Annual Report 2008
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ANNUAL REPORT 2008 An Introduction …………………………………………… 1 VISION Message of Support Archbishop Emeritus Desmond M Tutu ………………. 6 Local knowledge and capacity in action Message of Support Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi ……………………….… 7 M ISSION Message of Support Cameron Dugmore ……………………………………… 9 To build, refine, maintain and promote an effective Message of Support and sustainable model of local governance in Leonard Ramatlakane ………………………………….. 10 cooperation with local communities, using conflicts Progress Report as ‘windows’ to deepen democracy Director – Implementation ………………………..…..… 11 To build a model of equal and mutually accountable Progress Report Director – Partnerships ………………………..……...... 12 partnership between state agencies and organs of The Board ………………………………………………... 13 civil society What they say ……....………………………………..…... 14 To document and reflect critically upon these 19 processes and practices and to disseminate the Milestones to Date ………………………………………. results to a variety of audiences PeaceNews ………………………………………….…... 22 PeaceBuilding Headlines ……………………………… 23 PeaceTalks 2008 ……………………………………...… 26 IMPACT PeaceBuilding .……………………………...……………. 28 Enhanced self-direction of communities in the PeaceAwards – Press Release ……...……………...… 35 development of programmes designed to address 36 local issues including, but not limited to, those Peace Awards – Category 1 ...…………………….…… pertaining to community safety and security Peace Awards – Category 2 …………………………… 37 Increased collaboration between communities, PeaceAwards – Category 3 ……………………………. 38 government and non-government agencies in the PeaceAwards – Category 4 …………………………….. 39 resolution of a wide range of issues PeaceAwards – Category 5 ……………….………….… 40 Work creation through investment in poor communities Objectives & Activities ………………………………….. 41 that promotes sustainable micro-enterprise Data Analysis ……………………………………………. 42 development and support Financial Report …………………………………………. 46 Background The Community Peace Programme addresses safety and security in the local context, with the aim of building a sustainable model of local governance, based on the mobilisation of local knowledge and capacity around issues of dispute-resolution and community-building. The cooperative action-research process – initiated in 1997 – has produced a model of community engagement called ”Peace Committees”, groups of residents in poor communities who facilitate the resolution of local disputes and support local entrepreneurs who are engaged in projects and enterprises that address the root causes of local conflicts. The programme focuses on the following thematic areas Urban Governance; Civic Engagement and Cultural Vitality; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion. The continuing aims of this model of community development include the following : 1. to develop Private/Public partnerships involving poor communities and state agencies in a relationship of mutual respect; 2. through both the PeaceMaking and the PeaceBuilding processes, to build the capacity and increase the effectiveness of Peace Committee members and community service-providers; 3. to build a culture of community solidarity, self-direction and respect for human rights; 4. to show how market incentives, in the form of remunerated rather than voluntary work, can be applied to mobilise and organise civil society in the local governance of justice and security; 5. to extend the model to other countries and jurisdictions, adapting it where appropriate to local circumstances but without compromising its essential foundation – that is the effective mobilisation of local knowledge within an appropriate and facilitative regulatory framework. The Peace Committees have so far facilitated the resolution of over 33 000 disputes, and have provided training and an income for 500 active Peace Committee members. The latest expansion since 2007 mobilises an additional 1 000 facilitators in 100 sites. Situation before the Initiative Began In post-apartheid South Africa the police, justice and correctional services had to be transformed to fit the human rights culture of a democracy, but the state could not adequately service the many people living in poor conditions in urban and semi-rural townships. This project set out to demonstrate that such people have the knowledge and resources to help themselves in a peaceful, non-patriarchal and sustainable way. Establishment of Priorities The aim of the initiative in the pilot site was to help build a stable and peaceful community through drawing on the knowledge, capacity and enterprise of the residents themselves. In order to identify the most frequently cited problems and obstacles, all recognised community organisations were consulted in open public meetings, together with the local police, magistracy and councillors. All agreed that there was no reliable mechanism for peacefully resolving neighbourhood and local problems and disputes, and that this stood in the way of community development. The project therefore focused on developing principles and procedures for addressing this need in a sustainable and locally accountable form. 3 Formulation of Objectives & Strategies Subsequently a workshop (facilitated by the Community Peace Programme) was held in May 1998, attended by about thirty residents from Zwelethemba, to agree on the underlying values and principles to be embodied in this experiment. All agreed that the dominant form of leadership (patriarchal, hierarchical and tending to the authoritarian) was not acceptable: the project should rather be characterised by a form of leadership that was facilitative and respectful of ethnic, gender and political difference and that gave at least as much value to local knowledge and capacity as to professional or state-based expertise.. Mobilisation of Resources The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, through the University of Lund, Sweden, recognised the potential of this innovative approach to human security and provided funding for the first three-year model-building phase. The Embassy of Finland in South Africa then financially supported the extension and refining of the model from 2000 to 2007. Financial support for a three year national expansion in collaboration with the Department of Public Service and Administration, Department of Community Safety, Department of Education and the Department of Social Services proceeded in 2007. Local municipalities provided more limited support for the launching of Peace Committees in their areas. The Community Peace Programme provides the overall project and financial management, and the South African Police Service shares physical space and information with local Peace Committees. However, the project’s main drive is to identify and mobilise the under-valued human resources in poor communities to the benefit of these communities, through training, income generation and sustainable problem-solving. Process The aim of the initiative was to test the assumption that people living in a poor neighbourhood, with limited resources and inadequate education and training, nevertheless have the knowledge and capacity to make a substantial, positive and sustainable difference to the lives of themselves and their neighbours. The then Minister of Justice, the late Dullah Omar, and senior members of the police and the magistracy, gave their support and encouragement, but the actual work took place on the ground, beginning in a pilot site - a community of some 20 000 people – that had been very active in the anti-apartheid struggle, but which nevertheless remained poor and under-resourced. Extensive consultations in the community, including public meetings, led to the decision to concentrate on local dispute resolution as a priority. Older males tended to dominate the process to begin with, but women of all ages were explicitly encouraged to participate and quickly grew in confidence; gender equality and mutual respect became a cornerstone of the model that was developed, reflecting in daily practice and routines a broader commitment to human rights. The training process for Peace Committee members became tested and refined; regular meetings for feedback and reflection were facilitated by the Community Peace Programme; comprehensive peacemaking report-forms were developed, together with base-line surveys of the state of public safety in the communities, exit interviews with community members who had participated in peace-gatherings, and monthly reports drawing on the data collected by these means. An innovative financial incentive system rewards active participation in Peace Committee activities, providing both a modest income and a greatly enhanced sense of self-respect, especially for the women involved. Regular community exchanges have helped to build a shared alternative culture based on the routinised practices of respectful facilitation and problem-solving. 4 Results Achieved In August 2009 there are in excess of 180 projects in South Africa, and they have facilitated the resolution of over 33 000 peace-gatherings. These gatherings have generated approximately R 3 million in revenue for Peace Committees. All of these revenues are spent in these communities. In addition, the Peace Committees have recently been introduced in 100 primary or secondary schools. This development will have two main benefits: first, it assures the sustainability of the Peace Committee model by integrating it into an existing community-based infrastructure. Secondly, it opens up the Peace Committee experience more readily to the participation of