Amina Abdulkadir of PDRC Somalia wins Peace Prize

Amina Abdulkadir, a researcher from the Peace and Development Research Centre (PDRC), has won the inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water (WPW) Prize for her contribution towards the resolution of water-related conflicts in Puntland.

Amina, 31, accepted the award on September 27 in Milan, Italy, during the first annual ‘Rules of Water, Rules for Life’ summit, organized by Milan Global, and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy. She was selected from a pool of ten finalists from Finland, Haiti, Italy, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States.

The WPW Award was established to honour women whose efforts help build peace in situations where water, as a resource, is a conflict factor. The Award also aims to redraw focus to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. Amina was lauded for her peacebuilding efforts, and particularly for advocating the work of women as peace actors in resolving conflicts between local communities in Puntland, many of which are caused by issues surrounding the sharing of resources such as land and water.

PDRC is Interpeace’s partner organization in Puntland. The organisation has played a key role in the decentralization process to local authorities and bridging the gap between the local communities and the leadership.

Amina Abdulkadir receives the WPW Prize from Diana Bracco, President of the Milan Foundation for Expo. Photo credit: ANSA

The entire Interpeace family congratulates Amina for providing the much-valued leadership and wisdom of women in building lasting peace.

State-building and peacebuilding processes in the Somali Region

With over 20 years of experience working in the Région Somali, Interpeace and its partner organizations have supported and advanced state-building and peacebuilding processes. Our work has helped transform dialogue into action in the interest of communities across the region, by convening a wide range of stakeholders in neutral political spaces. Interpeace’s long term institutional partners, the Academy for Peace and Development (APD) in Somaliland and the Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC) in Puntland, have ensured local ownership in our peacebuilding approach.

The Somali Programme consists of two main and interconnected programmes – Pillars of Peace and Democratization. With the objective to build social cohesion, the Pillars of Peace Programme, established in 2009, seeks to strengthen the ability of grassroots communities to connect and provide input into evolving governance structures. The Democratization Programme, ongoing since 2011, builds on the work of the Pillars of Peace Programme, focusing on state reconstruction, aiming to increase public trust and strengthen democratic institutions. Together, these programmes have played a major role in building bridges between local communities and their leaders at all levels.

Puntland. Photo credit: PDRC

Over the past decade, Interpeace and its Somali partners have demonstrated continued relevance and resilience in the region, being part of several key achievements. In 2010, Interpeace supported Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission as its lead international technical advisor for the successful delivery of the presidential elections. APD played a key civil society role at every level of the process, including political mediation and strengthening electoral laws. In 2012, Interpeace supported the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission in the process leading up to the ratification of a revised Puntland Constitution. Building on this basis, it worked with the Commission to lay a strong foundation from which to pursue local council elections. In the meantime, PDRC made important contributions to voter education, media preparedness and managing political sensitivities. In 2014, Interpeace began its re-engagement in the south and central regions of Somalia through the establishment of a Peacebuilding Team in the capital of the Jubaland State of Somalia. As of December 2015, the Interpeace Peacebuilding Team (IPT) has grown to include an office in Mogadishu, with a capacity to operate across south and central Somalia.

Interpeace also worked closely with key actors in the Federal Government of Somalia and the federal states, providing facilitation training to civil servants across different ministries to assist in the development of key dialogue and consultation processes around the 2016 election process and wider state-building initiatives. In Somaliland, Interpeace’s partnership with the National Electoral Commission has provided significant support to the voter registration process. And in Puntland, Interpeace worked together with PDRC to facilitate the political process leading up to the resumption of the democratization process, through the launch of a new electoral commission.

Somaliland. Photo credit: SONYO

Throughout the past two decades, we have engaged in a variety of processes to mitigate conflict. Some examples include APD’s land management process, which aims to develop legal, policy and social frameworks to prevent and resolve land-based conflict and PDRC’s Rako reconciliation process, which has given youth and women a primary role in resolving long-standing local conflict. Moreover, using communication tools such as the Mobile Audio Visual Unit (MAVU), which uses film to reach rural and marginalized communities that have limited access to information, we have promoted engagement and consultation with thousands of citizens in the region.

In the next five years, Interpeace and its partners will seek to reinforce the capacity of Somali society, both the government and citizens, to strengthen and ingrain democratic culture and practices that underpin state-building, and promote sustaining cohesion between Somalis at the local, regional and federal levels. This will be achieved by supporting effective and legitimate governance, promoting citizen ownership of democracy and peacebuilding, and enhancing the contribution of women and youth to peace and democracy.

Somaliland. Photo credit: APD

Remembering Raghe, the Great Peacebuilder

It is with an immense sense of loss that Interpeace announces the passing of Abdirahman Osman Raghe, a towering figure in the organization’s peacebuilding work in Somalia and the greater Horn of Africa.

Raghe was founding Director of Interpeace’s Somali programme and Deputy Director of the Somali programme of Interpeace’s forerunner, the War-Torn Societies Project (WSP). He spent over two decades with Interpeace in various capacities, and became one of the most important senior advisors. In 2013, he received a citation for his longstanding commitment to peace from Interpeace's Chairman Emeritus, former Ghanaian President John Kufuor.

Raghe receives a citation for his longstanding commitment to peace from Interpeace's Chairman Emeritus former President John Kufuor of Ghana. Photo credit: Interpeace

Raghe’s personal history made him a uniquely knowledgeable, experienced, and respected observer of Somali development and political issues. In his earlier years, he had served as Permanent Secretary in Somalia’s Interior Ministry until 1989, and later worked for UNDP. He returned from Canada in 1998 to help rebuild the peace in his native Somalia, which had fallen into the throes of a complex civil war during his time away.

Various colleagues and friends from the Interpeace family have described Raghe as an extraordinary peacebuilder, an exemplary father, husband and a dear friend. Johan Svensson, Interpeace’s Senior Regional Advisor for Eastern and Central Africa, remembered the pivotal role that Raghe played in the establishment of Interpeace’s Somali programme, as well as his influence on Interpeace’s general direction as a peacebuilding organization.

“Raghe was a unique man. He guided the Somali programme to great achievements over the years and influenced Interpeace’s path globally,” Mr. Svensson said. “As an organization, Interpeace benefitted from his wisdom in many ways. We will miss him, but his legacy will remain.”

Interpeace’s Regional Director for Eastern and Central Africa (ECA), Jean Paul Mugiraneza, paid tribute to Raghe’s commitment to the cause of peace and his ever readiness to hold others by the hand and win them over to the cause.

“He was a mentor to many, a true peacebuilder whose legacy remains with all of us,” said Mr. Mugiraneza. “He was a strong and loving person who was loved and admired, in return, by a whole circle of people that he touched during his lifetime. I am grateful to be one of these people.”

Interpeace’s Director-General, Scott M. Weber, remembers how Raghe instilled inspiration and courage amongst his friends and colleagues.

“Many of us who grew professionally in Interpeace did so inspired by Raghe’s example and under his watchful eye," said Mr. Weber. "When Raghe spoke, we listened. And we learned. No matter what the subject, he always delivered his message with conviction and a deep sense of purpose but also with a hard-earned wisdom many of us may never achieve. If Interpeace were a village, he would have been one of our elders.”

Raghe receives a citation for his longstanding commitment to peace from former President John Kufuor of Ghana with Director-General of Interpeace, Scott Weber. Photo credit: Interpeace

The entire Interpeace family extends its condolences to Raghe’s family, his many friends, colleagues and the entire Somali community.

Meeting the President of Somaliland: Interpeace’s Track Six Approach

In all its peacebuilding programmes around the world, Interpeace applies a approche Track 6 that establishes connections between local communities, civil society, government and the international community. This approach combines peacebuilding at the Track 1, Track 2 and Track 3 levels, ensuring that high-level policies reflect local realities and benefit from local knowledge. This contributes to the legitimacy and sustainability of the policies developed and adopted.

Examples of Interpeace's Track 6 Approach in Somaliland.

Interpeace’s work in Somaliland offers a clear example of the Track 6 approach. The organization has since 2005 worked closely with its Somaliland partner, the Academy for Peace and Development (APD), to support Somaliland’s democratic process. This partnership has ensured the placement of local populations and civil society at the centre of peacebuilding efforts, enriching Somaliland’s democratization process by providing spaces for dialogue, reconciliation, and ultimately, state building.

On the high level spectrum of the Track 6 approach, Interpeace engages policy and decision makers at the national and international level. A recent example was when on 24 August 2016, President Ahmed Mohammed Mohamud Silanyo of Somaliland held audience with an Interpeace delegation led by Director-General Scott Weber, accompanied by Interpeace’s Regional Director for Eastern and Central Africa (ECA), Jean-Paul Mugiraneza; Mohamed Farah, the Director of Interpeace’s partner organization, APD; and Interpeace’s Democratization Advisor Khadar Guleid.

President Ahmed Mohammed Mohamud Silanyo of Somaliland with the Interpeace delegation led by Director-General Scott Weber. Photo credit: Interpeace

During the meeting, President Silanyo appreciated Interpeace’s work in Somaliland over the last 20 years.

“We view you [Interpeace] as one of our closest and most understanding allies, and are deeply grateful for the support and assistance you have provided at such crucial moments as during the 2010 election, and again today as we approach another landmark election. We very much value the role you play in Somaliland, which we feel is crucial to ensuring peace, harmony and prosperity to our people,” President Silanyo said.

While discussing the positive transformations that have taken place in Somaliland, the President also took the chance to articulate the work that remains to be done: strengthening the democratization process, revising the Constitution and preventing border conflicts. Efforts are now centred on the preparations for the presidential elections, which will be held on March 2017. The voter registration process has been underway since the Somaliland National Electoral Commission (NEC) launched a biometric voter registration process in January 2016, with technical support from Interpeace and APD. Interpeace and its partner organizations continue to work with the community, civil society and the Federal Government to ensure that the elections are just, free and fair.

Mr. Weber later met with the Speaker of Somaliland’s Parliament, the Minister of Planning, the Minister of State for Security and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Interpeace's Director General Scott Weber at Somaliland. Photo credit: Interpeace

Puntland Democratization Process Resumes after Three Years

After three years in limbo, the democratization process in Puntland has officially resumed with the inauguration of the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) in April 2016.

The process had stalled following the postponement of elections in 2013 elections, despite unremitting pressure from civil society and other stakeholders to move the process forward.

The nine-member TPEC was officially confirmed by the Puntland House of Representatives in an extraordinary session on 24 April 2016, marking the much awaited resumption of the Puntland Democratization Process.

Peace and Development Research Center. Photo credit: Interpeace

Photo credit: PDRC

Following this confirmation, Interpeace’s partner in Puntland, the Peace and Development Research Center (PDRC), worked with TPEC to organize a launch ceremony and an induction workshop for the newly endorsed commissioners.

The packed programme kicked off with PDRC Acting Director Ali Farah Ali, who laid out the important objectives of the ceremony and induction workshop. This was followed by opening remarks from the new TPEC Chairman, who highlighted the importance of all democratization stakeholders, including civil society, religious leaders, and government, to engage in the democratization process in order for it to succeed. All of these stakeholders were represented in the ceremony and enthusiastically pledged their support to the process. Later in the programme, a keynote address was delivered by Puntland Vice President Abdihakin Abdullahi Haji Omar, who emphasized the government’s commitment to supporting TPEC.

Puntland’s Vice President, Abdihakin Abdullahi Haji Omar. Photo credit: PDRC.

In the induction workshop for the new TPEC officials, the PDRC research team and members of the Commission examined important elements in the democratization process, including the legal framework and lessons learned from previous electoral processes. In a later interactive session, participants examined the next steps for TPEC in preparing for federal and provincial processes that will take place in the coming four years.

Interpeace and its partners have supported democratization processes in the Somali Region since 2005. These recent developments mark an important milestone in the Puntland Democratization Process, as well as in the wider Somali Democratization Process.

Photo credit: PDRC.

Somaliland successfully launches voter registration

Somaliland takes another step forward in its democratization process with the launch of biometric voter registration

After several months of careful preparations, Somaliland marked an important step forward in the democratization process with the launch of a biometric voter registration process on 16 January 2016. The Somaliland National Electoral Commission (NEC) launched the operation in Togdheer region, following which voters will be registered over the next months throughout all the six regions of Somaliland.

Somaliland has held five successful elections since 2002 as part of its democratization process. While national and international observers have generally deemed these elections peaceful and credible, all but one have been held without a voter register, leaving the process susceptible to problems such as multiple voting.

As the Academy for Peace and Development (APD) notes in its report on Confronting the Future of Somaliland’s Democracy, the experiences of the 2012 local council elections particularly convinced political actors that developing a voter register was essential for the credibility and integrity of future elections in Somaliland. APD is Interpeace’s long-standing partner organization in Somaliland and the two organizations have worked closely on democratisation in Somaliland together. Interpeace has been NEC’s international partner since 2004, facilitating technical support and providing a peacebuilding lens to the democratization process in collaboration with APD.

NEC is using an iris-capture biometric voter registration system – the first of its kind to be used in Africa to register voters across Somaliland. This is an important step forward in the democratization process for Somaliland as well as a milestone for the region.