SPL has completed the project of strengthening the role of youth organizations in peace building project in partnership with Oxfam Novib.
The project was one year pilot project that has started in Mogadishu from July, 2010 up to June, 2011. The aim of the project was mainly to increase the roles of young people in peace efforts and to take leading responsibility to advocate strongly for youth participation in decision-making processes. Its main activities were training, youth forums, debates, drama and practical youth small projects in Mogadishu.
It is worth to indicate that 1,144 youth groups and elders, women groups, regional administrations were direct beneficiaries of the project who have been empowered in due course of project through trainings, forums, peace debates, and drama display and life skills including youth small scale projects. Equally large audience in Mogadishu inhabitants received peace messages from beginning to end in local media, the context of drama and debating both were very impressive as feedback received from public, listening groups and media house as well. Hence, the project has attained set objectives by engaging local peace initiatives which bring to youth to exercise collective solving of internal conflicts, to keep on continuous Inter -youth dialogue to make sure better collaborations between various youth groups in South-central of Somalia to change their attitudes and refrain from hostility.
Main Activities Completed during project Life cycle
The strengthening the role of youth organizations in peace building project started on 1stJuly 2010 in Mogadishu. The project has prepared on a sequence that most of the activities were implement one after another.This Project was mainly focused on understanding the capacity and existence of youth organizations, strengthening the roles of youth in peace building,guiding them to implement small conflict resolution and community integration activities in Mogadishu, Somalia.
After project inception and recruitment of the project staff,SPL hired freelance consultant to assess capacity of 25 candidate youth organizations to select most potential and committed 15 youth organizations and went well. SPL invited the succeeded 15 youth organizations leaders.After congratulation and welcome of cooperation,SPL project manager introduced the project objectives, duration with expected results.They were really appreciated the cooperation offered by SPL and raised some questions and concerns on allocated seed grants, timeframe, reporting and financial documents were explained clearly and their valuable contributions were taken into account. The memorandum of understanding between 15 youth organization and Somali Peace Line was signed for full commitment during the project life cycle identically.The following activities were done on sequence:
1.Capacity building
a)Trainings
SPL management team developed very selective training materials that effectively response the weaknesses found during assessment and build the capacity of organizations and gain necessary skills. 90 youth representatives from 15 organizations were trained on peace building (30 participants per each training which continue 5 days)
Topics covered during training t were included:
�Understanding concept of peace building
�Conflict dynamics
�Mediation, Negotiation, Conflict resolution skills
�Analyzing conflict
�Non-violent communication
�Advocacy/Lobbying & Networking
�Governance/leadership
�Organizational management
�Financial Management
�Reports & proposal Writings
The training methodology used during training included: participatory and information sharing for the work they do in the field and the way to practice, Panel discussions, group work & presentations. Facilitators used power point, flip chart and distributed handouts as well.
b)Monthly Youth Forums
As per the project activity plan, SPL have undertaken nine youth forums for nine months in Mogadishu, each forum hosted 25 participants including 15 from partner youth organizations, 10 representatives from educational institutions, CSO members, government-supported national youth and local administration and Ministry of youth & sports.
The aims of such forums were to give youths opportunities to discuss the major youth problems facing them in order to plan activities and adopt adequate advocacy strategy for each month and to increase youth interaction to promote role of youth in peace building initiatives such as lack of basic needs, participation of decision-making peace processes,Involvement of hostilities, unemployment,drug abuse (chewing Qat), early marriage and etc. 150 youth representatives attended forums got an opportunity to exchange their views,think about the real issues they have and come up strategies to address peace awareness in community.In all forums youth mostly emphasized that without unity and collaboration among young generation, it will be very hard to engage local driven-peace indicative at grass root levels, at neighborhoods & education cycles. Through youth interactions, continuous contacts inter-dialogue and increased awareness, the forums produce the following outcomes:
�Organizing weekly meeting to re-establish trust and cohesion among young people on improved communication and also talking about reality on the ground throughout the local media,
�Better collaboration with Imams, elders; women groups and youth organizations complemented community-based peace initiatives carried by other SPL projects. The elder�s support made possible to be carried out youth activities in districts without any obstacles.
�Peer to peer pressure is more effective strategy when dealing with changing the attitudes of youths of same age because they think alike, feel in same manner, easily influence one another. Peer to peer can contribute a lot to young people involved in hostility to change their attitude.
�Various youth groups including partner organizations secondary student unions, university students have already started to establish networking mechanism to communicate so as to have voice when necessary same as Arab world.
2)Social Marketing Activities
Social marketing is view different activities that mainly do by artists and broadcasted by media that included debates and Drama that focused on youth in the conflicts and the role of youth in peace building
i.Peace Debates
Administering peace debates for youth potential members was one of the projects� planed activities once every second month and broadcast through local FM radios. As awareness of Somali youth, debates were organized to give attention to youth challenges and opportunities. There were also debating panels with 4 debaters at the time selected from the monthly forums and debating issues were mainly focused on current problems facing youths and their roles to overcome those challenges. All debates were recorded and edited by two documentation officers, then disseminated through local media house for airing per 4 times a month. Free CDs were distributed to organizations to increase to act vicariously in terms of social change and participation of local peace processes.
ii.Production of Peace Drama
The peace Drama is another activity in the project intended to disseminate peace message as awareness through media channels which directly touching the core issues of youths even though the conflicting parties in Mogadishu were not happy such Drama display that openly targeting the awful situation of young people and how they were vulnerable to mobilize easily the endless violent conflict. Actually, the three dramas through radio/TV show attracted from beginning to end the young generations and large audience received peace messages. Likewise, for further dissemination purposes CDs, DVDs were distributed
However, it was difficult to accommodate more people at venue for drama display due to security reasons but a lot of people make positive reflections and appreciation when dramas were aired through local FM and saw in TV channel. This reflection indicates that drama targeting the real problems facing youths in South-central of Somalia and strongly encouraged without unity the situation will remain unchanged. The Dramas
disseminated were Youth dont be fuel for the fire, Youth wake up and be peace pioneers and risks of Migration.
3). Seed Grant Projects
The seed grant was planned to carry out small projects as on capacity need based for the selected organizations to upgrade their capacities through on-the- job training by engaging negotiation, mediation,conflict resolution & skill enhancement.
Before starting the activities, one day session was organized for organizations to give further details about plan of grants, target groups, specific activities designated and to prepare small proposals on peace initiatives according to available resource.
The main areas youth organizations focused on peace building initiatives were
1.Youth integration through sports and conflict management
2.promotion of peace through training and educational competition for Youth students
3.Youth attitude change through skill development
4.Promoting the role of women through media advocacy techniques
5.Promoting the role of secondary & universities students through capacity building trainings, forums, debates
4. Achievements
- More female youth organizations were fully engaged in peace building initiatives in schools, neighborhoods, families through mediation and negotiation because female have influential role in Somali context.
- Targeted youth organizations improved their capacities in terms of conflict management, external relation and they are in position to organize cross-conflicts dialogue meeting at grass roots levels to promote use of non-violence means. In addition to that 10 organizations out of 14 youth organizations now have full capacity to write their proposals, reports and understand well the financial managements, some of the organization have already began to make contacts with funding agencies to participate projects. These indicate significant change achieved during life cycle of peace building project
- Developing powerful linkage among youths have been shown that youth is strategizing their objectives and to drum up through nonviolence approaches to all networks, institutions, civil societies, community leaders to support leading role of youth in peace building that resulted better working relations with other organizations and regional administrations, each district youth committee formed to contribute community based peace activities.
At the stage of crisis situation, a country with no law and order with massive conflict and draught affected people endless needs, this project changed the minds of many youths who were participating directly or indirectly something against their interests. For example It was first time; the youths have organized in Mogadishu non-violence demonstration against political agreement reached in Kampala-accord by political actors and after that attracted attention of Somali people locally and abroad, this because they want to have voice to participate decision-making process of the country.
