Peacebuilding & Conflict Transformation Course-Level 2

This training targets practitioners working in the fields of Peacebuilding, Peace Keeping Operations, Development, Humanitarian Relief, Human Rights and Post War Recovery in Africa.

It is ideal for: a) Practitioners interested in having a deeper understanding on the contemporary conflicts in the Horn, Eastern Africa and Great Lakes regions, b) Practitioners who are implementing projects in volatile and complex environments, c) Practitioners interested in designing and implementing peacebuilding projects in post conflict settings, d) Practitioners who have some level of basic peacebuilding training.

Training Objectives

1) Increase participants understanding of various contemporary conflicts in the Greater Horn, Eastern Africa and Great Lakes regions

2) Increase participants understanding of conflict and peacebuilding theories relevant to the contemporary contexts in the Horn, Great Lakes and Eastern Africa regions and how they inform programming

3) Enhance participants understanding of designing post conflict peacebuilding programmes

4) Increase participants awareness of workable peacebuilding strategies for post conflict settings

Expected Training results

At the end of the training, participants will:

1. Have a deeper understanding of various real-time conflicts in Eastern Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes regions

2. Be able to use different tools to analyze various real time conflicts

3. Be able to articulate the different theories of conflict and peacebuilding that inform the fore-mentioned real time conflicts as well as their peacebuilding interventions

4. Be able to design peacebuilding projects relevant to their contexts

5. Be aware of strategies that can be replicated in their projects/programmes

Trainers/facilitators of the course will be peacebuilding practitioners with accumulated years of experience in designing and implementing peacebuilding programmes and also in designing and facilitating different levels of peacebuilding trainings in Africa and beyond.

The online learning infrastructure will be accessible and easy to use by all participants. Each day will comprise 5 hours of active learning. The training will be practical, drawing examples from post conflict contexts in the Greater Horn, Eastern Africa and Great Lakes regions. The training will make use of use of a wide range of participatory adult learning models including inquiry, case study analysis, individual and online group tasks and reflections from participants’ experiences. Everything will be focused on finding practical pathways and responses to real problems through an inspiring and hopeful process. We encourage participants to read the resources that will be offered before and during the course and to keep a learning diary throughout the 5 days.

All those who successfully complete the course will be issued with a virtual certificate via email. Full attendance on the course is a requirement for the certificate.

The Course Content

1. Contemporary conflicts in the Greater Horn, Eastern Africa and Great Lakes regions

This section is aimed at broadening participants understanding of various conflicts that have been experienced in different countries in the Greater Horn, Eastern Africa and Great Lakes regions. Participants will be introduced to different tools of analysis that will help them to better understand among other things the conflicts historical background, actors, root causes, disputed issues, entry levels for interventions among other things.

2. Conflict and Peacebuilding Theories

This section will explore the various theories that explain conflict causes and inform peacebuilding interventions. During the sessions participants will be given the opportunity to:

• Identify theories that inform some of the real time conflicts in the Great Lakes, the Horn and Eastern Africa regions

• Identify context specific peacebuilding interventions

• Work in teams to practice new theories and concepts

3. Post Conflict peacebuilding programming

This session will focus on the key components of post conflict peacebuilding programmes. Components to be explored will include but will not be limited to: political dialogue/reconciliation, security frameworks in post-conflict arrangement, including Disarmament, Demobilization & Reintegration (DDR), Institutional strengthening and support, women and youth participation in post conflict peacebuilding among others.

4. Peacebuilding Strategies

This session will include case studies of successful post conflict peacebuilding interventions at the community and national levels. Participants will draw key lessons from each of the cases as well as extract strategies that are relevant to their implementation contexts.

Selected organizations in Africa whose staff members have attended some of COPA trainings;

• American Friends Service Committee-Kenya, Somalia & Zimbabwe
• Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)-Uganda
• GIZ/CPS-Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan,

• Network of Traditional & Religious Peacemakers organization-Somalia

• Saferworld-South Sudan and Somalia

• SOS Sahel-Sudan

• Tearfund-South Sudan, Sudan & Nigeria

• Trocaire-South Sudan

• Different Universities in Sudan-(Al-Fasher, Blue Nile, Daraj, Diling, Gadarif, Khartoum, Nyala and Red Sea)

• AGIAMONDO-Burundi and the Central Africa Republic

• UNICEF-Mali

• UNFPA-Burundi

• Ministry of Youth & Sports-Liberia

• United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur-UNAMID-Sudan

• UNDP-DRC, Libya, Mali, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania

• United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization mission in CAR

• United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO)

• United Nations Mission in South Sudan-UNMISS

• UN Women- Burundi, South Sudan, Sudan and Tanzania

• ZOA-Ethiopia, Liberia, South Sudan and Sudan

Selected organizations that have contracted COPA to conduct in-house trainings;

1. Danish Demining Group-Somaliland
2. Eastern Africa Standby Force Coordination Mechanism
3. Intergovernmental Authority on Development-IGAD
4. Oxfam-Kenya
5. Social-Life & Agricultural Development Organization-Somalia

6. UNFPA-Uganda

7. UNDP-African Union Project/Peace & Security Project-Ethiopia

8. Community Organization Practitioners Association-Kenya

Selected comments from some of the trainings participants

1. Each and every session was a learning point for me. I liked the discussions held and examples shared, these connected the theory to the practical-Participant from Liberia in the Peacebuilding & Conflict Transformation Course
2. I will keep referring to the resources that were provided-A participant from South Sudan
3. I appreciated the organizational aspects of the course from the registration, the obtaining of visas, the airport pick-up and the reception at the Convent International hotel. It was all very well planned-A training participant from Somalia

How to register:

Kindly request for an application form from any of the emails below. Filled in application forms should be sent to COPA by email. All received applications will be acknowledged and if successful a corresponding letter of admission and other necessary documentations will be sent to the applicant. Please request and send back your completed application to any of the following emails:

1. copa@copafrica.org
2. trainings@copafrica.org
3. copafricatrainings@gmail.com