Location: West Pokot County
Social Ministry Research Network Centre (SOMIRENEC) is implementing Peace Building and Conflict Management component in the Ustahimilivu Project that is funded by the European Union in West Pokot County. SOMIRENEC undertakes this noble action in a Consortium comprising of other four partners namely; NRT on natural resource management, technical support to community conservancies, resilience building and livestock value chains. CEFA is implementing water infrastructures and agriculture development through a value chain approach. AMREF Health Africa is supporting the community strategy for community health, promoting hygiene, technical guidance to West Pokot County government and advocacy. E4Impact is focusing on value chains, entrepreneurship, market links and early warning systems. Ustahimilivu project aims at enhancing food and nutrition security of vulnerable households, especially marginalized women and children in order to generate sustainable livelihoods and protect productive assets in the County.
So far, SOMIRENEC supported communities in enhancing the culture of peace and peaceful co-existence among communities in the county. This is achieved through village peace committees, peace monitors, peace activities in schools and empowering communities with different peacebuilding and conflict management strategies that promote community-centred processes of peacebuilding.
Through the Ministry for Interior and National Coordination and the West Pokot County Department for Peace Building and Reconciliation, SOMIRENEC has facilitated and supported the training of the County and State peace and security actors. This further has led to the establishment of a County Peace Technical Working Group that brings together all peace actors in order to work collaboratively with other peace and security stakeholders to identify and fill peace gaps in the County.
SOMIRENEC continues to work closely with peace actors in bringing together communities from Baringo, Pokot and Turkana for cross border peace dialogues. The dialogues are led by the communities in an effort to tackle recurrent conflicts that originate from cattle raiding and commonly shared resources. This has led to reduced cases of conflicts along the borders of Pokot-Marakwet as well as Pokot-Turkana.
SOMIRENEC is keen on promoting SDG #8 and #10 by addressing cross-cutting needs of inadequate governance, gender inequalities, social injustices, insecurities. These issues are drivers of conflicts among the marginalized people in West Pokot County. The organization has greatly advocated for strong institutional capacity building to meet the global standards of justice and a commitment to peace everywhere.
