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Community Based Peace Support
Community Based Peace Support | Community Based Peace Support (CBPS) |
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Strategic Area: Democratic Governance Alignment with strategic plan: Democratic governance Project Name: Community Based Peace Support (CBPS) Duration: 2006-2008 Project Summary: This pilot project works with many local communities throughout Somalia, with an emphasis on the Central South Region, by means of the implementation of local peacebuilding workshops and trainings, followed by small, community-driven, labour intensive, sub-projects for the same local communities, designed to support peace building, reconciliation and reintegration of IDP’s and demobilized militia, in poor communities with development constraints. The implemented works aim at the rehabilitation of community infrastructure, the improvement of the environment and other activities, as identified and prioritized by the local communities through their representatives, the main counterparts of the programme, thus contributing to the community development process. By utilizing a genuinely ‘bottom-up’ community-based approach, it is guaranteed that local communities own the process of identification and prioritization of their concerns, while by targeting communities with problems related to resettling returnees and reintegrating demobilized militia, a contribution is made to reconciliation of the different groups. Through an obligatory contribution from the community towards the sub-project, the sustainability of the supported activities is enhanced, given the interest of the local communities to implement and maintain the rehabilitated infrastructure. The project approach not only assists in the strengthening of local structures, but also gives an important boost to people’s confidence and should be considered a form of ‘peace dividend’, contributing positively to the peace process in the country. Another important aspect of the project is that it directly generates income from employment for the primary beneficiary workers, while the lasting results of the implemented works will improve the living condition of these primary beneficiaries, as well as those of a much larger group of secondary beneficiaries, together being the end-users of the implemented works. The project’s counterparts are a diverse group of rural and urban communities, national NGO’s and local governments. Expected outputs of the project are:
Implementation Description and Achievements: This pilot project supported district councils in Somalia established through the District Peace Building Project in three areas:
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