Umoja ni Nguvu Peace building and awareness Project

In the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Article by Prosper Baeni from IFORAP who has recently visited the region.

The Umoja ni Nguvu Peace building and awareness project is a project that is born out of necessity taking into serious consideration the new conflicts that has broken out in the East of DR Congo.

The conflict has incited targeted tribal confrontation that has ended up creating division amongst the locals, drawing them actively into the conflicts, and slowing the justice and reconciliation process. Therefore, there is urgent need for the project in quelling the rising tribal confrontations by creating a platform that shall educate and empower them on the importance of cohesion, reconciliation, and a unity in diversity in co-existing together for the betterment of their community.

This project aligns with the Sustainable Development goal number 16 on promoting peace, justice and strong institutions and goal number 17 on establishing strong partnership and strategies in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The project has three aspects:

• First is a peace, reconciliation and cohesion awareness program that shall be ran in radio with specific curated messages, dialogue and discussions on reconciliation, and cohesion in creating peaceful and sustainable societies with Radio Alpha Omega in Goma being the anchor radio.
• The second aspect involves using of outdoor media like billboards, public service vehicle branding and other creative outdoor branding with specific clear messages that shall be featured in different languages targeting on the major tribes and languages in the North Kivu Province of DR Congo.
• The third aspect shall involve a cultural festival that shall be organized quarterly bringing all the cultures and tribes in the region to share their cultural heritage interact and learn from each other as a means of creating cultural tolerance among the communities and setting base for reconciliation, truth, and, justice in addressing some of the root causes of misunderstandings and issues that have fueled communal intolerance and setting a long-term sustainable platform for peace and reconciliation in the region from a bottom-up approach.

Concept prepared by The International Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, (IFORAP AUSTRALIA)