Lessons Learned from the Implementation of Southern Empowerment and Participation (STEP) Project 2010 – 2014

UNDP, Prince of Songkla University, STEP

Output 1 Strengthened institutional capacity of community-based organizations and media in promoting social cohesion

Implemented Projects

Under this output, STEP’s work involves capacity building for civil society organizations and alternative media that suits the local context. It emphasizes on contents and use mediums that help strengthen the peace process. It presents news, which reflect opinions and needs of the society in various aspects, be they social, cultural and educational. It provides space for underreported stories. STEP also supports local media to produce Malay language news to provide readers with an alternative. The initiative was well received and the local Malay dialect was given more attention. More and more government agencies began to allow the use of local Malay dialect. This includes the use of this language in the organizations’ signs. Newspapers, community radios in the area were more interested in producing news reports in Malay. This helps change public perception of the language, which previously was perceived by some as a “terrorist” language. It highlights the uniqueness and potentials of Malay, which is the language most spoken in ASEAN.

STEP project began its programs to strengthen capacity of civil society organizations and media so as to promote social cohesion by conducting a survey and mapping of civil society organizations and community organizations working in the South. This enables STEP to identify actors in the civil society networks in the three southernmost provinces and learn about their activities. We have a database of 12 sectors of civil society organizations, which has been used as a basis for capacity building and cooperation.

Project Achievement

The achievement and sustainability of the projects can be explained as follows:

1 Creating a database of civil society organizations in the three southernmost provinces in 12 sectors as well as research on community organizations and civil society organizations in relation

STEP Project 1 to development in the southern border provinces. This could be of benefits to individuals and organizations interested in database of civil society and community organizations working in the South.

2 Creating a database on media in the southern border provinces. This includes media capacity and online news coverage in the five southern border provinces, the roles and capacity of traditional media in being an alternative platform for the development in the South, the status, role and the strengthening of radio in peacebuilding in the five southernmost provinces of Satun, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, the survey on the state of local and paid televisions in the five southernmost provinces, new coverage on women in the South and media and peacebuilding in the southernmost region. These research works could be a great source for individuals and organizations interested in the roles and capacity of media in development and peacebuilding in the region.

3. Organizing public forums. This includes “Local South Talk: Friday College”, and “Youth Talk Forum: Peace Parliament”. The latter is a venue for opinion exchange among youths from seven institutions i.e. Association of Southern Political Science and Public Administration, Prince of Songkla University’s Faculty of Political Science (Pattani Campus), Yala Islamic College’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Rajabhat Yala University’s Faculty of Humanity and Social Science, Hat Yai University’s Political Science, Prince of Songkla University’s Faculty of Commerce and Management (Trung Campus), Prince of Songkla University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Management (Surathani Campus).

The public forum provides a venue for discussion and the exchange of knowledge, which help strengthen and enhance people’s participation on the issues of politics, society, economics, religion, philosophy, art and culture, community, education, agriculture, natural resources, environment, science and technology, energy, health, media and information, research and development. This is of benefit for various groups of participants, including villagers, development workers, government officers, social activists, academics, students and university staff.

4 Organizing media training for students from private Islamic schools in the southernmost provinces. This project was undertaken by Deep South Watch’s Deep South Journalism School (DSJ). It aims to enhance students’ capacity to write news and produce contents in Thai and Malay. There were 18 students from private Islamic schools who attended the capacity building training and 11 private Islamic schools joined the network to work on media and communications. The project later produced a monthly magazine entitled Sinaran, written in Malay (Jawi script) and Thai. The magazine was well received and helped ease tension in areas where local people felt that their identity had been suppressed. The preservation of Malay language is an “in-between” activity that helps nurture “positive peace” (a concept refers to positive content such as restoration of relationships, the creation of social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive resolution of conflict.) It presents issues

STEP Project 2 through various communication channels, both existing and newly-created, in order to create better understanding and help resolve conflict. Moreover, the project also tried to link this project with other radio stations, newspapers and online media run by Deep South Journalism School.

Various activities were carried out to build capacity for journalists, such as, conducting Malay-language media trainings, holding mobile news meetings, producing monthly newsletters (later became a magazine) and organizing seminars on local Malay dialect media.

As for the role of communication in conflict resolution, we have witnessed the change in government policies and the increasing recognition of the use of Malay language. This is demonstrated in the fifth objective of the National Security Council’s Policy on Administration and Development in the Southern Border Provinces 2012-2014, which states that the state must promote education and awareness of the value of multicultural society. The government has encouraged local people to learn Thai, Malay, local Malay dialect and foreign languages for educational and communication purpose. It also set up Malay-language radio and television stations and recently established Thai-Malay Language Institute in October 2013.

5 Conducting investigative journalism. Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an independent analyst, wrote two books entitled “Dissecting the Thinking of Patani Independence Movement” and “The Road to Patani Peace Process”, based on in-depth interviews with militants and ex-militants. These two books represent an attempt to improve the quality of media coverage of the southern conflict. They were publicly published and distributed to interested individuals and organizations.

Output 2 Improved income generation and employment opportunities of communities

Community response to the establishment of community learning centers

Based on field visits to two Community Business Model Learning Centers in the past two years (Mieng Thong group in Yamu sub-District and Thong Muan group in Laem Pho sub- district. Both are in Pattani’s Yaring District), STEP observes that both groups have organized various trainings for the unemployed in the communities and help enhance their vocational skills. Housewives, aged between 18 – 45 years old, have developed new skills and take up a new job. Previously, many worked in small-scale agriculture or as daily wage workers and earned only about 150 baht a day, which is insufficient to cover household expenses. The ongoing violent conflict also contributes to unemployment and women in the communities have no income as a result.

Members of the two community business model learning centers realize the significance of vocational skill development. Therefore, they have contacted Office of the Non-Formal and

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Informal Education and requested for a training course on making mieng kham (Thai snack wrapped in leaves). Since the community business learning centers was set up, there was a continuous flow of interested individuals who came to attend the ten-day training. The centers normally received 3-4 groups of visitors per month, who either simply made a visit or come to receive training (students, government officials or interested individuals). The fact that the training is practical and can be used to boost income generates great interest among the local people. Currently, the training has been further developed and adjusted to better serve the need of villagers. It includes other skills, such as sale promotion, marketing and packaging improvement. Those completing the training were entitled to receive a certificate from Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education. They would also be informed about follow-up activities of the housewife groups and be able to seek consultation from the learning centers.

On household account and the operation of community business, housewife groups have strictly managed their account. Since the training in March 2013, they have made considerable success. After deducting the cost and community saving, they still have profit margin.

The accounting record shows that the group of mieng kham makers earns about 1,000 – 2,200 baht per week. The saving is used within their own community. The annual saving record shows that they had 77,735 baht in saving in 2013 (March – December 2013). In 2014 (January- December 2014), they had 90,500 baht in saving. (Daily wage and dividend paid to members were already deducted). Since the launching of the center, the group has total of 168,235 baht in saving. The group’s member generally receives a daily wage of 180 – 250 baht. Each member earns about 3,000 – 3,500 baht per month, which is sufficient for the current cost of living.

When the two groups have a good amount of saving, they would use part of it to set up a fund for community welfare according to the household account’s rule. Moreover, they also plan to collect one bath a day from each member to set up a co-operative system. The fund would be circulated within the village. After the centers were set up, group members have been eager to volunteer to be vocational trainers. They also proposed to community leaders to include this project in the community development plan. Moreover, those attending trainings at the community business learning centers were also advised to adhere to self-sufficient economy as it is related to the process of life-long learning.

The evaluation of community business learning centers to monitor and compare results founds that both centers have functioned as a center for vocational development in the communities. It also corresponds to the market’s need and can generate income for villagers in Pattani’s Yaring district. The housewife groups have proposed areas for further development as follows:

Areas that housewife groups require further trainings:

1. Acquiring various mediums that provide information on halal foods and other food standard. This will enable the community business learning centers to transfer knowledge to other

STEP Project 4 villagers. The center should be able to circulate these mediums to other communities and organizations interested in enhancing their business skills. This could help reduce unemployment rate and enable villagers to develop their skills without depending solely on the government.

2. Fostering cooperation between local administrative authorities and other organizations in the area of community business development. If government officials take part more in the center’s activities and work with the villagers in time of crises, people’s participation will be enhanced and it will also allow local communities to develop in a systematic way.

3. Requiring integrated business management knowledge, including product development, advertisement and marketing. This will enable villagers to adapt the knowledge learned from phrase 1 to 3 to develop other products.

Project Achievement

1 The development of products and packaging, including the management of community business groups

On product development, housewife groups have developed new recipes in response to the market’s demand and invent a new equipment to facilitate the production process. However, they still lack capacity to deal with high volume of order. As for packaging development, it would be useful to identify the weakness of old packaging before designing a new one. The new packaging for the two groups’ products should be durable and compact. The label should include contents in English and Malay in light of the upcoming establishment of the ASEAN community.

On capacity building activities, it is found that members have the capacity to transfer knowledge, to create and design self-learning tools. They have learned to develop step-by-step work plan and jointly resolve problems. They have an idea to expand their business by using their own saving after attending government-organized trainings. This could be another mechanism to further develop the two centers and make them more efficient and sustainable.

The group members’ main objectives: Apart from earning income, they are also concerned about relationship of people in the communities as they believe that mutual understanding is crucial for peace and this could lead to social cohesion in the future. Therefore, villagers who received the training have also transferred knowledge to others through public information disseminated in the villages. For the past two years (2012 – 2014), students, government officials and villagers from nearby areas have continuously visited the housewife groups to learn from them. It has enable villagers in their communities to have a better understanding of the roles of the learning centers and the context.

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2. Market expansion: After the launching the centers, the housewife groups have expanded their markets in various areas, both internal (Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla and Nakhon Sri Thammarat) and external (). They have a continuous flow of orders but sometimes do not have sufficient production capacity due to limited manpower. They have recently tried to systematize the operation and each member has a clear instruction of their duty. The groups are currently able to continuously supply products to the neighboring countries.

3. Clusters and certifications on food standard: The groups sought advice from district health officers about how to apply for certificates on food standard, which they received good cooperation and advice. They mapped out a plan on basic requirements for the construction of a manufacturing plant so that they could rightly address problems. The district health officers suggested an idea to build a cluster of similar businesses. However, after conducting an internal consultation, the centers’ members perceived that it might be difficult to build a cluster because they thought that their products were different and have better quality than those in the nearby areas.

4. Trainings for the communities: This activity enables the housewives to learn about history, problems and obstacles of their villages before they could unite, develop and strengthen their communities. They have learned that it is vital to encourage everyone to participate in order to create a strong community. Similarly, the development of community business needs to be in line with the community’s master plan as well as the province’s development plan, if it is to be effective. Moreover, it is also important to build a network to disseminate knowledge from one village to another in order to encourage an exchange of knowledge. Those who visit the centers could help disseminate the knowledge to a wider audience through repeated conversations in a chain-liked network.

Able to transfer the knowledge in a systematic way 1st •

•Provide motivation for other groups in the communities 2nd

•Support account-recording to learn how to manage 3rd simple financial matters

Build capacity to become a model at the provincial level 4nd •

After visiting a successful learning center (A study tour at Sinphraethong Network in Phatthalung), the housewife groups engaged in the exchange of knowledge on community

STEP Project 6 business and the management of learning center at the village level. The housewives still lack an ability to think in a systematic way and to lay out a framework that could lead them to think step- by-step. The members should be trained how to perform the role of speakers before, during and after the study tour. Training is also a good tool to improve efficiency and to create knowledge, understanding and skills.

5. Increasing production capacity in response to market expansion

As both groups have expanded their markets, increasing production capacity is therefore vital. There are a number of villagers who are interested in joining the groups. If the groups could not keep up with the orders, they normally hire youths who are looking to earn extra income to work on a short-time basis and pay them by hours. Alternatively, they might hire jobless women and other unemployed who want to earn money without making any long-term commitment. University students, who want to earn extra income during the school break, are the largest group, who provides additional manpower.

Recommendations for the improvement of the efficiency of learning centers

Villagers propose that similar activities or projects be held on a regular basis because the communities still lack trainers with vocational knowledge. This will facilitate the transfer of knowledge to the new generations as only a few have joined. The communities lack collective activities and resources to create alternative jobs. It would also be useful for the organizers of the trainings to include psychological aspect in their communication with villagers and the advertisement of the activities to be held. The learning centers could be a new learning space that could potentially disseminate knowledge to some 5,000 households living in Yaring district.

Currently, there is increasing discussion about people’s participation in livelihood development at the community level. However, the content and context analysis need to be revised to make them in line with other aspects of development. What needs to be considered further is how to ensure that leaders and villagers do not narrowly focus on their own interest or their own group. It is also vital to provide further assistance to the groups with high potential to succeed or those that could become a model for their own community. If possible, there should be an activity to help connect with local leaders, such as, imam, Tok Guru (senior teachers or headmasters of Islamic schools), sub-district chiefs, village headmen, and heads of the administration organization (TAO). Relevant government agencies in the region, such as office of non-formal and informal education (ONIE), community development department, and sub- district and district agriculture officers, could help coordinate with the local leaders. Supporting the construction of learning center, which are like community library, could help provide vocational knowledge for youths, housewives, unemployed or the elderly. This initiative could potentially increase income for many other families.

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How to further develop community business model groups and other groups following such model

According to Community Development Office in Pattani, thong muan (crispy rolls) made by a housewife group at Ban Datoh in Laem Pho sub-district, Yaring district, Pattani, was selected by the agency to be one of the food entrepreneurs in Group C. It was shortlisted from 131 entrepreneurs, which means that it could be further improved to meet an international standard (A). The Mieng Thong group was not shortlisted, however, they could work closer with the community development office at the district and provincial level. Many groups have visited the learning centers, such as, high school and university students, community college students, Pattani co-Operative auditing office, PSU’s center for the rehabilitation of victims of violence in the southern border region, channel 11, provincial agricultural promotion office, Yamu municipality office, Yamu Tambon administrative organisation, Yaring agricultural office and Chulalongkorn University’s halal science center, etc.

The housewife group has been working in an integrated manner with other community businesses that were recently set up, such as Thong Muan production community business group at Ban Laem Pho. After building a manufacturing plant that meets the required standard, district community development office approved budgets to build an extra room attached to the plant. The room was used to pack crispy fish crackers produced by another group living in the nearby area. The plant has already passed the standard test. When the plant’s standard is guaranteed, it is easier to find markets for the product.

Opinions from other jointed partners

1 ONIE officers who oversaw the training: ONIE organized 40 – 60 hours of trainings for members of Mieng Thong group, which were advertised by ONIE teachers at the sub-district level. In each district, ONIE held a public consultation to gather information on villagers’ demand for vocational skills. It organized a ten-day training with housewife group on dessert- making and so far, six batches have completed trainings on mieng kham-making. The ONIE focused on assisting trainees to find a job after receiving certificates. New producers are advised to register their products with the OTOP scheme (One Tambon One Product) so that their products could be eligible for competition at the provincial, regional and national level. The Mieng Thong group won a distinguished housewife award at the provincial level and it ranked third in the regional product competition.

2 Officers from Yaring district public health office’s consumer protection unit who supervise the improvement of manufacturing plant’s standard: The model groups have inspired others to boost their capacity. Once seeing a concrete example, the housewives were motivated to develop

STEP Project 8 themselves, create new products, and build new groups. (The mieng kham lane has three producers who make a similar product and hence, they were advised to set up a cluster to help expand market and boost sale.) Their small manufacturing plants already meet the required standard.

As for the improvement of manufacturing venue, other groups have opened their manufacturing plant as learning centers in Yaring district, such as, Farin group and Nufar group (both produce mieng kham), a housewife group producing “Sirin” crackers, and producers from Yaring aquafarming co-operative who produce fish balls. The increasing numbers of learning centers is another indicator of success of the two original learning centers. The government recently has promoted the establishment of “Primary GMP” (Good Manufacturing Product) in all districts, for which consumer protection officers act as consultants. Villagers first could study by themselves from the model learning centers first before seeking advice from health officers at the Primary GMP to adjust the knowledge for their best use.

Output 3 Enhanced access to legal service and conflict resolution mechanism for civil society organizations.

Southern border provinces local community legal awareness-raising project

Justice-related problems may stem from state officers in the judicial system or people have no access to it. It may cause, for example, by the lack of knowledge on laws and the judicial system, the delayed and costly prosecution, distrust in the system, and the lack of fluency in Thai language. The sense of injustice may have also contributed to violence.

These problems could exacerbate distrust in the justice system. Raising legal awareness among the local people is, therefore, necessary and it is vital to build trust in the Thai judiciary. STEP undertook a project with the Southern Border Province Administrative Centre (SBPAC) in 2012 – 2013 to foster cooperation and build capacity for justice delivery in the southern border provinces. In particular, the project aimed to evaluate the efficiency of Adilan Center. It finds that the Adilan Center is an initial first step that enables people to gain access to justice as it has provided people with information on legal service. It also gathered database on existing public and private legal aid organizations and disseminated such information to villagers at the sub- district and village level, which was useful in enhancing people’s access to justice.

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Implemented Activities

1. Mapping legal aid organizations in the southern border provinces. This activity aims to present an overview of the structure of public and private legal aid organizations in an integrated manner. 2. Presenting the mapping of the legal aid organizations in a book form. This includes the missions, structures, legal aid activities, public relations, and obstacles in the operation of legal aid organizations, which could be useful for future effort to reform their operation. 3. Mapping proactive private legal aid organizations. A potential area of development is the linkage between Human Rights Supporting Network (HAP) and Southern Paralegal Advocacy Network (SPAN). Both have been working closely with people and have a great potential to expand their network (They are also linked with mosques). If both groups could integrate their operation, it would expedite and improve the efficiency of legal assistance. The Muslim Attorney Center (MAC) is another key organization that provides legal aids. It is a central mechanism that links and synchronizes information as well as provides such data to other organizations, such as Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCf). 4. Mapping public legal aid organizations with a similar structure and mission. This is an attempt to integrate works among various government agencies but it also depends on contexts and specific condition in each area. However, the SBPAC could initially be a central agency linking with other legal aid organizations. At the provincial, district and sub-district level, it is necessary to streamline the operation of nuay yuthitham chumchon (Community Justice Unit) and sun amnuay khwam pen tham phak prachachon (Popular Justice Delivery Centre) at the sub- district level and sun damrong tham (Justice Maintenance Centre) because there are some overlapping in the missions and roles of these agencies. 5. Integrating ideas of public and private legal aid organizations. Since the operation of public and private sectors has not been integrated, connecting the ideas of these organizations together could enhance the efficiency and integration of their operation as well as help build the network of legal aid organizations. This may also be a platform to send a message to the government and request for further assistance to develop strategies to systematically address the structural problems.

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Jointed Partners

Government agencies comprise of courts, southern sub-committee of the National Human Rights Commission, Provincial Attorney General Office, police, Provincial Justice Maintenance Center, Provincial Justice Office, and Ke-Adilan Center

Private organizations comprise of Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCf), Muslim Attorney Center (MAC), Provincial Lawyers Council, Youth Muslims Association of Thailand, Provincial Islamic Council, Human Rights Supporting Network (HAP), Southern Paralegal Advocacy Network (SPAN) and Duay Jai Group

Southern border provinces local community legal awareness-raising project, phase II

This project was undertaken by Prince of Songkla University (Pattani Campus)’s College of Islamic Studies. It aims to promote legal awareness through the mapping of legal aids organizations, the development of media strategies, and proactive information circulation. The project focuses on raising legal awareness and developing a paralegal training handbook. The handbook also provides recommendations for other organizations wanting to help improve the efficiency of legal aids and bring justice to local communities in the three southernmost provinces.

There are four follow-up activities under this project:

1. Undertaking a comparative study of Civil and Commerce Code in Thai and Islamic perspectives: The study is divided into four themes: law on lending/borrowing, sale/exchange/gift, guarantee/pawn/mortgage, hire of property/hire purchase. Training on comparing Thai and Islamic law was organized. Some 40 lecturers and students attended and engaged in the discussion on sensitive issues that are perceived with different views in Islam. It is expected that this training could be extended to other groups working on legal issues in the area. 2. Drafting a curriculum on Islamic law for the general public (for those who no background on Islamic law): This curriculum already passed the examination of respected Islamic law experts (through a discussion forum) and specialists from several institutions, such as, Fatoni University (formerly Yala Islamic College), Prince of Songkla University at Pattani, Princess of Narathiwas University, Rajabhat Yala University and Provincial Islamic Councils. The curriculum covers various aspects of Islamic law, including daily life, business, criminal issues, family and inheritance, Islamic legal system, and public administration. 3. Paralegal training: Some 40 people working on justice delivery in the southern border provinces both in the public and private sectors were invited to attend a training that aims to assist them in nurturing and strengthening network of young lawyers in the area.

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4. Producing radio scripts and short movies to create understanding on legal knowledge: Two short movies about civil and criminal cases and 8 radio stories, divided into 16 parts in Thai and Malay, were produced. The radio scripts on a CD were advertised and disseminated to community radio stations in the southernmost provinces. They were broadcasted for about 5 - 6 months. On 30 May 2014, the military government ordered the closure of community radios nationwide, making it difficult to disseminate information. The short movies were distributed via YouTube and received considerable attention from the general public with more than a thousand of viewers. After the project’s phrase 1 and 2 was completed, it is found that civil society workers and students attending the trainings began to build a network, which could potentially put up to 100 more workers/volunteers to work on justice delivery in different areas in the southernmost provinces.

Project to enhance legal knowledge among civil society groups working on children’s and women’s rights in Thailand’s southernmost provinces.

Responsible Party Jointed Partner

The project was responsible by Cross Duay Jai Group and Human Rights Cultural Foundation, which is a national Supporting Network (HAP) have played an human right organization working formally important role in promoting understanding with the National Human Rights and knowledge on human rights and laws Commission to promote and protect rights of for violence victims, directly and indirectly. the marginalized in Thailand. It achieves They have made several visits to provide this objective by promoting, protecting moral support to violence victims. They human rights, democracy and the rule of have organized trainings on human rights laws. CrCf believes that cross-cultural laws and access to justice for volunteers. understanding and the strengthening and participation of local communities are central to its work.

At present, there are 12 core working members together with a network of volunteers in the three southernmost provinces and four districts in Songkhla. The ratio of male and female volunteers is about 60:40, which can be classified into four groups:

1. Victims of torture: there are about 50 victims of torture in the three southernmost provinces and four districts in Songkhla 2. Violence-affected women: there are about 30 – 35 of violence-affected women in the three southernmost provinces and four districts in Songkhla 3. Violence-affected students: there are about 100 violence-affected students in some 45 institutions in the three southernmost provinces and four districts in Songkhla

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4. Nusantara, a foundation working on children development

Follow-up activities

1. Organizing legal trainings for civil society groups working on children’s and women’s rights: A mapping of legal aid service was carried out and newsletters on children’s and women’s rights promotion (previously on a bi-monthly basis and currently on a quarterly basis) were produced. The newsletter relies on information and cooperation from other partners, such as, MAC, Southern Border Women Network, Association of Women to Stop Violence and Peacebuilding in the Southernmost Provinces and Provincial Islamic Councils in Songkhla, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. 2. Organizing trainings on legal language for local interpreters working on children’s and women’s rights: This training provides knowledge on legal terms in Thai and Malay. The judicial process use several technical terms and there are several steps in court procedure. The activity is meant to provide legal knowledge to civil society workers and particularly members of Network of Women Protecting Human Rights, who themselves are victims of violence, so that they could perform the role of interpreters and can use this knowledge to communicate directly with the victims. 3. Collecting database on human rights violation relating to children and women: This database is to be made available to partners and relevant agencies in the area. This activity was carried out in tandem with the training, co-organized by MAC, on the collection of data on human rights violation and trial observation. 4. Producing a handbook on how to collect data on children’s and women’s rights violation. This could be used in tandem with the paralegal handbook. HAP and Duay Jai Group have used the concise version of the handbook in the following areas:

Yala: Muang, Krong Pinang, Yaha, Kabang district

Pattani: Thung Yang Daeng, Mai Kaen, Yarang

Narathiwat: Ra-ngae, Chanae

Songkhla: Sabayoi

The handbook has been used with the following groups:

1. Women affected by rights violation 2. Families affected by violent insurgency. 3. General public interested in attending seminars organized by project implementing partners

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4. Youths and students interested in joining the activities organized by project implementing partners

Moreover, CrCf and other implementing partners also organized seminars on access to justice in the case of children and women in the southernmost provinces. The seminars were held regularly as they wanted to maintain cooperation and the exchange of ideas among civil society organizations. The project’s working team acted as advisors and speakers, providing advice for new lawyers working with civil society organizations on children’s and women’s right.

Table 1 The number of children killed and injured from 1 January 2004 – 31 December 2014

Year Death Total of Injured Total of Unidentified Buddhists Muslims Death Unidentified Buddhists Muslims Injured Victims Victims 2004 0 0 0 0 0 14 3 17 2005 0 0 8 8 0 19 25 44 2006 0 3 4 7 0 14 18 32 2007 0 5 16 21 0 14 41 55 2008 0 1 3 4 0 8 29 37 2009 0 1 4 5 0 14 27 41 2010 0 3 3 6 0 11 24 35 2011 1 2 3 6 2 22 31 55 2012 0 1 4 5 0 21 36 57 2013 0 2 3 5 0 8 33 41 2014 0 2 12 14 0 11 20 31 Total 1 20 60 81 2 156 287 445 Source: Deep South Incident Database Working Committee, Deep South Watch and Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity

Output 4 Strengthened capacity of local administration in participatory budgeting and planning

Implemented projects

Under this output, Assistant Professor Weerasak Khrueathep, Associate Professor Supphasawat Chatchawal and Assistant Professor Chanthranut Mahakanchana conducted a research project to strengthen capacity of local administration in participatory planning and budgeting. The research suggested that local administrative authorities should have more roles

STEP Project 14 in development and budget planning particularly in four areas i.e. health, education, natural resource and environmental management, and art and local culture. Local administration should take the lead in these matters. Education is not only about establishing new schools but local people should be involved in designing a curriculum that suits them. The management of resources should also benefit local people. The local administrative authorities should better represent voice of local people and they should play a bigger role in improving development plans in their own areas.

Based on recommendations in this research project, STEP worked with King Prajadhipok Institute’s Research and Development Department to strengthen local administration in the three southernmost provinces by conducting participatory development planning in Pattani. Two TAOs i.e. Laem Pho TAO in Pattani’s Yaring district and Mae Lan TAO in Pattani’s Mae Lan district, took part in a pilot project. It started from administrators of the two TAOs attending a study tour and training on participatory development planning. They realized that they could preserve their livelihood, tradition and culture, if development projects are suitable for their areas. Then, they believe that they could implement this similar idea and proposed to begin a pilot project in the South.

Local administration’s representatives attend a study tour and a training to learn about participatory development planning in Mae Hong Son province

It would be more sustainable if the strengthening of local administration emphasizes on engaging people and allowing them to take part in taking care of and developing the communities as well as resolving problems in the villages. It is also significant to search for existing social capital and local wisdoms in the communities. This could be conducted by collecting a database of various individual expertise and natural resources in the communities. Community development should be based on their own capital and resources. It should not begin by imposing new elements and development on the existing structure, which may be unsustainable or useless for the communities.

In the process of searching for social capital, capacity of individuals, groups, organizations could be identified and problems in the communities learned. They could also gain in-depth information on natural resources, sea, forest, and employment. Such data, if analyzed

STEP Project 15 systematically, would be useful for developing and resolving problems in the communities. The problem-solving process would be more systematic, comprehensive and participatory. The TAO could implement development projects based on the community database. It should be a central agency with regard to community development. It could encourage villagers to brainstorm, plan, develop and resolve community problems, which would be beneficial to all of them. Relationship between the TAO and communities would then be strengthened. Villagers would not need to idly wait for government agencies to resolve their problems. If there is any problem that villagers could address by themselves, the TAO could encourage villagers to work together and help one another. They would then have a sense of pride that they have worked together to develop their communities and resolve their own problems, which would enhance their love and affinity for their home.

It is important that development and problem-solving strategies be included in the TAO planning. In the TAO’s working plan, it should indicate how it would design a system that could engage people in the planning, decision-making, monitoring and evaluating its work. If this could be achieved, development work would be more sustainable. The TAO, which functions as a local administration, would be an effective central agency that carries out community development work and its relationship with villagers in the communities would be enhanced. In the future, the TAO could provide one stop service on administrative matters, development and problem-solving for the communities.

Search for social capital

Collecting Monitoring and database on evaluation social capital

Database on local intellectuals, Implementation experts in several areas

Drafting participatory Tambon development plan

Diagram on the process to develop quality of life in communities in Laem Pho and Mae Lan sub-district

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Project Achievement

Result and sustainability of the project

1. Information on social capital in the communities has been created through the search of social capital and the collection of database on key figures/ local intellectuals in the communities 2. Social innovators have emerged in the communities. Villagers have an opportunity to learn how to work as a team. A total of 30 representatives (15 from each sub-districts) were involved in this project. These social innovators were trained how to encourage public participation through dialogue/ ORID technique (objective, reflective, interpretative and decisional), organize a workshop, hold a participatory meeting to make an action plan, search for social capital and conduct a mapping exercise. 3. Both TAOs used the database for participatory community development planning. Relationship and cooperation between the TAOs and villagers was improved. Mae Lan TAO revised its 2014 sub-district development plans by incorporating projects proposed during the workshop into the 2015 working plan. Villagers also used a participatory meeting technique to organize a process to develop their community development plan. They used conflict resolution tool to enhance cooperation between village headmen/sub-district chiefs and TAOs. One-card one-opinion tool was used to resolve disagreement among villagers. Free public forums were held and villagers could freely express their views without any manipulation from project leaders. Villagers were satisfied that the plan produced corresponded to their needs and they learned to accept views different from their own. At Laem Pho TAO in Ban Talohsamilae, the TAO used knowledge on making a community plan to design development work, which directly addresses the problems. Villagers had diverse opinions and they actively presented their views, such as village headmen, religious leaders, community leaders, tadika teachers (teachers who teach religious subjects for young Muslims) and youths. Trainers of the workshop were from the local area. They use workshop and participatory meeting to draft an action plan as techniques to develop a three-year-long sub-district development plan. The search for social capital enabled them to reflect on the identities of local people.

4. Changes were witnessed at the individual, community and TAO level in the area of development and participatory problem-solving. Villagers acknowledge the significance and value of social capital in their communities. Development and problem-solving are based on social capital in the communities. Both TAOs has adjusted their working style and attach more importance to public consultation. Each opinion is regarded to be valuable and villagers could express their views freely without any manipulation. Therefore, there are various recommendations for development and strategies to address the problems.

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5. A handbook on social capital-based development and budget planning, published in Thai, Malay and English, has been distributed to local administrative authorities in the southernmost provinces and interested local authorities elsewhere.

Handbook on social capital-based development and budget planning

Output 5 Strengthened local level natural resources and natural disaster management

Project to build a model on participatory monitoring and natural disaster early warning system in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces

Partners that have taken part in overseeing the operation of automatic weather stations are TAOs and network of local people in the area. Knowledge on automatic weather stations and other monitoring programs has been disseminated to villagers in the nearby communities.

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Automatic weather stations were set up inside the compound of two TAOs. Laem Pho station is at Laem Pho TAO in Pattani’s Yaring district and Kubu station is at Phraiwan TAO in Narathiwat’s district.

Other five stations are located in the communities, where local volunteers help take care of them. They are Troah Kaen station in Pattani’s Saiburi district (set up at Boakkhoranee Temple), Sawo station in Narathiwat’s Ruesoh district, Sukirin station in Narathiwat’s Sukirin district, PSU Pattani station and Thasap station (set up at the office of Yala Islamic Council in Muang district)

There were also government agencies that have taken part in this project, such as Protection and Disaster Mitigation Center in Pattani and Yala, TAOs in the three southernmost provinces and the Irrigation Department.

Moreover, networks of volunteers who live near the Pattani Bay have also benefited from the automatic weather stations. They attended a training to learn how to use website (PBWatch.net) to forecast weather condition, which is useful for monitoring possible disaster. Pattani Bay Watch Network has planned to conduct training for volunteers and interested individuals every year. Currently, the training is held once a year before the rainy season. The network might work in coordination with other agencies and share the cost of the training.

People in the communities have continuously been engaged in the operation of the automatic weather stations. In normal situation, villagers use data from the stations to forecast daily weather. In a risky situation, the data is used as a basis for disaster mitigation planning, such as strong wind, flooding, mudslide, etc. At a larger scale, PB Watch presents and disseminates information on weather forecast, from which hundreds of thousands of people have benefited.

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In 2014, the Provincial Prevention and Disaster Mitigation Office, Irrigation Department, TAOs and Meteorological Department attached importance to, and participated in, disaster management. For example, they organized trainings on disaster mitigation at the Prince of Songkla University (Pattani Campus). These organizations provided good cooperation by co- organizing, or sending representatives to attend, the trainings. They have become more proactive in disaster management planning. PB Watch will travel to the field every year to carry out maintenance and repair work for the automatic weather stations, particularly for batteries and simcards, so as to make sure that the stations are running properly.

Moreover, PB Watch has also collected yearly data on its activity to disseminate information on disaster monitoring via internet, social media and other types of media.

Project to build a model on participatory and sustainable coastal natural resource management in Pattani Bay

After the completion of activities to strengthen capacity and knowledge of volunteered fishermen on raising mussels in demonstration farms during the first phrase, the working team extended the project for two months. Academics and students in Fisheries Major collected mussel samples from the demonstration farms to study on the increasing numbers and size of mussels. Due to budget constraints, the project, funded by the PSU’s Fisheries Department, was suspended and sample collection was conducted only in some months.

At least, some 2,000 households around the Pattani Bay have benefited from the mussel farm because they earn income from catching mussels. If mussel breeders are increasing rapidly, villagers could take this as their main job or a sideline. Besides, small-scale fishermen in this area may be able to catch other aquatic animals because of the increasing fertility. Flooding in December 2014 has no direct impact on the demonstration farm but it slightly affects the saltiness of sea water.

The role of Mr. Early Warning Network to the conservation of natural resources

“Mr. Early Warning” is mostly volunteers, who are leaders in the coastal communities working in coastal fisheries. They are selected from each sub-district in the three southernmost provinces to work under the supervision of the Protection and Disaster Mitigation Center in their respective provinces.

Members of the Mr. Early Warning Network have increased every year. If aquatic animals were to release into the sea, the university and the network would provide training for fishermen and campaign against the use of destructive fishing tools. This activity helps raise awareness and enables villagers to take part in environmental conservation. Teaching villagers to see through the tricks of those illegally exploiting aquatic resources is a way to help strengthen

STEP Project 20 their capacity, which could facilitate better management of natural disaster. Apart from this, the network also provides trainings on energy security through alternative fuel, such as, sun, wind, biological gas. The idea has been circulated to many villages in the South and the general public via social media.

Statistic shows that more than 5,000 Facebook users are following PB Watch page in 2014. The increasing number of followers may suggest that more people are participating in monitoring disaster.

Problems and obstacles during the project’s implementation

After the completion of the project, the PB Watch has continued to carry out both activities. The network has taken good care of the automatic weather stations, but the mussel demonstration farm has suffered from frequent robbery of mussel breeders by unruly youngsters. No legal action has been taken against them because some youths are below 18 years old. If identified, the university and the network only warn and teach them about ethical practice. Recently, there are fewer cases of robbery and more mussel breeders were released into the Pattani Bay.

The project was directly affected by this problem and the number of mussels has declined as a result. Although the project tried to circulate information, the problem still persisted. This might be a result of limited distribution of the information, which is one of the problems during the implementation of the project. After the project ended, participants wanted to continue with raising the mussels as they believe that it could potentially be a successful project in the future.

Responses from people in the area and the PB Watch network to the two activities.

The setting up of seven automatic weather stations in the three southernmost provinces

Before the setting up of the seven automatic weather stations, people in the area led their lives on the basis of self-sufficient economy. They were interested in taking part in the network, especially those in the high-risk area. The communities also realize that they could benefit from the automatic weather stations as they could integrate information from various government and private organizations and use it to better respond to various forms of disaster. Moreover, they could also facilitate the exchange of information among the government (central), provincial authorities, TAOs, sub-districts, village headmen and ordinary people with regard to evacuation plan, mapping of risky areas and safe shelters in the communities. This helps unify their understanding as they could see concrete information from the program set up at the stations.

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The construction of mussel demonstration farm in Pattani Bay

Network of Pattani Bay Fishermen has directly benefited from the increasing number of marine resources. This project helps to increase food security as well as the number of aquatic resources in the area. If the demonstration farm is successful, it is possible to increase more numbers of mussels. There is a high demand for mussels in the market because the numbers of mussel farms remain limited. Influential people in the area have also sparked conflict over the catching of cockles. The research team has regularly monitored project development, especially the measurement of mussels’ size, including their height, width and weight and the dispersal of mussel breeders.

** The PB Watch Network has followed up on mussel demonstration farm project by strengthening capacity in monitoring the breeder farm. Moreover, the network of community volunteers also plan to stick more bamboo poles in the bay area in Rusamilae and Bangtawa sub- districts to attract mussels. They are waiting for a good timing for mussel breeders, both natural and in the farm, before taking further actions.

The government’s involvement in further developing the project

This initiative has brought government agencies and outside organizations to work together with university researchers. This also includes coordination with villager and volunteers, who are fishermen and ordinary people. This is to ensure that the project will be continued in the long term and in a sustainable way as and that it would cover an extended area. Thus far, the Provincial Irrigation Authority, the Provincial Protection and Disaster Mitigation Center, Office of the Meteorological Department in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, and civil society organizations have participated. Disaster is everyone’s business. It is not the problem of any particular groups or areas. Hence, people in the area are enthusiastic about this project.

Moreover, the project also challenges the general trend that villagers normally only take away resources from the sea but have no idea about rehabilitation. Therefore, raising awareness on food security in the bay is vitally important. It is crucial to begin raising awareness on natural conservation at this time because this could have an impact on the future generation. People might find it harder to earn a living and the risk of natural disaster might increase.

Follow-up projects with the PB Watch Network

The PB Watch comprises of networks of traditional fishermen, who have worked together for more than 17 months. There are 16 networks with 164 members, most of whom live in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Another four villages have recently joined, bringing the number of pilot villages to 20. They are interested in this kind of project and willing to explore other activities in a similar area.

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The PB Watch Network, part of which are traditional fishermen, views that the mussel demonstration farm is, to a certain extent, successful because it has fostered cooperation between government officials and villagers and enable them to closely work together. This brings about two concrete results: model for physical change and model for participatory food security. It is hoped that if the mussel demonstration farm could bring about the exchange of knowledge on these two issues, undergo data analysis and data collection with the people, we might be able to develop a model of mussel development. This could be developed into a learning center on mussel breeding and “breeder bank” in the future.

ASEAN Trade liberalization in the area of aquatic farming investment may allow foreigners free access to invest in aquatic farming in the sea of Thailand, including seashore, canals, and lakes. This could have impacts on fishermen. It is a daunting challenge to bring Pattani Bay back to fertile condition, without affecting the aquatic demonstration farm. All parties concerned should realize that raising an awareness of this issue is important, particularly in the conflict area. It is crucial to engage people in the management of the Pattani Bay so as to ensure that resources are used in the most effective manner.

Output 6 Increased knowledge of and exposure to various governance models and practices

Implemented projects

Under this output, STEP has conducted activities relating to capacity building in support of the peace process in the southernmost provinces. It aims to strengthen the use of non-violence, quell violence, and find solutions through the creation of mechanism to foster cooperation among grassroots, civil society and the state.

The phenomenon of violence in the past decade has caused a large scale of death and injury and has affected people’s relationship. The protracted conflict is difficult to resolve by military means. It may require an innovative that Thailand has never used before. Nevertheless, there is some positive sign about effort to find political solution to the conflict. Experiences of conflict resolution in other countries suggest that peace process is unlikely to succeed without the engagement of “insiders” or those directly involved in the conflict. Any proposed peace agreement and problem-solving strategies might not be effective or sustainable. The underlying thinking behind this idea is that “insiders” are the one who have legitimacy to say how they want their future society to look like.

STEP project has supported workshops of the Insider Peacebuilding Platform in order to create a

STEP Project 23 common platform to bring in various stakeholders in the conflict with diverse background and views to jointly discuss, debate, and analyze the situation and work together. The implementing partners of this project include Prince of Songkla University’s Institute for Peace Studies, Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity (CSCD), Thammasat University’s Peace Information Center, Mahidol University’s Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, King Prajadhipok Institute’s Office of Peace and Governance and Deep South Watch.

Project Achievement

The achievement and sustainability of the project can be explained as follows:

1. A platform to bring together stakeholders with different background and diverse political views to jointly analyze the conflict has been created to push forward conflict transformation in a constructive manner. 2. A roadmap for peace and justice in the context of southern Thailand/Patani has been produced to support Track 1 (formal peace dialogue). Other activities to support peacebuilding and justice were also carried out to encourage people in the network to work together.

Model of Insider Peacebuilding Platform

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The workshop emphasizes on collective analysis of the conflict and a constructive process to draft a peace process roadmap. It also analyzes future scenarios and finds ways for the IPP participants to work together more closely. There are about 50 participants attending the IPP workshop, which comprises of people with different opinions from various sectors. This includes government officials, religious leaders, business people, youths, women, teachers, academics, and civil society groups working on human rights, natural resources and environment, reparation and healing, community development, peace, education, culture and political reform. Attention has been paid to have a good proportion of Thai Buddhists, Malay Muslims and Thais of Chinese descent from the area.

3. Conflict analysis was conducted and a constructive process was used to craft out a roadmap for peacebuilding in order to bring about peace writ little (a local level of sustainable peace). And use this as a basis to work together to achieve peace writ large (changes at the broader level of the society as a whole) in the future. Moreover, this activity also helps create conducive environment for the search of political solutions to the conflict and the use of non-violence, which emerges in parallel with social actions from various stakeholders in the conflict. It manifests in the new government policy on the southernmost provinces and the launching of various channels of dialogue with the militants. Civil society sector is also enthusiastic about the new direction of peacebuilding in the area that is demonstrated through a higher intensity of activities, which includes the campaigns on self-governance and decentralization. This has also led to the change in power relations between the central government and local people. 4. A policy paper was produced and released during the Southern Peace Media Day in 2014 held on 27 – 28 February 2014. This is a result of lessons learned and conclusions reached from the IPP project. The paper explains about the assets and obstacles of the peace process. It discusses eight challenging issues facing the sub-national conflict as well as proposes recommendations on how to widen and deepen the peace process in Patani/southernmost region and build peace infrastructure to support the process. The policy paper can be downloaded from here. http://issuu.com/deepsouthwatch/docs/ppp101_proceeding_ipp_policy_paper_

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Output 7 Enhanced capacities of government officials to provide effective dispute resolution mechanism

Implemented projects

Under this output, STEP has supported the strengthening of grassroots’ capacity in dispute resolution and peacebuilding through conflict-to-peace transformation leadership training project.

The project, undertaken by People’s College, has trained some 90 local leaders in order to strengthen the grassroots and increase their participation in social transformation and peace process. Targeted groups include civil society organizations, volunteers, students, representatives from SPAN, HAP, Peace Media Network, Network of Graduate Volunteers for the Development of Southern Border Provinces, Southern Islamic Culture Center, Bu-nga Raya Group, and Patani Forum.

Project Achievement

The achievement and sustainability of the project can be explained as follows:

The conflict-to-peace transformation leadership training project involves 144 hours of training and attended by 90 participants (2 batches). The continuous training allows participants from various organizations and areas to discuss and exchange their views.

The training’s curriculum focuses on peacebuilding with an emphasis on political solutions, the use of non-violent actions to resolve conflicts, and particularly the peace process. It is expected that a peace negotiation is likely to take place in the future.

Members of the People’s College, who participated in this project, have played an important role in organizing community activities and hence, they could help transfer the knowledge to other villagers. This is a means to forge a linkage between Track 2 (civil society) and Track 3 (grassroots). It was also achieved through the internship of four groups relating to the issues of peace, law, human rights, illicit drugs, democracy and the establishment of Council of Yala Youth Leaders.

The trainees expect that they could mobilize their communities and their organizations. It would be of great benefit if they could steer their activities to support the peace process and initiate peace dialogue at the community level. Peace dialogue is an interim work in the preparation for social transformation. After the completion of the leadership training, People’s College organized a series of public discussion entitled wawasan Patani 2010, which serves as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas on the peace process and the creation of visions on the future of the southernmost region. At the heart of the discussion was the issue of

STEP Project 26 peace process; how people can support the peace process, what non-violent measures/methods are appropriate for the area, how to unify civil society groups to work together on peacebuilding.

Moreover, trainees in the leadership training also had an opportunity to learn from real experiences through data collection from violence-affected areas, trial observation on security- related cases, and a study tour on participatory community management at Ban Nuea Musjid community in Kuthao sub-district in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district.

Apart from this, STEP also supports various peacebuilding initiatives through media works and academic conferences, such as the International Conference on Political Sciences and Public Administration in ASEAN, Conference on Education Institutions and their Roles in Supporting the Peace Process, International Conference on Conflicts and Peace Process in the International Arena, Workshop on the Roles of Civil Society in Peacebuilding, STEP also support a project to enhance communication process in the border area of in Narathiwat by supporting community radios work, through which community development and peace process could be strengthened. The station broadcasts in 13 districts in Narathiwat and also covers some part of state in Malaysia.

The aforementioned activities aim to create mechanism and tools to build networks, and widen communication space, for peacebuilding as well as foster cooperation among academics, civil society organizations, government agencies and other stakeholders in order to strengthen the peace process in the region.

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STEP Administration Office

College of Islamic Studies, Prince of Songkla University (Pattani Campus), Ruesamilae sub- district, Muang, Pattani 94000

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