Using ICTs to prevent, manage and resolve crises • 1/2006 Welcome Welcome to the first edition of Peace IT!, journal for conflict and crisis management professionals. The journal introduces how ICTs can be used effectively to prevent, manage and resolve crisis to the benefit of peace and security. The Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) has worked to establish greater awareness and understanding among different actors on the role that ICT can play in supporting the fulfilment of political mandates. CMI also looks at how decision-makers, governments, NGOs, international organisations and the private sec- tor can ensure connectivity and adequate information Early Warning sharing. As a strategic peacebuilding organisation, CMI rec- and Response ognises the added value of ICTs in peace and security Sri Lankan Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE) is run- and through Peace IT! wants to highlight the good ning a pioneering early warning and response system practises in the field and to further contribute to the in the war torn Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka with community of practise. the aid of ICTs. What makes it really dynamic is the We warmly thank the ICT4Peace Foundation for its simultaneous involvement of grassroots level early financial and substantive support in producing this warning and early response with the use of advanced Journal. In this issue of Peace IT! we focus on conflict and technology. See page 2. crisis management NGOs and how they make use of ICTs in their everyday work. Sanjana Hattotuwa from In this issue: Sri Lankan InfoShare raises two crucial issues: hope and human emotions, which at first probably do not Lessons from the field 2 seem to have much to do with ICTs, but are in the cen- From SMS to Political Action tre of ICT for peacebuilding. In another article about - Early Warning and Response in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka you can read how a simple SMS can lead to political action among high-level actors. This issue of Lessons from the field 3 Peace IT! also features upcoming events, learning ini- ICTs creating hope: tiatives and reports. Interview with Sanjana Hattotuwa Peace IT! encourages discussion, exchange of infor- Latest 5 mation and ideas. We would like to invite you to be Linking up Lebanon part of this debate, getting inspired by innovations - Télécoms Sans Frontières operation and good practises and inspiring others with your work. If you have information on case studies, events Coming up and follow up… 6 or good practises, don’t hesitate to contact us. Conferences, events, reports • Safer Field Operations. Launching SIRS: the Safety Information Reporting Service • CTU and ITU Emergency Telecommunications Event, Jamaica 26-28 September • Report on the Role of ICT in Preventing, Responding to and Recovering from Conflict Rob Watson Director, Conflict Prevention Learning and Networking 7 and Crisis Response Programme Crisis Management Initiative Fahamu- Learning for Change Lessons from the field From SMS to political action – Early Warning and Early Response in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE) is running a pioneering early warning and response system in the war FCE Early Warning system torn Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka with the aid of ICTs. The project effectively combines staff based in the region with SMS Alert Service Special Risk Assessment Reports FEW motor bikes and handphones, with a computerised system for data input, analysis and dissemination (the Swiss FAST System). A Track 1 Legislators F The analysis generated is so reliable it is used by deci- Bi Monthly and political stake holders Policy Programme F Human Security Decision-Makers Redesigning Negotiations Process E sion-makers across the board for up-to-the-hour informa- Peace Secretariat LEGISLATORS & working with the peace secretariat C Risk Assessment POLITICAL STAKE Position Papers tion. What makes this initiative really dynamic is the simul- Reports Sri Lankan Peace Process T HOLDERS at Crossroads E D taneous involvement of grassroots-level early warning and Track 2 Middle Range Leaders Respected in Society Problem-solving workshop P early response - with the use of advanced technology. Monthly Human Ethnic Religious leaders Training in Conflict Resolution O Security Round Academics/Intellectuals Peace Commissions P FCE operates on the basis of a strong belief that in order table Meeting Humanitarian Leaders (NGOS) FCE HEAD Insider-Partial Teams OFFICE U to truly achieve conflict prevention we must seek to build Level 3 Grassroots L Peace Committees A coexistence. Learning to live together and to accept differ- Zonal Committees Local peace commissions T Co-Existence Groups Grassroot training I ence is key to achieving sustainable human security and Daily Situation Local leaders FCE DISTRICT Prejudice reduction O Indigenous NGO’s OPERATIONS Psycholsocial work in N Report Community groups post war trauma remains a major challenge. FCE is an attempt to respond Local health officers to that challenge. Refugee camp leaders Sri Lanka has a long and painful history of violent in- MANY ter-ethnic and civil war. Since 1983 the country has been in a state of violent conflict, when tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted into war. a situation like this could give rise to communal tension). Twenty years of fighting followed, in which tens of thou- Interestingly, collaborative or peace initiatives are also re- sands died. In 2002 a cease-fire was agreed between the ported. The officers monitor the national and local press, Government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers of Tamil Eelam radio and television media coverage because some events (LTTE), but violations have been frequent and the situation that take place in other parts of the country may affect the is deteriorating. situation in the East and vice versa. In response to this ongoing conflict, the Foundation for At the Information Centre – the third component of the Coexistence began its work in the Eastern Province of Sri early warning – the information is then collated and en- Lanka in 2003 with the goal of developing an early warn- tered into the FAST system. Once credibility has been veri- ing and early response mechanism. This is an experimental fied, FCE disseminates the information to a network of deci- effort to integrate early warning and early response into a sion makers, and if necessary, takes action through a Rapid common framework. Response mechanism. The dissemination of information The early warning system has three main components. is implemented through advocacy programme, which in- The foundation of the system is a community-based net- cludes producing daily, monthly and quarterly reports and work made up of coexistence committees, peace commit- holding monthly roundtable discussions with multilateral tees and zonal committees at the grassroots level. The agencies. 610 volunteers involved represent different ethnic groups The FCE early response mechanism is driven by a net- (Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese), religious leaders, women work of stakeholders that include the field monitors, co-ex- and youth organizations. At the same time they monitor istence committees, peace committees, zonal committees, and identify the peace and conflict indicators and serve as humanitarian agencies, government agencies, the security a mechanism for implementing early action at the local establishment, non-governmental organisations, local au- level. thorities, religious organisations and victims of violence. Secondly, the Early Warning system consists of 20 field Through this response mechanism, these stakeholders have monitors equipped with mobile phones and motorbikes. been brought together to work collaboratively to formulate These monitors are local members of the communities they and implement early responses when tensions increase and represent and are based in the conflict region to monitor there is a heightened potential for violence. Many of these the ground situation through peace and conflict indicators. stakeholders are involved in gathering and disseminating They report on it daily by phone, sms or email to the In- information. These networks have enhanced the capacity formation Centre based in the capital. They also collect the for conflict prevention in the districts. information through a network of contacts at a community The value of this innovative system is proven by a range level. of actors in the peace process in Sri Lanka, including gov- Information received includes minor altercations be- ernment officials, peace monitors and embassy staff. This tween two people of different ethnic groups that may re- system is exemplary in its approach and provides a highly sult in a full-blown conflict (an example would include an relevant and cost effective model that could be adapted to accident between a Tamil taxi driver and a Muslim cyclist- other needs in conflicts around the world. 2 Lessons from the field ICTs Creating Hope Interview with Sanjana Hattotuwa Sanjana is the Head of ICT and Peacebuilding Unit at InfoShare, Sri Lankan NGO based in Colombo. CMI: How does the use of ICTs help you in your peace No longer are news services cut off from the frontlines of work in Sri Lanka? conflict. Citizens with mobile phones are the new report- Sanjana: In a conflict situation, as in Sri Lanka, fear and ers of our information age. The web is ubiquitous. I was polarisation close down the space for the exchange of interested in how these developments could engender a ideas. We use ICTs to open up space for expressing differ- radical