Youth in Garissa County have been challenged to do more to end radicalization and counter violent extremism.
According to Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo, the solutions to violent extremism and fragility do not lie solely in national policies or global forums—they reside in the hearts and hands of local communities.
The County Commissioner spoke at a Garissa hotel during the closing ceremony of a 3-day training on countering violent extremism using a Positive Peace approach.
The training that was organized by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in partnership with the Australian High Commission in Nairobi saw 30 youth and peace actors trained on countering and prevention of violent extremism using a unique model called ‘a positive peace famework’.
“You are the true architects of peace. By applying the pillars of Positive Peace—such as good governance, equitable distribution of resources, and the free flow of information—we can address the conditions that allow violence to take root,” the County Commissioner said.
He challenged the youth to use the knowelge they have been equipped with by taking it back to their communities saying that they have a big role to play in promoting peace.
“You are now equipped not just with knowledge, but with a responsibility to take what you’ve learned back to your communities, to continue building networks of trust, and to champion the principles of Positive Peace in all that you do,”he said.
“As we depart, I challenge each of us to ask to ask him or herself what will I do differently tomorrow to help build a more peaceful Kenya? Let us keep these conversations alive, let us support one another, and let us amplify the voices of those often unheard,”he added.
Dr. Dan Odaba,the Director Southern Africa, Institute for Economics and Peace(IEP) disclosed that their research has found out that Garissa and Lamu counties are the most affected in terms of radicalization and violent extremism.
“As IEP we come in to try and mitigate on issues to do with training and making sure that we empower them with skills and knowledge to be able to avoid being lured into illegal grouping or radicalization and moreso violent extremism,” said Dr. Odaba
He disclosed that IEP intends to continue with the program in terms of following up on the action plans and doing more trainings on issues to do with development.
“We want to equip the youth in the affected counties with skills and knowelge on how they can be in a position to have income generating activities which will help them not to be lured by radicalized groups or get into violent extremism,”he said.
He acknowelged that the level of radicalization in the county have siginificantly reduced attributing this to several interventions from both state and non state actors involving the the youth whom he noted have been more active in terms of educating each other on the dangers of radicalization and violent extremism.
He said that going forward,they expect the youth to implent their action plans to be able to inform their communities and make sure that many of the youth within the county avoid issues to do with radicalization and violent extremism.
Imran,a resident of Mandera and who is also the Founder & Executive Director Ergo International Peace Initiative, an national NGO dealing with peacebuilding and conflict resolution disclosed that Mandera has also also had its fair share of cases tourching on vioent extremism.
“We are training these local peace actors to take an active role in these countering violent extremism so that they become the baffer zone for communities who are affected by terrorism acts in North Eastern Kenya,” he said.
Daiman Dakane reiterated the important role played by women in peace building saying that for the longest time women have been playing the biggest role in ensuring that families are united and the communities are held together.
“Unfortunately we have not been on the decision making table. It is for this reason that we are here to push and ensure that the voices that are behind are heard,”she said.
Participants had the chance to learn the skills and practical knowledge needed to design a project using the IEP framework.
They were also taught on how they can do resource mobilization to fund their operations.
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