Insider mediators assist families in resolving coffee land disputes in Rutana

In Burundi, coffee production is a central part of the economy. In the 1980s, in a spirit of growth, the state strictly regulated coffee growing and management practices. Owners of land along the main roads were required to plant coffee. If they did not, they could lose their right to use the land to other coffee growers.

In the Rutana area, two families made an amicable arrangement to comply with this obligation. To keep her land, one landowner lent it to a family seeking farmland to grow coffee and bananas. Unfortunately, when the landowner died, this agreement disappeared. Her descendants demanded the restitution of the land. Tensions were so high that the local authorities advised both families to take legal action.

To avoid a costly lawsuit, the families accepted the offer of insider mediators to help them resolve their conflict. After a lengthy discussion facilitated by the mediators, the landowner's children understood better the ancient practice of supporting farmers lacking land and the need to find a solution that would benefit both families. Finally, both parties reached a new agreement. They decided that the landowner would get his land back once the bananas were ready to be harvested. In addition, the farmer would be able to cut the coffee cuttings and replant them on his land. Finally, as a sign of reconciliation, the two families celebrated their agreement over a banana beer.

Local mediators facilitating the peaceful resettlement of communities in Burundi

When civil war broke out in Burundi in 1993, many communities fled the mountainous regions to settle in the commune of Muhanga in Kayanza province. Although the war ended, new tensions arose. Landowners wanted to reclaim the land where displaced communities had taken refuge. In 2021, the National Commission on Land and Other Assets (CNTB) granted their request for restitution.

However, not all displaced families were ready to return to their region. These mountains were a reminder of a past forever marked by violence for many. Moreover, many could not imagine living alongside those who had taken part in the massacres targeting their ethnic group. Their request was simple: that the families be relocated to a place where they felt safe.

That's when the insider mediators stepped in to help the host and displaced communities find a solution that worked for everyone. "We were aware that the problem was very complex. So we had to proceed with caution. It was crucial to seek alternative solutions from both communities," explained one of the mediators.

Thus, the mediators brought together representatives of the displaced and the landowners so that everyone could express themselves. Together, they discussed possible solutions that would also preserve peaceful coexistence between the two communities.

Once an agreement was reached, the mediators briefed the governor on the risks of a forced return and the solutions both communities proposed. "If we forcefully displace these families, we risk provoking violence. This will not benefit either side of the conflict," explained André, an insider mediator.

It was a success. Of the 38 displaced families, 31 were given other land to settle on. For those displaced families who wanted to return, the local government provided financial assistance to rebuild their homes.

My life had no meaning

 

Effective rehabilitation and reintegration should be integral to societal healing and peacebuilding processes in countries like Rwanda, which experienced the worst atrocities, such as the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Listen to how, in Rwanda, Interpeace uses a group-based Sociotherapy healing approach to contribute to the psychological rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners about to be released.

 

Rwanda Programme Intervention Protocols

Interpeace has been working with the government and non-governmental actors in Rwanda  for over 20 years, focusing on societal healing and participatory governance. Currently, Interpeace is implementing a holistic peacebuilding programme titled ‘Reinforcing community capacity for social cohesion and reconciliation through societal trauma healing in Rwanda’. This programme has four pillars: mental health and support; social cohesion and reconciliation; collaborative livelihoods; and prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration.

Interpeace and its partners have collaborated with national and international experts to design structured psycho-social interventions, scientifically known as ‘protocols’, which aim to support healing and peace processes. These protocols include resilience-oriented therapy, adaptations of sociotherapy, multifamily therapy, the collaborative livelihoods (COLIVE) protocol, the prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration curriculum, and the socio-emotional skills curriculum.

These protocols guide interventions in healing spaces for Genocide survivors, Genocide perpetrators, former combatants, and their descendants. They facilitate mutual healing and reconciliation, strengthen the mental resilience of individuals and communities, promote family cohesion, and address the intergenerational transmission of Genocide legacies. They also underpin initiatives to develop collaborative livelihoods and skills development, and the psychological rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners, particularly those convicted of Genocide crimes.

End-line Evaluation Report of the Rwanda Societal Healing Pilot Programme (2020 -2022)

From October 2020 to September 2022, Interpeace, in partnership with Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR), piloted a holistic peacebuilding programme entitled “Reinforcing community capacity for social cohesion and reconciliation through societal trauma healing” in Bugesera District, Eastern Province of Rwanda. The programme, funded by the European Union, aimed to support the government’s efforts to build a resilient, cohesive, and inclusive Rwandan society.

The programme sought to address mental health issues, strengthen social cohesion and reconciliation, and promote sustainable collaborative livelihoods among Genocide survivors, perpetrators, their descendants, and prisoners.  Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) tools, also known as “Protocols,” were developed and contextualised to guide programme interventions and make the approach more relevant, effective, and efficient.

According to the final evaluation and the endline survey to assess its impact and effectiveness, the programme led to significant individual, family, community, and institutional changes. A total of 7,313 people, including 3,323 males and 3,990 females, were reached by the programme through community-based healing spaces created across Bugesera District, as well as institutional capacity-building initiatives.

Regarding effectiveness, the evaluation found that the programme largely achieved its targets. Cumulatively, 84% of targets were fully achieved (100% or above), and 10% of the targets were substantially achieved, falling between 75% and 99%.

For more information, download the report below and visit the Rwanda Societal Healing Programme’s specific webpage: https://www.interpeace.org/mhpss-rwanda/

The Ethiopian Peace Index

Peace in Ethiopia has long faced significant challenges, with recent events in the Northern as well as other parts of the country exacerbating the already delicate situation. To promote social cohesion and reconciliation, reflection internal to the country is needed, along with an appraisal of the native, existing capacities that could promote lasting peace at the local, regional and national levels. This pilot study presents the first deployment of the Ethiopian Peace Index (EPI), a participatory, quantitative research tool designed to measure a broad range of peace factors and the relationships between them. With its evidence base grounded in statistical analyses, the Ethiopian Peace Index seeks to inform peacebuilding design and improve the focus and effectiveness of work in this area by identifying the drivers of peacefulness and cohesion and so proposing entry points for transformative interventions. The EPI is a flexible tool which provides a quantitative evidence base that can (and should) be revisited and reanalysed as new needs and research questions arise. This report provides in-depth analysis of peacefulness and conflict, food security, mental well-being, and gender equality outcomes in the regions under study. In each case, the underlying drivers of these outcomes are drawn out, outlining the way forward with optimum impact. For this pilot study, the EPI was deployed in three regions in the south of Ethiopia: Sidama, the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP), and the South West Ethiopia Peoples’ (SWEP) regions. Surveys were used to collect data from randomly selected participants: 808 citizens, 101 traditional leaders and 101 Kebele administrators.