, as appropriate, to consider establishing integrated mechanisms for meaningful participation of youth in peace processes and dispute-resolution.”
Interacting with Somali youth shows that they are eager to discuss peacebuilding, as they see it as essential to their future well-being and the well-being of their communities. In consultations with UNFPA, SOLO included Youth Peace Building as a key component of UNFPA-funded workplan for 2022 in relation with the 2021-2025 UNFPA Country Programme for Somalia. The specific areas include youth participation in electoral process and political process, local peace building, public forums on peace building and integration, intergenerational dialogues on youth peace building, youth peace coalition, peace dialogue and sessions and peace building awareness campaigns. It recognizes that building peaceful societies means different things to different people. For societies to be built on sustainable peace, it’s important to acknowledge and incorporate the needs of young people which might be different from the needs of their seniors.
Our team conducted two forums on youth peace building were conducted.One in Dollow and one in Beled Hawo districts.
A total of 100 youth from diverse backgrounds participated and were taken through discussions to reach a common understanding on basic concepts related to peace building and role of youth in maintaining and building peace. The youth peace building forums came at a time when Federal Government is intensifying its onslaught against Al Shabaab in the neighbouring states of Southwest and Hirshabelle. Recently, Jubaland State Government also promised a fresh onslaught against the same group. It is at times like this that community members are encouraged to remain united so as not to reverse the gains made in building peace. So our activity was timely.
"We make sure women benefit equally from humanitarian programmes by using women centered approaches. A no- lose intervention is contingent to the inclusion of women in decision making and putting them at the heart of evry campaign."
Workshop outcomes
The workshop also featured a limited number of elders particularly in fulfilment of the objective, “to share experiences and learn from elders on peace building”. To this extent, this was also an intergenerational dialogue in recognizing that the energy of the youth if combined with the experience of the older generation can bring positive results for local communities and the country at large. The participating youth were selected on the basis of their potential to positively influence fellow youth and were identified with the help of local administration, youth groups and women networks in the respective districts.
Two training workshops, each taking two days were held on 26th and 27th November in Dollow and 3rd and 4th December in Beled Hawo districts. The participating youth were in the age bracket of 20 to 35 years and were selected from various camps and villages in the respective districts. Due to the need to continue with peace building activities, a key consideration during the selection of the participants is their potential to play this role and influence the other youth positively. In this regard, the local administration, youth groups and women networks were mobilized to take part in identifying the youth participants.
The training was delivered by a youthful consultant who is conversant with peace building, conflict resolution, disaster risk reduction, community action planning and gender inclusion among others. In a bid to increase effectiveness of the training, the consultant employed a combination of methods including lectures,presentations, plenary discussions, group work sessions and demonstrations
At the beginning of the workshop, participants understood what peace means to their communities but most of them demonstrated a minimum understanding of their role as youth. This understanding increased significantly based on the end of training evaluation. The common understanding built about peace and security, the need for youth to participate in peace building and their role indicates that the workshop was successful in raising the awareness, knowledge and understanding on this topic.
Participants in particular noted that a conflict situation in the context of Somalia cannot be resolved or transformed, without adequately exploring how the energy of the youth could be tapped or redirected for the attainment of sustainable peace.
Participants identified barriers to their involvement in peace building. Key among them include:
- Lack of formal mechanisms for youth to participate in peace building
- Domination by clan elders at the expense of youth
- Limited knowledge of how to engage.
- Lack of interest among some youth who do not understand the peace process
- Limited/lack of opportunity to learn and acquire
Lack of presence of mechanisms for youth to get involved in peace building efforts in Somalia was openly discussed alongside the issue of domination by clan elders and lack of knowledge on how to engage. The presence of ten elders in the workshops proved to be very valuable. Elders agreed that there is a need to give space to young people to get involved within the clan mechanisms. In addition, there was consensus that youth have a role to continue advocating for their inclusion at clan and community levels. At the end, young people understood that opportunities for meaningful participation in peace building existed but there is need to create more channels and lobby for inclusion while being creative. Youth and elders must work together to enhance structures that promote the participation of youth in peacebuilding because it is their wellbeing that is at stake.
The youth participants unanimously agreed to keep the momentum of the workshop beyond the workshop and reach out to fellow youth in order to create understanding and interest in peace building. In this regard, they were recognized as peace champions who will work independently and with SOLO whenever the opportunity arises. Among others, the youth will seek to advocacy with communities and authorities at different levels; communicate with fellow youth on peace building and create peace awareness; utilize existing community forums to talk about peace; and participate in building trust and hope at family and community levels towards peace.
- Young people are increasingly realizing and gaining confidence in their role in peace building in their communities. Based on the discussions during the various forums, this role has been suppressed for many years, thereby missing out on opportunities for sustainable peace building.
- Explore sustainable ways of supporting youth champions in creating awareness at the local levels
- Replicate intergenerational dialogues and youth peace building trainings in others areas
Summary of achievements include
- Two training workshops held in Belet Hawa and Dollow
- 300 youth including 120 men and 180 women equipped with peace building skills
- 300 youth transformed into youth peace building champions
- Young people affirmed as positive agents of change and partners in building peaceful communities
SOLO is currently implementing two other peace building project which are in process
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- : Strengthening Preventative Engagement and Actions in Kismayo (SPEAK)
Funded by GCERF
The project is designed in cognizance of the imperatives of the multistakeholder approach in the prevention of violent extremism. Though the project targets the local community groups in lower Jubba. Specifically, Project the project is designed to achieve two distinct outcomes – ‘Local multi-stakeholder peacebuilding and community development structures are strengthened’ and ‘functional and Structured dialogue and engagement between stakeholders for integrated participation and action on dissuading youth from VE recruitment.’
- Through training, mentorship, interactions with knowledge sharing entities, provision of materials and support to play their roles as leadership committees, the project will build capacity of local committees in governance, leadership, peace building and prevention of violent extremism. Strong and effective community committees will play a leading role in mobilizing multi-stakeholders’ action towards peace building and community development anchored in the right knowledge and strong functioning local structures. This will ensure local ownership and participation of distinct groups in actions and strategies that contribute to prevention of violent extremism.
2 Project: Civic Education for Somalia Development (CESD) Project
Funded by EU
This action – Civic Education for Somalia Development (CESD)- responds to EU CfP and specifically seeks to provide civic education to community-based organisations, groups, and individuals in Jubbaland regions for a period of 36 months, in particular minority groups, women, children, local traditional leaders, private sector, grassroots civil society organisations and youth.
The action’s Overall objective is to contribute towards promotion and building of a more stable, resilient and accountable Somali society. Democratic governance is undermined where access to social, economic and political rights for all citizens (irrespective of gender, race, religion, age, class or creed) is absent. Lack of access to these rights limits the effectiveness of poverty reduction and democratic governance programmes by limiting participation, transparency and accountability. Increased empowerment through civic education, sensitization and mobilisation for increased participation in governance, decision making, and democracy will create a more empowered society that is able to demand and defend their rights to equitable development and access to justice. This will herald a new dawn in Somalia with a more responsive and accountable state institutions that will lead to respectable co-existence with equal access to development including the obligations for full enjoyment of rights. The CESD project will promote collective responsibility of multiple actors at different levels to make government to act.
The specific objective is to strengthen citizens participation in civic activities in Somalia. The CESD project will use a Human rights-based approach in expanding civic education and collective actions that prompt the government to act on its mandate of ensuring participatory development and inclusive decisions. The action will mobilise, facilitate and coordinate access to civic education by all community groups, especially those largely marginalised, by adopting different strategies of local institutions capacity building, sensitising and lobbying the government, parliament, media and the public on the constitutional imperative of equal treatment of all citizens in access to services. It will lobby for protection of all excluded groups as they demand their rights to development benefits. The action will take a broad-based approach by focusing on actions aimed at institutional building and those targeting at empowering individuals to demand and protect their rights. It will strengthen local CSOs role in providing oversight and reporting on acts of discrimination and misuse.