Sensible localisation – local peace committees’ role in preventing violent and hateful extremism

ABSTRACTFor the past two decades, international development agencies have supported establishing and developing Local Peace Committees (LPCs) in conflict-affected countries. These committees typically have two objectives. First, to serve as a local conflict resolution and decision-making mechanism in conflict arbitration at the community level. Second, to empower groups traditionally excluded from decision-making, such as minorities, marginalised youth, housewives, and female religious leaders. Although these two goals might facilitate preventing and countering violent and hateful extremism (PVHE), such a purpose was different from the specific objectives of the Local Peace Committees. Based on more than 30 interviews with members of Peace Committees, UN, local and international NGOs and secondary data, including data gathered through independent evaluations of programmes supported by the organisations the authors work for, the first section of this analysis evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of LPCs in Nigeria, Somalia and Mali, and their role in PVHE. In the second section of this article, the authors assess trends and make recommendations on ways to strengthen LPCs to increase their ability to contribute to PVHE over the long term.KEYWORDS: PVElocalisationlocal peace committeesrehabilitation and reintegrationrehabilitationreintegration Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1. van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’; Leonardsson and Rudd, ‘The “Local Turn” in Peacebuilding’.2. Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’; van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’.3. ‘Why Is Community Engagement Important?’4. Nganje, ‘Local Peace Committees and Grassroots Peacebuilding’; Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’.5. Kumar, ‘Building National “Infrastructures for Peace”’; Alihodžić, ‘Electoral Violence Early Warning’.6. Sonrexa et al., ‘Perspectives on Violent Extremism from Development-Humanitarian NGO Staff’; Barton, Vergani, and Wahid, Countering Violent and Hateful Extremism in Indonesia.7. Rights for Peace, ‘Discrimination and Hate Speech Fuel Violence in Sudan’; Bishop et al., ‘Exploring Alternative Approaches to Hate Crimes’.8. Paffenholz, ‘Unpacking the Local Turn in Peacebuilding’; Paffenholz9. Ibid.10. Hameiri, ‘A Reality Check for the Critique of the Liberal Peace’.11. Hughes, Öjendal, and Schierenbeck, ‘The Struggle versus the Song’.12. Mac Ginty, ‘Hybrid Peace’.13. Richmond, ‘A Post-Liberal Peace’; Mac Ginty and Richmond, ‘The Local Turn in Peace Building’; Richmond and Mac Ginty, ‘Where Now for the Critique of the Liberal Peace?’.14. Van Leeuwen et al., ‘The “Local Turn” and Notions of Conflict and Peacebuilding’.15. Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’; Orjuela, ‘Countering Buddhist Radicalisation’; Lundqvist and Öjendal, ‘Atomised and Subordinated?’; Suurmond and Sharma, ‘Like Yeast That Leavens the Dough?’; van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’16. Nganje, ‘Local Peace Committees and Grassroots Peacebuilding in Africa’; van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’; Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’; Bond and Mkutu, ‘A “Patchwork” for Peace’; Elfversson, ‘The Political Conditions for Local Peacemaking’; Akande, Kaye, and Rukuni, ‘The Efficacy of Community Peacebuilding in African Communities’; ‘Amid Nigeria’s Violence, a Local Peace Process Advances’.17. van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’; Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’.18. Odendaal and Olivier, ‘Local Peace Committees’.19. Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’.20. van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’; Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’.21. van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’; Lundqvist and Öjendal, ‘Atomised and Subordinated?’22. Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’.23. Odendaal; Nganje, ‘Local Peace Committees and Grassroots Peacebuilding in Africa’; van Tongeren, ‘Potential Cornerstone of Infrastructures for Peace?’; Leonardsson and Rudd, ‘The “Local Turn” in Peacebuilding’.24. Van Leeuwen et al., ‘The “Local Turn” and Notions of Conflict and Peacebuilding’.25. Ibid.26. Ibid.27. Benesh et al., ‘Dangerous Speech a Practical Guide’.28. Bolton, ‘Lessons from Conflict Resolution Interventions’.29. Nganje, ‘Local Peace Committees and Grassroots Peacebuilding in Africa’.30. Chivasa, ‘Reflections on Peacebuilding Constructs in Seke District’.31. Odendaal, ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level’.32. USAID, ‘The Development Response to Violent Extremism and Insurgency’.33. Khalil and Zeuthen, ‘Countering Violent Extremism and Risk Reduction’.34. ‘Policy for Countering Violent Extremism through Development Assistance’.35. ‘What Is Discourse Analysis?’36. Geertz, ‘Thick Description’.37. ‘Stopping Nigeria’s Spiralling Farmer-Herder Violence’; ‘Amid Nigeria’s Violence, a Local Peace Process Advances’.38. Institute for Economics and Peace, Sydney, ‘Global Terrorism Index’.39. Brottem, ‘The Growing Complexity of Farmer-Herder Conflict’; McGregor, ‘The Fulani Crisis’.40. Werth, Delfs, and Stevens, ‘Measurement and Indicators of Integration’.41. Benesh et al., ‘Dangerous Speech a Practical Guide’; Cisse, ‘Dangerous Speech in Central Mali a Critical Discourse Analysis of the Dogon Fulani Relationship’.42. Cisse.43. Benjaminsen and Ba, ‘Fulani-Dogon Killings in Mali’.Additional informationNotes on contributorsLilla Schumicky-LoganLilla Schumicky-Logan holds MA diplomas in Philosophy and Cultural Anthropology and completed her Ph.D. degree at the University of Bradford in 2018. Her area of expertise is the rehabilitation and integration of at-risk youth. Lilla has worked for the past eighteen years for Universities, NGOs, and the United Nations in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Lebanon/Syria, and Switzerland. She has also worked on humanitarian and development programmes focusing on Bangladesh, Mali, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tunisia. She regularly publishes in peer-reviewed journals and popular blogs. She is a former World Economic Forum Global Future Council Fellow. She serves as the Head of Global Portfolio and Deputy Executive Director at the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), working on preventing violent extremism.Andre Alves Dos ReisAndré Alves dos Reis is a political scientist, researcher, M&E and policy specialist with years of experience working with local governance, peace, and P/CVE. He is currently the Performance and Impact Manager overseeing GCERF’s global monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) system. André has lived and worked in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. His main research interests are peace and security, especially in PCVE, and multilateral sanctions. He is a former World Economic Forum Global Future Council Fellow. He holds a Master’s in International Affairs and a PhD. in International Relations/Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.