PRESS RELEASE by ACTED: PROJECT COMPLETION
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Project title: Promote Peaceful Coexistence of People and Communities that Have Been Divided by a History of Conflict
Location: Shoulgara District - Balkh Province (Afghanistan)
Donor: ARD-LGCD/USAID
Implementing Agency: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) - Afghanistan
Partner Agencies: Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC)
Co-Operation for Peace and Unity (CPAU)
Duration: July 2007 - May 2008
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"QATRA, QATRA, DARIA MESHAWAD" [DROP AFTER DROP A RIVER IS CREATED]
It is broadly recognized that stability and peace are prerequisites for poverty alleviation and a successful development process. As sustainable development, when successfully pursued, reinforces human security, stability, and peace, it is equally true that community level conflicts often impede access to/delivery of development assistance. In response to this impasse, ARD-LGCD with the generous support of USAID, funded this "Conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence intervention" in selected communities of the district of Shoulgara, Balkh Province, as well as of Nahri Shahi and Kwoja Alwan (respectively Balkh and Baghlan Provinces).
The overarching goal of this intervention was to promote 'peaceful coexistence of people and communities that have been divided by a history of conflict' by assisting local communities' efforts to alleviate human insecurity and to progress from hostility to coexistence. The villages of Astaer Kot and Karbosi (Shoulgara district, Balkh province) were identified by ACTED as areas where communities' governance structures were lacking skills to address community and inter-community conflicts, mainly related to the use and scarcity of natural resources.
ACTED's Appraisal Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (AMEU) noticed that in these communities, the situation reached an impasse resulting in conflict lasting years and a consequent lower outreach of development assistance, challenged by inter-communal open conflict. The two communities had no but hostile and sporadic relations since at least the summer of 2006 which prevented men and women from visiting the "other" communities because they would be intimidated and threatened.
What seemed therefore essential was the creation of a mechanism that could impartially resolve disputes between the communities. To this end, the methodology followed by ACTED had a fourfold approach, in line with ARD-LGCD's project objectives, namely:
1. Address the root cause of conflict. By bringing conflicting communities together to discuss the underlying conflict between them, such as access to natural resources, these communities addressed the root cause of the conflict.
2. Mitigate existing conflicts. Communities elected a 'Mediation Committee' (MC), a democratically elected forum from both communities which came together to address the conflict. This committee received training on conflict resolution and conflict mitigation (delivered by CPAU - Co-operation for Peace and Unity). They then used these skills to address the relevant conflict. This forum with representatives from all conflicting parties allowed for greater ownership over the solution thus permitting the communities to mitigate the existing conflict. Another major achievement of this committee was the inclusion of women in the conflict mitigation process, when women had never taken part in these types of forum before (at least in the villages of intervention). Young community members went through a similar process by democratically electing a 'Peace Club' (PC) and undertaking conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence training, which included a Puppet Show Workshop resulting in a show exploring conflict resolution and mediation skills (organized by the MMCC). tion and mediation skills (organized by the MMCC).
3. Address means of reducing the negative impact of conflict on local habitants. The block grant issued to each 'Mediation Committee' was used to address the conflict at its source through a Livestock sub-project jointly selected by the conflicting communities through the MC. The selection of this sub-project was quite pivotal since the primary conflict between these communities was a dispute over pastureland. The PC selected and implemented joint youth activities, namely the set up of a football playground and organization of tournaments as well as tailoring and embroidery courses for the girls of the communities.
4. Provide capacity building activities to address conflict issues. This intervention not only alleviated a pressing conflict in the specific communities, but also built the capacity of local governance structures to constructively, transparently and democratically address conflict in the future.
5. Coordination with pre-existing local structures. In order to build the capacity of existing mechanisms, ACTED worked within existing traditional local structures such as the shuras, elders and religious actors. This building on preexisting structures ensures a greater chance of sustainability of the MC.
"WAHDAT QODRAT AST" [UNITY IS STRENGTH]
After nine months of implementation, the communities of Astaer Kot and Karbosi successfully completed all the steps of the project. Although this project did not pretend to solve all existing disputes, it succeeded at restoring binding forces within the communities by implementing activities that brought opposing parties together for a common gain. By coming together to work on a common project, trust and dialogue were rebuilt that had broken down over years of tensions and conflict.
Two handover ceremonies, marking the completion of the project, were organized on the 31st of April and 6th of May 2008 in presence of delegations from the District Governor, the Department of Economy, as well as ARD/USAID and ACTED representatives.
All members to the MC and the PC, from all communities attended these events and expressed their gratitude to ARD/USAID and ACTED for implementing this initiative. They acknowledged the formation of the MC and PC and the training component as the most successful elements of the project and they believe these structures and the skills they acquired will help them in the future to maintain trustful relations with their neighboring communities. The MC has expressed is willingness and commitment to continue to meet on a regular basis in order to mitigate potential or existing disputes between and/or within their communities.
For further information please contact:
Marianna Franco
Reporting Manager
ACTED Afghanistan
marianna.franco@acted.org
This press release is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this press release are the responsibility of ACTED and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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