Peacebuilding & Nonviolence Action
Peacebuilding & Nonviolence Action
Peacebuilding & Nonviolence Action is our major program area. Nonviolent approaches inform our mission and all our programme work.
Our work around peacebuilding and nonviolence is based on the pursuit of society where conflicts and injustices are resolved amicably and nonviolently. Together with grassroots communities, government agencies, stakeholder in the public and private sectors, we partner to influence nonviolence social action and create change at the grassroots and policy levels.
Our peacebuilding and nonviolence initiatives are predominantly community owned and led. We collaborate to strengthen the capacity of local communities to identify the root causes of social injustices and conflict, support communities and stakeholders and nonviolently address social injustices and conflict. This support is provided through workshop training, support campaign planning and preparation, accompaniment and networking.
Over the years, we have supported nonviolent trainings and campaigns around women rights and empowerment, rights of persons living with disability, children rights, youth empowerment, environmental conservation and management, good governance and public service delivery, land rights and free and participatory election practices.
Our Approaches
Through the Turning the Tide nonviolence module, we partner with local communities and institutions to strengthen their capacity to identify and challenge social injustices as well as hold leaders accountable at all level. TTT approach focused on changing the root causes of structural violence, which often requires bringing latent (or invincible) conflict to the surface. The program incorporates peacebuilding by encouraging community reconciliation. This is helps in narrowing the gap between perpetrators and victims of conflict. The TTT approach encourages the incorporation of allies who are instrumental in advocacy work.
HIPP is a training program that equips young people and teachers with nonviolent conflict resolution skills through experiential learning tools. This training approach aid individuals cope with violent situations in a nonviolent and practical manner. This program is specifically designed for young people who are easily lured into violent conflict. The program employs in-and-out of school approach that encourages and strengthen youth ability on peaceful leadership. The program trains youth to adopt nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution mechanism that prevents current and future violence.
We undertake our community reconciliation work by incorporating the HROC approach. This approach was successfully used in supporting and reconciling communities in the aftermath of the Post-Election Violence in Kenya. The HROC training workshop helps people in grassroots communities recognize and understand trauma and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after an encounter with conflict experience. The program supports grassroots communities to acquire skills and knowledge to identify and overcome trauma, re-engage with life after a traumatic experience and re-connect with their communities and rebuild their societies.
AVP is a peacebuilding training program aimed at enabling people to deal with potentially violent situations in new and creative ways. The main aim of the AVP module is to skill people to respond constructively to conflict instead of reacting negatively. The trainings are delivered through adopting the shared experience of participants, interactive exercises, games and role plays that examine how people respond to injustice. This approach encourages recognition and appreciation of self-worth through affirmation of the good in oneself and others, positive communication, cooperation, community building and reconciliation based on trust, and creative conflict resolution.