Annual Report Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation Phase II 2015 UNDP-JAPAN Partnership Fund Annual Report Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation Phase 2 (STEP II) Project January - December 2015 UNDP Thailand Country Office TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 I BASIC PROJECT INFORMATION 3 II INTRODUCTION 3 III EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 IV KEY ACHIEVEMENTS 7 V SITUATION IN SOUTHERN BORDER PROVINCES 36 VI MONITORING&EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 38 VII DISBURSEMENT AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION 41 ANNEX I: ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 42 I. BASIC PROJECT INFORMATION Project Title: Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation (STEP) Phase II UNDP Project ID 00090901 Project Duration 3 years (January 2015-December 2017) Reporting Period April-June 2015 Total Approved Project Budget 813,740 USD Participating UN agencies - 2 Implementing Partners/ Prince of Songkla University, Southern National collaborating agencies Border Provinces Administration Centre. Office of the National Security Council, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior International collaborating agencies - Donors JAPAN-UNDP Partnership Fund TRAC 1.1.3 (Conflict Prevention and Recovery) UNDP Contact officer 1. Wisoot Tantinan, Programme Specialist 2.Naruedee Janthasing, Senior Project Manager Project website http://step.psu.ac.th/ II. INTRODUCTION (1) Project Background The impact of violence in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, s is jeopardizing human security and development for people living in the area. In addition to the victims of attacks, local people are indirectly beleaguered by the impact of violence. Residents, of which Malay-Muslims comprise around 80 percent, have to contend with insecurity, disrupted education, and fears generated by the activities of both the insurgents and security forces on a regular basis. The impacts include (1) A low level of community security and perpetual threats to personal safety; (2) Economic hardship from difficulty securing sustainable livelihoods, particularly for vulnerable groups such as women, youth and those with disabilities; (3) The social exclusion of marginalized groups as a result of distrust and tension in communities; (4) Less space for participation in public affairs and democratic governance processes due to the tightening of security measures, and (5) Deprived access to government services and justice. In order to stop violence and allow for a future peace settlement to be sustained, peace initiative must be built on the support of the majority of the population and address the main grievances such as the economic marginalization of vulnerable groups, access justice and the distrust within different segments of the population. The Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation Phase 2 (STEP II) Project combines both conflict prevention elements and peace building activities in all deliverables and provides the opportunity for a large number of stakeholders, both government and non-government, to come together with the aim of finding common solutions to achieve social cohesion in the southern border provinces. Prince of Songkla University coordination with responsible parties and stakeholders are the implementing to address a wide range of challenges in the three southern border provinces and to contribute to the achievement of social cohesion and human security and prevent further escalation of the conflict situation in the region. (2) Project Objectives The objectives of STEP Phase II include: fostering a resilient society in the southern border provinces of Thailand; expanding participatory planning and sustainable livelihood activities 3 (commenced in Phase I), and taking a holistic approach to access to justice, and progress towards a peaceful society. With this in mind, the project aims to achieve the following within Thailand’s development context,: • The inclusive participation of all peace networks in the peace process. Local stakeholders’ knowledge of the peace building process is enhanced thanks to constructive dialogue and other peaceful resolution mechanisms • Vulnerable groups can access effective legal services and receive quality legal protection from the key duty bearers • Communities and populations in need are empowered and equipped with skills and resources to successfully establish and manage community development initiatives based on locally appropriate and sustainable practices that contribute to improved human security and social cohesion To achieve the project objectives, STEP Phase II takes a two-pronged implementation approach: expanding horizontal peace building and anchoring project activities in the national stabilization process. Having established an enabling environment and the broader inclusion and participation of civil society during the first part of the project (horizontal peace building), the second part seeks to anchor these enhanced mechanisms for interaction into existing structures and institutions that feed the national stabilization process. Initially, this would require a gentle approach, along with careful consideration and design. Within the enabling environment, there will be opportunities to connect to the national normalization process. To identify such entry points and to facilitate the seizure of such opportunities, a team of experts will be created. This team will consist of key players on a local and national basis, who will regularly consult and assess ways to connect the local peace-building process to the national reconciliation process. Only when this team of experts considers the most strategic entry point and the moment for to act has arrived, will the connection be made. The connection can take the form of an event (e.g. a cultural celebration, a conference, a workshop or a public debate). The challenge will be to make a sustainable connection, i.e. to have a process that enables systematic meeting points between the national and the local peace building processes. The livelihoods and improvements to the rule of law are building blocks that are used to consolidate progress made in terms of social cohesion and to enhance the likelihood of linking local level peace building to the national process. III. EXCUTIVE SUMMARY The STEP Phase II project focuses on the continuation of project activities from 2012: capacity development of CBOs/CSOs; improvement of livelihood and self-sustainability of vulnerable population; access of local people to effective legal services and justice system; mainstreaming conflict prevention/resolution and building social cohesion in local governance; environmental management through community participatory approach; enabling common and public spaces for 4 peace dialogues and policy recommendations; and training for government officials and community leaders to enhance social cohesion and conflict resolutions. The year 2015 was the inception of STEP II project and marks a productive starting year. The The activities to broaden peace processes with inclusive participation of all peace networks have made satisfactory progress thus far. The Institute of Peace Studies (IPS) and its partners achieved key goals which included (1) Development of Local media for broadened communication on peace in the Deep South through various activities to promote three components of knowledge (i.e. peace process, Melayu language, and communication) (2) Promotion and dissemination of alternative media to enhance communication networks and encourage access to information by extending more accessible spaces for information about the Deep South vis-à-vis discourse on the existing peace process (3) Establishment of Academic Learning Centers on Community Peace in three provinces (Safety Net: Kampong Damai) which aims to open political, democratic, and safety space for people to participate in peace building in potential communities in the three southernmost provinces. (4) Building the capacity of local leaders to exercise a firm command on positive peace components (i.e. justice, equality, and autonomy) with the expectation that local leaders will recognize the importance of participating in the peace-building process and feel empowered to do so. (5) Conducting trainings and workshops under the auspices of various organizations on the peace process for local communities and fleshing out peace networks (6) Promotion of Insider Peacebuilders’ Platform (IPP), which for years has been a platform for NGOs/CSOs to meet on a regular basis and discuss peace and conflict in the Deep South, in order to develop a joint roadmap to settle the conflict peacefully. IPP also encourages all parties to establish a safety zone for the fragile peace through close collaboration with academic institutions and civil society organisations in the region. According to the activities to empower vulnerable groups to access justice, with active cooperation of community leaders and religious leaders, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) prototype has been solidly developed, in parallel with alternative media initiatives, for reducing the occurrence of disputes and building peace in the southernmost provinces. The College of Islamic Studies (CIS) established a focus group of eminent scholars, including Religious leaders and community leaders from Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Satun and Songkhla, and organised focus group meetings, to share and exchange their experiences of using exiting dispute resolution mechanisms in their community. The focus group has accumulated and categorised the various types of ADRs which already exist in communities and