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Somalia

UNICEF Somalia 2014 Annual Report: Peacebuilding, education and advocacy in conflict-affected contexts programme

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Executive Summary The Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy (PBEA) programme aims to strengthen social cohesion and resilience in conflict-affected contexts, which includes countries at risk of experiencing or recovering from conflict. In Somalia, the first phase of the PBEA programme, or Fast Track, ran from September 2012 until June 2013, and included the results from the conflict analysis, which enabled the Country Office to increase access to education in the Central South Zone (CSZ) that was previously inaccessible. Preliminary findings from the conflict analysis became available in November 2013 and the three conflict drivers identified were:

• The marginalization of youth. Youth who feel excluded from political, economic and social processes, including educated youth who are unable to access suitable employment and uneducated youth who have few options for gaining an independent livelihood apart from joining clans or religious or freelance armed or criminal groups.

• Loss of traditional values and a culture of violence. Throughout community-level consultations, it was reported that the loss of traditional values perpetuates the conflict, as traditional ways of governing relations between groups and between individuals are no longer valid or respected.

• Conflict over natural resources. Based on the findings, the PBEA programme was refined and modified for the second phase of programme implementation in 2014.

Based on these conflict drivers, the Country Office designed PBEA activities to fall under one of five outcome areas. In 2014, the following achievements were made under each outcome area:
Policy work (Outcome 1) to integrate peacebuilding and education based on the conflict analysis resulted in a curriculum review based on a wide consultative process carried out by 180 Somali youth. The analysis looked at the values and competencies Somali learners should acquire across different subjects. In addition, UNICEF worked with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) to lay the foundation for a joint United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/International Labour Organization (ILO)/United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM)/UNICEF initiative on youth political and social empowerment. In terms of cross-sectoral programming, the resilience aspects were designed with a strong focus on inclusive, transparent and accountable service delivery at the community level. Transparent distribution and good resource governance can contribute to an increase in trust and social cohesion.

Institutional capacity development. Under Outcome 2, UNICEF enhanced the capacity of the Ministries of Education in the zones of Puntland/North East Zone (NEZ), Somaliland/ North West Zone (NWZ) and CSZ, enabling the generation of Education Management Information System (EMIS) data for evidence-based sector planning and policy development through school censuses. EMIS has have started to inform equitable programming through Education Sector Strategic Plans, Joint Education Sector Reviews and distribution plans.

With regard to individual capacity building (Outcome 3), 1,800 children in primary school in Puntland were involved in the Schools as Zones of Peace pilot. Through this activity they learned about peace and conflict in their communities and how to voice their views using art performances staged at community outreach events. The initial findings are promising, with some unforeseen positive results – notably an increased capacity of children in Child to Child (CTC) clubs to handle conflict in schools.

Generating peace dividends is the focus of Outcome 4, and efforts involving the economic and social inclusion of youth resulted in a total of 500 youth in CSZ and 450 in NEZ to enrol in Youth Education Pack (YEP) modules. These modules provide youth with literacy, numeracy and skills training. Some 1,000 children transitioned from Accelerated Basic Education (ABE) to upper primary school in NEZ. To ensure access to inclusive and conflictsensitive education, UNICEF and its implementing partners carried out reviews of YEP instruction materials.

Research activities fell under Outcome 5 and a Knowledge, Attitude and Perception (KAP) survey was rolled out to measure impact on peacebuilding and resilience for all activities under Outcomes 1–4.

Main challenges to the PBEA programme in Somalia included, among others, persistent insecurity, particularly in CSZ. Limitations linked to insecurity in CSZ were mitigated by remote management and setting up meetings with partners in safe locations outside CSZ (e.g., Garowe, Hargeysa, Nairobi).