Message to the NPGM '06 from Interpeace
It is with great disappointment that I write this
brief message to you on the eve of your important two-day National
Project Group Meeting. Saturday's ban by the Kenyan government of
all flights in and out of the Somali region has left members of
Interpeace Geneva, and the Interpeace Somali programme stranded
in Nairobi, while you all convene for another important gathering
of the Academy's project group.
It was almost a decade ago that the War-torn Societies Project
came to Somaliland to explore whether Somalilanders would like to
collaborate in a unique methodology intended to bring greater stability
and sustained peace to post-conflict societies. Somalilanders embraced
the idea and our research-based, participatory approach to peacebuilding
was quickly grasped and taken forward by a small group who has since
grown into the Academy for Peace and Development. Since that time,
APD has demonstrated, time and again, its commitment to providing
an informed neutral space where Somalilanders from all walks of
life can come together to discuss the challenges you face and derive
collective broad-based solutions.
WSP International has also learned a great deal along the way.
Recently we changed our name to the International Peacebuilding
Alliance, Interpeace, because we realized that our aim is not to
establish projects in war-torn societies, but to establish a global
alliance of peacebuilders, an alliance made up of institutions like
the Academy for Peace and Development, struggling to find peaceful
solutions to the challenges that are inherent in post-conflict societies.
But this two day meeting is not about Interpeace, it is about you,
the members of the Project Group. The project group plays a fundamental
role in establishing the direction and mandate of the Academy and
its work in the Dialogue for Peace. Your decisions in November of
2004 challenged the Academy to engage in three priority areas of
Somaliland's development: the electoral process, decentralization
and resource-based conflict. As you will hear in the next two days,
and learn through the impressive volumes and films produced by the
Academy, your mandate has been taken seriously by the Academy and
the impact of the work, which your engagement and support have been
fundamental to, demonstrates the potential of Somalilanders in rebuilding
this society and developing a solid future. We are extremely impressed
by the local ownership of this peacebuilding process, a result that
you all have spearheaded through your participation and active engagement.
We wish you well as you embark on these important two days which
are intended to both validate the work of the Academy in the first
phase of the Dialogue for Peace and set the priorities for the Academy
as they move forward into the second phase.
On a final note, as many of you are aware, Interpeace believes
that the only solutions for lasting peace in Somaliland and the
region will come from the Somalilanders themselves. While we sit
stranded in Nairobi, wishing we could be with you during this time,
we know that our presence is not what is important to these meetings...
It is your presence that is fundamental to this meeting and the
process. We congratulate you for your continued commitment to this
process and the consolidation of peace in Somaliland and beyond.
We wish you all good deliberations.
Peacefully and on behalf of the entire Interpeace alliance,
Jerry McCann
Regional Director - Eastern and Central Africa
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