PAD Packs 1-3
2011
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These information packs have been put together to build the
capacity of local, national and community-based organisations to
contribute to the peace and security initiatives of NEPAD and the
AU. They will enable these communities to constructively engage
with policy makers within these institutions.
They provide linkages between a call to A Reawakening –
Renaissance of a continent, that began in the distant past made by
leading personalities, the formation of NEPAD, a translation of the
Rebirth into policy and programme – the path to the Rebirth, and the rethinking of the structure, mission and vision of the mammoth
Organisation for African Unity (OAU) leading to the formation of
the AU, the facilitator of the Renaissance.
These packs are a challenge to the reader to continue arising and
seizing the moment. To continue arising in an African Renaissance
initiated in the 18th century and continued in the 21st century by all
those who have struggled together for liberation from slavery and
colonialism of all types in Africa; a Renaissance that is epitomised
by South Africa’s liberation from apartheid. To seize the moment
provided in the momentum of the formation of the AU and its
participatory organs, specifically the PSC where peace and security
is the absolute prerequisite for development and vice versa; the
momentum provided in the formation of NEPAD, NEPAD being the
vice versa for peace and security; to seize the moment where if the
chance is lost in this era of globalisation, Africa may be rendered
completely irrelevant in the global economy.
Finally the packs show the relationship between the rebirth
philosophy, the continental structures and the existing conflict transformation and peace building initiatives that are striving to address confl ict, challenge and change the roots of depravity, and
weave a relationship that will become the social fabric of a future peaceful Africa.
 Click here to download the PAD Packs
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Towards Another World: Voices from both sides of the Atlantic
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Aziz Abdul, Cesar Enrique Pineda Ramirez, Dumisani Ngwenya, Felipe de Jesus Toussaint Loera, Felizardo Epalanga, Frabrico Broadziak, Jackson Omona, Mauricio Laborde, Nelly Palomo, Nicolas Alfredo Pelico Caballeros, Lucy Collins (ed), Luis Davila (ed), Richard Smith, Sandisiwe Qweni (ed), Sylvia Aguilera Garcia (ed). Published by ACTION, 2009
This is a collection of peacebuiding practitioners stories from Africa and Latin America. The stories illustrate some of the key challenges faced by peacebuilding practitioners and development workers throughout the whole continent. The stories highlight the importance of the information sharing networks that are involved in peacebuilding. ACTION Support Centre played a central role in encouraging the processes outlined in many of these stories.
Through its solidarity work during conflicts in places like Zimbabwe, its advocacy work through the Peace and Development Platform and through its training and capacity building programme, the Support Centre has assisted hundreds of grassroots communities in their quest to solutions to the debilitating effects of violence.
Though no two stories are the same, the challenges faced by peacebuilders are often very similar: a fragmented or polarized community; disempowered traditional leaders and dysfunctional indigenous systems; a fundamental breakdown in intra-community communication; and a culture of empathy and solidarity that has served as the foundation for positive change. The divisions may be religious, ethnic, intergenerational, or a combination of all of these factors. Most interventions have needed to work across many levels and in various ways in order to include the entire community and all those who have an effect on them.
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Democracy, Power, and People to People Solidarity: A Comprehensive Report
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Published by ACTION Support Centre (hosting the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum in South Africa), 2009
This report was produced by the ACTION Support Centre in recognition of the tireless work of the activists within the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum in South. However ACTION lays no exclusive claim to the events it records nor does it aim to represent the full diversity of views within the network or to speak on behalf of the collective or any of its representatives.
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The People shall Govern: A research report on public participation in policy processes
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Colin Christensen, Emphrem Tadesse, Gillian Ameck, Mpho Matlhakola, Pamela Masiko, Richard Smith, Western Shilaho
Published by ACTION and CSVR, 2006
This research publication forms part of an action-research and information dissemination project entitled Consensus-building Approaches and Policy Coordination Mechanisms: Responsive and Responsible Policy Formulation and Implementation in South Africa. It is carried out with the financial support of the European Union and the National Treasury of South Africa through the Conflict and Governance Facility (CAGE).
It was managed and implemented by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) and Action for Conflict Transformation (ACTION), a peacebuilding global network with its secretariat based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Teams of community facilitators, activists and researchers worked together to explore the nature, extent and impact of public participation in government policy processes.
In addition to engaging in background research and local and international discussion forums, field research was carried out to produce case-studies from which further insights were gained. This report critically investigates some of South Africa’s post-apartheid policy-making processes, in order to assess the extent to which ordinary citizens have been empowered to understand policies and articulate their opinions, needs and aspirations in relation to these policies.
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Struggles in Peacetime: Working with ex-combatants in Mozambique, their work, their frustrations and successes
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Published by NiZA in co-operation with the CSVR (South Africa) and ProPaz (Mozambique), 2006
Form an image when you hear any of these words: “ex-combatant”, “war veteran”, “former combatant”, “ex-fighter” or “demobilised soldier”. Admit it: chances are that the imagery will not be very flattering. Due to their involvement in violence during the war, they are invariably portrayed as prone to violence and criminally inclined – in short, a menace to society in one form or another.
Taken from a website relating to a publication on the Mozambican peace process, the following quote is quite telling: “Five years after the ending of the war, and three years after elections, many ex-fighters continue to nurse grievances due to the few economic opportunities open to them and the lack of recognition of their contribution to the war and the suffering they endured. This said, the process of reintegration has been relatively successful and most fighters do not pose an immediate threat to their local communities.”
One hardly ever comes across stories that tell a more complete picture. ‘Struggles in Peacetime’ is an attempt to do just that. Based on interviews with more than 40 former combatants in Mozambique and a number of other relevant actors, we want to begin answering some of the questions that hardly ever get asked: what do the lives of ex-combatants really look like? How are they coping in post-war society? What roles do they envisage for themselves in their communities or society at large? What are the actual roles they are already performing?
The interviews show that groups of former combatants are involved in conflict resolution, resolving personal and political tensions. Others campaign on public health issues or engage in voter education. Local initiatives, taken by some very remarkable people, have most definitely played their part in these developments. However, many of these activities take place in small, often rural localities, which means that they do not get noticed.
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Xenophobia in South Africa
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The last half of 2008 was characterised by violent xenophobic attacks on non South Africans mostly in the poor townships of South Africa. Statistic has it that more than 62 people were killed and thousands wounded and displaced.
There is a general agreement that conditions that led to the xenophobic attacks are slowly brewing up as some of them were never addressed. Issues of lack of basic service delivery especial housing, increasing levels of unemployment, corrupt South African government officials, the slow pace recovery process of Zimbabwe, the instabilities in Somalia and Ethiopia remain as recipe for fresh xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
It is very difficult to dismiss the rumour that xenophobia attacks will happen after the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. A lot needs to be done in-order to reverse the conditions and address root causes of xenophobia. See some of the previous xenophobic attacks hot spots in Gauteng South Africa.
Click here to download map
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