ANNEX 2: SUMMARY REPORT - EXPERTS MEETING ON A IGAD REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR PEACE, SECURITY, AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE KARAMOJA CLUSTER

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1 ANNEX 2: SUMMARY REPORT - EXPERTS MEETING ON A IGAD REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR PEACE, SECURITY, AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE KARAMOJA CLUSTER The IGAD s Experts Meeting on a Regional Strategy for Peace, Security, and Development in the Karamoja Cluster (10-11 October 2013, Munyonyo, Kampala Uganda) Preamble IGAD s Experts Meeting on a Regional Strategy for Peace, Security, and Development in the Karamoja Cluster was convened on October 2013 as a precursor to the Caucus of Karamoja MPs and the Ministerial Meeting on a Regional Strategy for Peace, Security, and Development in the Karamoja Cluster. The overall objective of the two-day meeting of experts was to advance regional security and integration by providing a model of IGAD member states specifically working together on a peace and development agenda on a cross-border basis. More specifically, the meeting aimed to identify common ground in policy/practice of the different governments and scalable ideas relevant to the development of the Karamoja Cluster and to leverage these, through the coordination of IGAD, for a sustained process of regional peace and development. The Experts Meeting brought together relevant experts from all the four Member States, representative of IGAD institutions, civil society organizations working in Karamoja Cluster, representatives of the academia, independent experts, and development partners. During the meeting, the Experts shared experiences, deliberated on and identified innovative and scalable ideas relevant to the development of the Karamoja Cluster. These innovative and/or scalable ideas are planned to form the basis of discussions by a Caucus of Karamoja MPs, and the Ministerial Meeting. The Experts received and recognized the numerous recorded successes scored in Uganda and projected a number of the ideas from Uganda and other countries as innovative and or scalable. A summary of the ideas is as follows: Regional policies in mobility of pastoralists and acknowledging the contribution of the sector in respective countries While there is a widely recognized heavy movement of people and livestock across the entire cluster, existing laws and polices appear to be restrictive to these movements. It might be necessary to explore the possibility of putting in Page 1

2 place national and regional policies that facilitate rather than restrict these movements as well as provide for increased government spending on infrastructure including strategically located markets, food processing and packaging facilities along these trans-location routes. This is pertinent particularly in light of the hitherto unquantified high contribution of pastoral activities to the formal economy and invaluable contribution to the GDP. Strengthening customary institution in dealing with migration and livestock routes Pastoral communities have always had communal mechanisms of dealing with migratory issues, including deciding of routes and behaviors of the migrating lots and punishments for crimes that may be committed against a host community. The effectiveness of these institutions has been reduced because of lack of support. Regularizing and institutionalizing these local committees will reduce actions of revenge that may be mooted as a resulted of delayed justice through the formal court institutions. The same committees could also be used as peace brokers and educators. In addition, to discourage economic dependency of elders on cattle raiders and criminals, it is very important to re-empower elders to reassume their position in the society for instance by providing them with a pension plans. Re-empowerment of elders will significantly strengthen the effectiveness of customary institutions. Leveraging and enforcing existing peace agreements and protocols Despite the existence of a number of communal peace initiatives and agreements across the region, few of them enjoy wide recognition. On the other hand, the peace agreements that have been upheld have been seen to be a major factor in keeping peace across some of the borders. An example in place is the Lokiriama peace agreement between the Turkana and the Matheniko concluded in It is therefore recommended that all communal peace agreements that have been reached be accorded recognition and their implementation supported with due regard paid to the nature of the communal agreement. Make sharing/access to information compulsory The high illiteracy rates in the cluster communities have meant that they cannot easily access information through conventional means like newspapers or electronic media. They therefore lack information on the value of their land and resources. They are also vulnerable to unscrupulous investors. Therefore, deliberate efforts should be put in place to ensure that information regarding resources and investments is made available to the community. Page 2

3 Rangeland Planning and Management Despite recognition of the fact that rangelands are core to the existence of the pastoral communities, limited efforts are in place to plan for season sensitive management of these lands, as is the case with urban cities. As such, unfavorable land uses such as extensive land opening, unplanned grazing, and burning of land have affected and reduced the viability of these lands leading to further conflicts Conducting comprehensive assessment on developments It is general policy that before any major development is undertaken impact assessments should be conducted and the report made public for scrutiny. In the case of the Karamoja cluster, the assessment should be scaled to include environmental, ecological, cultural, livelihood conflict and other pertinent issues Strengthening alternative basic education A majority of the children in Karamoja Cluster are not able to complete their education to secondary and university level because education is still not well embraced and is very much affected by the mobility of the learners in search for Pasture. In addition to other initiatives like establishment of boarding schools, it is important therefore that a flexible education system be tailored to cater for the early drop offs, adult learners and distractions due to the mobility of the learners. The ABEC initiative in Ugandan side of the Karamoja cluster illustrates this. Strengthening equalization funds The long-term insecurity in the region has left Karamoja short of infrastructural development, yet in many cases, the criteria for distribution of development funds from the various central governments is dependent on existing infrastructure. This has continued to disadvantage the region from receiving equitable funds. Existing infrastructural development plans should be speeded up and expanded. A special fund is recommended for this purpose. Establishment of a Sub regional peace council CEWARN has been working through local and national structures that inclusively co-opt existing government and NGOs in its early warning and response work. In terms of expanding and up scaling, the work done through a related setup of local peace committees, it is recommended that CEWARN facilitates the establishment of Sub-regional Peace Committee that covers the Karamoja cluster. This is in line with the critical need for coordination of conflict early warning and response across borders in the Karamoja Cluster. Page 3

4 Introduce innovative financial services It is important to introduce innovative financial services to the Karamoja cluster like the Village saving and loan scheme (VSLS) in Uganda and Village community banking in Kenya. The provision of this service should carefully target beneficiaries. This would mitigate against the absence of formal banking services in this region. Support creative industry In light of shared arts identified across borders as well as intertwined and rich cultures in the Karamoja cluster, it is recommended that creative industries that study, document and exhibit the overall uniqueness and culture of the region be supported and embraced. Equitable share of investment Interest in investing in the Karamoja Cluster is steadily growing and it is important to put in place polices guidelines that ensure that communities benefit from investments in their areas. Investments and development initiatives in this area should also have a component of basic social service provision to communities Harmonization of Disarmament efforts There have been notable disarmament initiatives across the Karamoja Cluster. There are also ongoing efforts to harmonize national polices on disarmament for sustainable peace and security of the region. In that regard, governments can learn from the region s past experiences. For example, Uganda has done a lot in civilian disarmament programs on the Ugandan side of the Karamoja cluster. Lessons that can be drawn from this experience include that; disarming process cannot proceed without other initiatives such as development, community mobilization, government commitment, awareness creation, and consistent sanction process for violators. These are the highly valuable lessons that other government in the region could take. Encourage local community policing Community policing is acknowledged as a working model in enhancing security. Community owned conservancies are illustrations of the application of the philosophy of community policy in rangelands. The Westgate community conservative in Samburu, Kenya has succeeded in involving local youth in proving local security, creating entrepreneurship, environmental conservation and creating alternative source of income for the community and hence building community resilience. Page 4

5 Establish a Karamoja Cluster Peace fund It is essential to establish peace funds that effectively cater to peace enhancing projects and proactively mitigate violence. Given the need for continued follow up of peace processes in order to avoid relapse into violent conflict, the funds would be instrumental in sustaining the peace. Develop alternative and complementary livelihoods Recognizing the need to enhance resilience in the region, it is essential to develop alternative and complementary livelihoods. For instance, promoting and supporting artisanal and small scale mining; nonfood resource processing such as gums; enterprise development such as production of soap using bone marrows; bone crafts; eco-cultural and wildlife tourism. Setup higher learning intuitions in the Karamoja Cluster One way of enhancing education, research and development in the region is to establish institutions of higher learning (including university) in the Karamoja cluster. This will facilitate research, skill development, employment and businesses among others. Human Resource Development Schemes In recognition of the gaps in specific skills and competencies that could support livelihood of communities in the cluster, there is a need to establish human resource development schemes that are tailored to the specific needs. Furthermore, there is a need to provide incentives to attract and retain professionals working in the cluster. Promote community owned radio-stations Community owned radio stations could offer an effective and non-commercial means of improving communities access to information, awareness creation as well as offer platforms for community wide discussions. Establish psycho-trauma support centers In light of the high number of people affected by conflict in the cluster, governments should commit to establish psycho-trauma support centers. Increasing funding to Karamoja Cluster While governments are doing a lot in terms of intensifying infrastructure and socio-development efforts in the cluster, there is a need to build on these efforts by allocating additional funds towards supporting the implementation of the above-mentioned scalable and innovative initiatives. Page 5