LAFIA (PEOPLE AT PEACE) Quarterly Report JANUARY 1 – MARCH 31, 2021 Program Information Grantee: Mercy Corps Project Title: People at Peace (Lafia) Grant Number: 720-688-20-CA-00001 Country: Mali Funding Amount: $ 1,684,850.00 Grant Dates: 10/16/2019 – 09/30/2021 Quarter (Dates) being discussed: 01/01/2021 – 03/31/2021 Date Progress Report is submitted: April 30, 2021 Table of Contents ACRONYMS 1 PROGRAM SCOPE OF WORK 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 PROGRAM ACHIEVEMENTS 4 Contextual Information 4 Progress by Program Objectives 4 MONITORING, EVALUATION & LEARNING 13 CHALLENGES & LESSONS LEARNED 14 Challenges and Lessons Learned 14 Sustainability 14 Environmental Compliance 14 PLANNED ACTIVITIES – NEXT QUARTER 15 Tables & Figures Table 1: Summary of S4C Sessions ................................................................................................................ 5 Table 2: EWER system challenges and recommendations ............................................................................. 9 Table 3: Identified conflict drivers and proposed joint projects ...................................................................... 10 Figure 1: Incidents collected by the Bamako EWER ....................................................................................... 8 ACRONYMS CAFO Coordination of Women's Associations and NGOs in Mali (Coordination des Associations et ONGs Féminines du Mali) CMM Conflict Management and Mitigation CMAS Coordination des mouvements, Associations et Sympathisants de l'Imam Mahmoud Dicko CNJ National Youth Council (Le Conseil National de la Jeunesse du Mali) COFO Commission Fonciere (Land commission) CSA Peace Agreement Monitoring Committee (Comité de Suivi de l’Accord de paix) CVE Countering Violent Extremism DDR Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States EMEP Mixed Team for a Peaceful Environment (Equipe Mixte pour un Environnement Paisible) EMK Mouvement Espoir Mali Koura EWER Early Warning Early Response FAMA Malian Armed Forces FSD Front pour la Sauvegarde de la Démocratie MEL Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning M5 Mouvement du 5 juin MINUSMA United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali MOU Memorandum of Understanding OCI Organizational Capacity Index RECOTRAD Network of Traditional Communicators for the Development of Mali S4C Sports for Change TOC Theory of Change UJMMA Union of Young Muslims (l'Union des Jeunes Musulmans du Mali) UNPBF United Nations Peacebuilding Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development VEO Violent Extremist Organization VRAI Vulnerabilities and Resilience Assessment Initiative VRAI-CVE Vulnerabilities and Resilience Assessment Initiative to Counter Violent Extremism MERCY CORPS Lafia: Quarterly Report, Jan-Mar. 2021 1 PROGRAM SCOPE OF WORK As instability has wrecked northern and central Mali since 2012, Mali’s south and west have remained relatively stable. However, multiple tensions now threaten that fragile peace. In both urban and rural areas, male and female youth are frustrated at perceived injustices, lack of economic opportunities and the absence of functioning government services. In rural areas, competition for land and water between Fulani pastoralists and Bambara and Soninke farmers may trigger the further spread of violence if left unmanaged. At the political level, resentment against a perceived lack of engagement of the south in national peace processes coupled with the flow of resources to northern and central Mali is considered a further risk to southern stability. In response to these trends, Mercy Corps and Think Peace are implementing “Lafia,” meaning “People at Peace” in Bambara, a two-year, $1,499,526 program that aims to support urban and rural communities in southern and western Mali to increase resilience to conflict and violent extremism. Through a people-to-people approach bringing together political and religious leaders and young men and women from different ethnic groups, Lafia aims to increase local capacities to counter drivers of conflict and extremism through three interlinked objectives: 1) Youth reduce their vulnerability to participating in conflict and violent extremism; 2) Traditional, religious and female leaders, and government officials resolve inter-group conflicts peacefully and reduce conflict drivers; and 3) Local communities actively engage with relevant government authorities and civil society actors in the implementation of national policies that prevent violent extremism and promote reconciliation. MERCY CORPS Lafia: Quarterly Report, Jan-Mar. 2021 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Lafia aims to help communities in rural and urban areas to strengthen their resilience to possible conflicts that may arise within communities. During this reporting period (January-March 2021), the program continued to build the capacity of youth and leaders on various themes. Primary activities included the training of coaches on the Sport for Change modules, regular technical support to the implementing partner Think Peace to ensure effective and efficient implementation of activities, and consistent, daily monitoring of the early warning system in the different communes of intervention. Activities under each Objective undertaken during this quarter are as follows. Objective 1: Youth reduce their vulnerability to participating in conflict and violent extremism Activity 1.2. 80 Sport for Change Clubs set-up to involve 2000 youth at risk of participation in conflict in identification and resolution of conflict in collaboration with youth leaders. Work completed under this activity includes: o Trained 30 coaches from Diema and Yelimae on the last eight modules of S4C activities o Conducted 904 Sport for Change sessions Activity 1.3.1 Youth design and implement action plans that address risk factors for violence o Conducted three multimedia campaigns and one community initiative Activity 1.3.2 Training sessions on non-violent advocacy and conflict resolution o Trained 55 young leaders, including 22 women, on non-violent advocacy in three-day sessions in Kayes and Bamako Objective 2: Traditional, religious, and female leaders and government officials resolve inter-group conflicts peacefully and reduce conflict drivers Activity 2.2. Trained leaders participate in 12 conflict resolution forums to share lessons and develop/adapt EWER systems to needs of zones of intervention. o Ongoing monitoring of the EWER System o Organized two conflict resolution forums for the communes of Kayes and Falémé Activity 2.3. Justice and security officials, land commission members, and community leaders participate in 8 community dialogues to discuss conflict risks and causes and create action plans to prevent violence. Organized four workshops in Bamako, Kayes, Diéma and Yelimane to facilitate dialogue between communities and local authoritiesActivity 2.4. Communities, in collaboration with local authorities, implement joint projects that address one or more conflict drivers. o Implemented a joint project in the Kayes cercle in order to address the conflict between farmers and herders. Objective 3: Local communities actively engage with relevant government authorities and civil society actors in the implementation of national policies that prevent violent extremism and promote reconciliation Activity 3.1. Civil society organizations, including youth associations, increase their knowledge of the CVE strategy o Trained 24 civil society and youth organization leaders on the national strategy to prevent violent extremism from February 12 to 13, 2021 in Kayes. In addition, the MEL team conducted a mid-term evaluation in November 2020. This evaluation looked at the relevance and effectiveness of activities implemented throughout the first year of the project. MERCY CORPS Lafia: Quarterly Report, Jan-Mar. 2021 3 PROGRAM ACHIEVEMENTS Contextual Information During the first quarter of 2021, the humanitarian context continued to worsen due to conflict and violence. Inter- and intra-community conflicts in the central region in particular, the presence of non-state armed groups (NSAGs), and criminality and banditry continue to weaken the context and negatively impact Malian communities. For instance, in March 338 security incidents were recorded, including 8 related to NGOs1. In addition, the past quarter was marked by continued socio-political tensions. On January 26, a health sector strike took place following the assassination of the technical director of the Boura Health Center in Yorosso cercle in the Sikasso region. In Bamako on January 20, the association "Yerewolo debout" (Malians, Stand Up) organized a demonstration against the French presence in Mali, which was dispersed by security forces. Regarding the implementation of the Algiers Peace Agreement, progress remains slow, which has provoked reactions from some civil society actors. On January 28, a collective called the "Front du Refus de l'Accord de Paix" (Front of Refusal of the Peace Agreement) was created; they organized a demonstration in Bamako on March 13 to denounce the peace agreement. Meanwhile, the Comité de suivi de l’Accord (Monitoring Committee of the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation or CSA) continues to meet. A symbolic meeting was held on February 11 in Kidal, and a second was held in Kayes on March 29. For its part, the government has appointed a new representative of the Head of State for the implementation of the peace agreement. In terms of security incidents, there was a slight increase of incidents