CPVESOM committed to fostering and changing the mindset of youth and young adults by addressing the domestic challenges, drivers, and bushes to violence extremism through thinking and communication tools that logically identify their personal, community, and environmental challenges. By providing alternatives to overcome key limitations that inhibit them from achieving a non-violent, peaceful, and better life,. Engaging communities of all ages and backgrounds with the critical thinking tools, skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes they need to overcome the challenges and take positive actions against violence.
Interventions and Activities
The intervention of social change is designed to engage youth as the major actors of conflicts and insecurity in Somalia.
The training session activities shifted from Mogadishu to Garowe due to insecurity events and to avoid any risk that could interrupt the intervention participation and risk the lives of youth who were involved in the initiatives. Garowe was relatively safer and gave freedom of participation.
| First day orientation activities July 2022 |
The intervention plan included an affiliation with universities to reach out and identify the target participants in Garowe city who would be given the opportunity to be trained in conflict resolution, thinking and communication skills, and to be transformed from being at risk into peace agents. The intervention linked participants with the universities and integrated with the educations sector, where they were welcomed officially by the Academic Vice President of Admas University in Garowe who stated, “Education is the key of life and I am proud that you have the opportunity to participate in Rotary activities and explore more about peace and new skills for making a positive decision” The intervention designed an implementation strategy in a systematic way by effectively delivering the intended training session and tools.
Activities
The first step before the implementation of the initiatives was engaging with local university and city administrations, youth groups, and others for setting up the training sessions and volunteerism activities and ensuring a thorough understanding of the intervention activities with targeted groups.
The summery of the activities is highlighted in the following table.
| s/n | Planned activities | Status |
| 1 | Undertake the selection and Registration process of the Youth TOC for education tools trainings | Completed |
| 2 | Preparation of training material | Completed |
| 3 | Orientation workshop – Pre-training | Completed |
| 4 | Introduction Positive peace Education | |
| 5 | TOCfE communication and thinking skills (Cloud, ATT, Branch) | Completed |
| 6 | Employability skills training Job application and CV written | Completed |
| 7 | Youth integration with the community | Postponed |
Out-reaching
Several organizations including Bareedo platforms posted the introduction of intervention for reaching out to the youth and providing a wider understanding of the program in the community to include local and international NGO networks. The Peace Fellow SCI director received a lot of request messages from youth around the country to join the intervention.
Interactive training sessions.
Recording the Expectations:
Participants were asked to express their expectations responding why they came to attend the training. And they were requested to write down their expectations on post notes and attach them on a flipchart paper on the wall entitled “expectations” The participants liked posting their expectation without putting names and later the facilitator collected and made a summary of the posted notes.
Group discussion.
Participants were divided into several groups with a different education level and different gender for creating a cooperative atmosphere, where the participants could practice, communicate and listen to each other and gain understanding of their interests and needs.
Youth tend to listen and communicate effectively when they are using TOCfE tools and when using the tools to solve their own problems on preventing a negative decision and achieving a win-win solution.
Mr. Hasan, one of the participants after using conflict prevention method, explains how it was simple to identify obstacles that surround them and push youth to make wrong decision without thinking critically. “This method let me listen to myself and my inner thinking that tells me not to take wrong decision which ends up with a negative consequence.”
Key findings / impact
Through the application of TOCfE tools and methodologies, participants modified their attitudes towards prevention of youth radicalization and interpersonal conflicts and developed a commitment towards peace and to becoming a peace agent wherever it is needed. Indeed, in one training session, a group of participants wrote a Cloud to analyze a conflict within a particular family related to radicalization.
What a powerful example of the impact this training can have to resolve conflict within families, improve relationships, reduce stress and bring peace of mind to everyone involved in these decisions.
Youth participating in the initiatives affirmed that the main drive of youth to radicalization is weak governance and state fragility that has failed to provide adequate services including quality education, and employment. They also emphasized the lack of inclusion in political and socioeconomic decisions along with the lack of interventions to provide needed social and life skills.
In addressing these issues, the TOC ‘Theory of Change’ provided them with a simple and easy way to identify their social and interpersonal challenges and to develop a strong sense of identity, purpose, and community.
Impact analysis – Measuring the change and impact
The participants received pre questionnaires to measure their attitude and behavior towards either a passive or violent orientation as well as knowledge, critical thinking and skill in resolving conflicts nonviolently, The post questionnaire was given to measure the extent to which the intervention had impact on the behavioral change. The questionnaires were developed to indicate their opinions or feelings about fighting, respect, perception about peace and conflict, confident of achieving goals, making positive decisions and arguments using finger pointing language.
In the pre-questionnaire the participants had the perception that they are powerful with a gun, and willing to fight. One of the participants expressed “I join armed groups because I want to feel accepted by the group.” However, in the post questionnaire, the participants showed they are not willing to fight and react but prefer to communicate, negotiate and respond logically–to understand their wants and needs in order to achieve win-win solutions without compromising the important needs
In the assessment done before the intervention, less than 10% of the participants stated that they have confidence to achieve goals, but after the trainings that had equipped them with TOCfE tools, their confidence had increased up to 90% to make decisions, overcome challenges and achieve their intended positive goals. Additionally, according to the results of the pre-questionnaire, participants were lacking the skills to identify constraints and resolve conflicts, but the post-questionnaires show that participants dramatically improved skills and ability to identify constraints and ways to overcomes and resolve conflicts.
Effect Gender inclusivity empowers peace community.
In order to enable gender analysis, this initiative included equal number of males and females. Methodologies were used to encourage participants to work in mixed gender groups.
At the beginning of the training session, females were not accepted to sit with boys in working groups and male participants preferred to work in groups of the same gender. However, it has been observed as they became equipped with TOC communication and thinking skills participants changed their perception regarding the difference of gender and worked collaboratively in mixed gender working groups.
Closing ceremony
We change the negative perception towards positive coexistences and better life for all.
Training Materials and funds for the Initiatives implementations
The Mid-Bay Rotary Club supported the implementations of SCI initiatives for providing funding support which made it possible to reach out the target youth and run the implantation successfully.
Furthermore, the training materials were donated through Mid-Bay Rotary Club’s ‘Pathways to Peace’ project and written by Mid-Bay Peace Project Director and District 6940 Peace Fellow Chair. Rotary Club of Mid-Bay Bridge Choctawhatchee Bay was chartered June 29, 1993, is a Peace Builder Club and meets weekly in Niceville, Florida, USA.
The methodology used in the materials is, in the words of former Los Angeles, California school principal, Denise Meyer, “simple enough to be used by kindergartners and profound enough to be used by CEO’s.” (The Why and How of Thinking in School) The tools are visually presented and logically sequenced to enable participants of all ages and abilities to understand, remember and replicate. The methodology enables the underlying theory of change to yield practical, relevant outcomes to participants’ daily lives. Furthermore, the training materials were designed to work with all ages, cultures and political systems the coaching cycle utilizes provoking questions and a sequenced, progressive learning curve to enable participants to take full ownership of their changes in attitudes and behavioral outcomes.