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Based in Eastern DR Congo, the part of the country most vulnerable to violence, the ‘Centre Résolution Conflit’ (CRC) has, for the last 10 years, been tireless in its work rescuing child soldiers, keeping communities together, building relationships and training people from different tribes to live together peacefully.

Henri and Albino from Insight on Conflict on Vimeo.

A large part of the work of CRC is dealing directly with the militia groups in the area. Although many militia members want to stop fighting, they’re unable to see any opportunities outside of the armed groups. CRC works with them in getting them to lay down their arms and integrate into the national army or find other means of income. CRC also negotiates with militia groups for the release of child soldiers who have been forcefully taken from their communities, taking them out of an environment of violence, rehabilitating and reintegrating them back into their communities.

CRC works extensively with refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in helping them back into their homes. CRC mediate between them and their former communities to pave the way for their return, as well as ensuring they have something to come back to by rebuilding homes that may have been destroyed during the conflict.

CRC Peace Committee

They also establish peace committees and “Taskforces” in the region, groups which are able to monitor situations and act as early warning for erupting conflicts and respond quickly to potentially violent situations.

Some of their key successes have included:

• Mediation between militia and UN forces to secure the safe release of 5,000 villagers taken hostage;
• Negotiation with the Mai Mai militia group to secure the release of children they’d kidnapped to use as child soldiers;
• Intervention at Eringeti refugee camp, home to 30,000 ethnically diverse people, where fierce fighting had broken out;
• Establishing a peace committee involving elders from each clan, the UN, local politicians, security services and church groups; and
• Training different tribes how to avoid and resolve conflicts.

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Youth Peacebuilding Initiative

This project trains young refugees in non-violence and peaceful conflict resolution. By involving youth groups and presenting an alternative to violence, AZZA aims to spread a culture of non-violence through the IDP community. The Youth Peacebuilding Initiative operates throughout most of Sudan and works both with individuals and through workshops and youth groups. It offers training in conflict mediation, conflict transformation and peacebuilding, giving young people the skills and experience they need to undertake peacebuilding activities of their own at local, state and national levels.

Peacebuilding Workshop

This initiative in Damazin, East Sudan provided training in effective conflict resolution, including practicalities such as setting up projects, proposal writing and fundraising. Around 30 participants, mostly young people drawn directly from the community, took part in a workshop and over ten days they were given training in real-world conflict resolution techniques and post-conflict development issues. AZZA aim to increase the number of young people trained in development and peace work and plan to repeat this workshop around the country.

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Peace and Reconciliation Festivals

In 2008, the Mariya Arafasha Foundation planned and organised three Peace and Reconciliation Festivals. These gathered together people from various ethnic groups, calling on them to live and work together again in a spirit of reconciliation. The Festivals included dance, drama, and other competitions, all focused on peace.

The overall objective was to raise awareness about the peace process in Ruyigi and Bujumbura, and to encourage mutual respect across ethnic boundaries. The locations were chosen because Bujumbura is the capital, and Ruyigi was one of the provinces worst affected by the war, with a high number of internally displaced persons. Refugees who fled to Tanzania are still returning to Ruyigi, which can pose challenges post-conflict, so the Festival which took place there was very welcome among local communities and government authorities.

More than 20 groups comprising choirs, cultural and dance groups took part. Amateurs and professionals performed songs, stories, comedy sets and traditional drumming on themes of peace and community reconciliation. Large audiences attended the festivals. On the day of the Ruyigi festival, the capital had recently been attacked by rebels, yet more than 500 people crowded into the Maison Shalom (‘Peace House’) conference centre for the Festival, demonstrating that many ordinary Burundians are still committed to peace.

Mariya Arafasha Soccer Tournament

This project gathered together young boys aged 14-20 from various communes, and their supporters, for both a tournament and a discussion of peace and reconciliation in a relaxed atmosphere. Sport was used as an entry point to promote non-violence among those of different ethnic groups and social backgrounds.

The young participants were divided into 12 teams, and played 32 matches between May 31st and June 28th 2008. Only five players were allowed onto the pitch at a time because it was so small! After each match, there were training sessions on dealing with difference, encouraging the participants to act as role models for peace in their communities.

Sporting activities, in themselves, are clearly not enough to build peace. But they can be an excellent catalyst to encourage youth involvement in substantive issues affecting their lives. Through sport, young people can gradually learn and experiment with new skills for peacebuilding and development.

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Child Rights Protection

The recent conflict in Nepal devastated the lives of many children. SDPC realised there was a need to create a stable environment for them and promote their rights, and established Village Development Committees across the region, lobbying for children to be recognised as a ‘zone of peace’. As well as addressing children’s most basic needs, such as food, shelter, clothing, etc, the project also established children’s clubs in schools to raise awareness of children’s rights.

SDPC have so far provided scholarships for 40 children, organised 108 extra-curricular events in secondary schools, and promoted HIV/AIDS awareness among around 500 pupils.

Advocacy and Support Project

Nepal’s recent conflict had a severe impact on Surkhet, Dailekha, and Jumla districts, leaving large numbers of people living in miserable conditions. Female victims of conflict, in particular, were left highly vulnerable. This SDPC project aims to support local peacebuilding by rehabilitating victims of conflict. It does this by raising awareness of peace-related issues and human rights, and promoting sustainable income generation activities.

The programme started in 2004, and despite running out of money in 2007, the proven effectiveness of the project meant that SDPC and the project participants decided to keep running it on a voluntary basis. Amongst the projects achievements has been the promotion of literacy classes, female empowerment, and good governance to over 7,000 women, establishing local women’s groups, and providing vocational training and tools. SDPC also worked with INSEC to help 110 internally displaced people return home, and were able to negotiate with Maoists rebels to release two army officers they had captured.

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Some of their long term projects include:

• A school for young journalists;
• Return and reintegration of refugees in Peja region;
• Public debates on cooperation between NGO sector and authorities;
• Monitoring of public institutions.

Reintegrating the Serb Minority

The OAZA Bosniac Association has done extensive work in the village of Belo Polje to facilitate the return of Serbian refugees to their former homes. Reintegrating the Serb minority is an important part of transitional justice in Kosovo, and provides a strong example of peaceful inter-ethnic living for the region, showing that communities torn apart through ethnic conflict can be rebuilt.

Project activities have included the creation of a representative body, informing the refugees of their rights and freedoms, and helping the refugees to become independent and self-sufficient in the new post-war situation. The project provides information about actual and previous institutional development and training in the areas of human rights and conflict resolution.

The work the OAZA Bosniac Association is doing here is a ground stone for peacebuilding in this municipality and the surrounding region. The presence of Serbian refugees who have returned to Kosovo provides an example of a mutual and peaceful life. It encourages both other refugees to return to their previous communities and other municipalities to start making a positive situation for refugees to return to their homes.

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CBM works in a number of areas, such as supporting the development of an objective and independent media, the reintegration of communities with mixed populations, and the return of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). As well as cooperating with other NGOs and supporting many concrete grassroots projects which address the direct needs of the local communities.

Returning Refugees Project

When the Danish Refugee Council concluded that Serb refugees were uninterested in returning, and decided to withdraw from the village of Rudnik, Northern Kosovo, CBM stepped in. Seeing difficult security and political barriers, rather than disinterest, as the real cause for the low return rate of Serb refugees, CBM set about organising meetings and building trust in order to facilitate return and reintegration. Through meetings, counselling, and events, the project was able to build a dialogue between the receiving community and IDPs, resulting in 27 Serb refugees attending a community meeting in the village that ended in a commitment, on the part of all stakeholders involved, for their eventual return.

CBM’s successful mediation between refugees and the receiving community in the village was seen as such a good example that United Nations in Kosovo (UNMIK) officials asked CBM to present their work as a ‘how to’ example.

CBM is currently working on the second stage of the project to see the actual return of the Serb refugees.

Respite for Children

The Respite for Children project was one of CRM’s initiatives to provide a space where divided communities can be brought together away from daily political tensions & security threats, allowing them to move past painful war memories, loss of mutual confidence, and ethnic tension. Respite for Children took a group of Albanian and Serbian children on holiday to the Netherlands and provided a neutral & conflict free environment where children & youth could share their experiences and meet each other in peace without pressure from adults.

The children experienced a way of life where ethnic conflict was not dominant and took a badly needed break from their insecure surroundings, giving them valuable experience & lessons from living in an integrated environment that they could take back into their everyday lives and communities.

“We visited the Zoo and different parks and now when I think back I do not know what to separate as special since everything there was so special; No barb wires, no police and soldiers, no enclave and living in fear, no harassments and violence, no divided city as here! At least for a few days, I had not to think of going back home before the dark while I play around the burnt and destroyed houses or catching the bus which you never know whether it will be attacked or not or people that look at you like you are so different from them. I will never forget Holland and Breda community and the great moments that we had there, in the camp and everywhere else we have been. The people that I met there, will remain in my heart, I will always, always remember them!” Participant – 9 years old, Mitrovica, Kosovo.

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