Cooperation with GIZ CPS
GIZ CPS strategic re-orientation for the new program phase starting 2023
As the Regional Program of the Civil Peace Service of GIZ for Burundi and Eastern DR Congo will enter its next program phase in 2023, the program is currently preparing a strategic reorientation of the program. PIASS CRASPD contributed to the development of the concept and responded to the request for interviews by the consultant tasked with conducting a survey. On September 15-16, the International and Regional Peace Advisors of PIASS CRASPD participated in a validation workshop on the re-orientation of models for cooperation of the GIZ CPS Regional Program with local partner organizations and international peace advisors.
At the same time, the contract of the current International Peace Advisor at PIASS CRASPD was extended up to April 2023, and interviews were conducted for the recruitment for her successor.
THEMATIC WORKING GROUP 1 (GTT 1)
Thematic Working Group 1 (GTT 1) of the GIZ Civil Peace Service Regional Programme works on Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and Community Dialogue with objectives to Strengthening regional capacities for nonviolent conflict transformation in Rwanda, Burundi and the Provinces of North and South Kivu in DR Congo. GTT1 had been created in 2019, under the extension of GIZ CPS working fields in the Great Lakes Region. The Working Group consists of two partner organizations in Eastern DR Congo, APC (Action pour la Paix et la Concorde) and RAPI (Reseau Associatif pour la Psychologie Integrale), a Burundian organization, CARAVI (an Umbrella Organization for victims’ associations), and PIASS CRASPD.
In September 2022, several joint activities were conducted:
APC guided the online finalization of the regional peace actors mapping, dubbed ‘cartographie’ meant to create a list of contact details and fields of activity of organizations in Burundi, Eastern DR Congo and Rwanda working on regional peacebuilding topics
APC also conducted the regional peace round table for actors from the three above mentioned countries to explore conflict issues, approaches to nonviolent conflict transformation and potential networking and cooperation partners in the African Great Lakes Region at Pole Institute in Goma, DR Congo, September 1-3, 2022
PIASS/CRASPD, in cooperation with RAPI, conducted an Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) Advanced Level Workshop with participants who have completed an AVP Basic Level Workshop in Burundi, DR Congo or Rwanda, conducted in Bukavu, South Kivu, DR Congo, September 5-7, 2022
RAPI offered a workshop on techniques of emotional debriefing after experiencing or witnessing violence, held in Bukavu, South Kivu, DR Congo, September 8-9, 2022
A workshop of exchange and learning on different approaches of Nonviolent Conflict Transformation was conducted by CARAVI in Bujumbura, Burundi, September 21-22, 2022
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in Cooperation with Mental Health Dignity Foundation (MHDF)
When Irmtraud Kauschat, certified NVC trainer and assessor with vast Africa experience, had been in Rwanda in March, many of the clinical psychologists – who were first introduced to NVC by Therese Uwitonze from our partner organization Mental Health Dignity Foundation (MHDF) and were interested to participate – did not get the chance to attend the training with her as we had limited space. We then agreed that we would hold other NVC trainings for this group. On July 27-28, we held an NVC training for 11 clinical psychologists (9 women and 2 men) at PIASS where we reviewed the history, purpose, basic assumptions, steps and modes of Nonviolent Communication. In many practical exercises, individual reflections and role plays, participants had the chance to gain an experience of honestly expressing themselves, empathically listening to another person and self-empathy as a helpful approach when strong emotions are triggered in us due to events that happen in our lives. In plenary, participants then shared how these experiences had been for them, and we clarified many questions concerning the relationship between therapy and compassionate communication.
We reviewed the history, purpose, basic assumptions, steps and modes of Nonviolent Communication. In many practical exercises, individual reflections and role plays, participants had the chance to gain an experience of honestly expressing themselves, empathically listening to another person and self-empathy as a helpful approach when strong emotions are triggered in us due to events that happen in our lives.
In plenary, participants then shared how these experiences had been for them, and we clarified many questions concerning the relationship between therapy and compassionate communication.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) ASSESSOR DR. IRMTRAUD KAUSCHAT IN HUYE IN MARCH 2022
In March 2022, we had the joy to welcome Dr. Irmtraud Kauschat from Germany who is a certified NVC trainer and, at present, the only Assessor for NVC candidates in Africa who are aiming to become certified trainers. She was invited to lead the so-called Professional Group Meeting (PGM, in French ‘Assemblée Générale), a weeklong annual event that brings together all who are working in the GIZ (German Development Cooperation) Civil Peace Service program. The PGM was conducted in Cyangugu/ Rusizi, close to the border with DR Congo, and we held our breath until we saw all our colleagues from Burundi, Congo and Rwanda arrive, given the uncertainties and everchanging situations due to COVID.
Ahead of the PGM, a team of 10 NVC facilitators from different countries in the region who are members of the Nonviolent Communication Africa Network were trained by Irmtraud in Huye to support the PGM participants to empathically listen to each other and express requests honestly and compassionately by integrating the needs of those to whom the requests are made.
To give NVC practitioners from Rwanda an opportunity to learn from Dr. Kauschat, a certified NVC trainer, we organized two additional training days with her at PIASS. The participants comprised of those who had previously attended NVC seminars or workshops in Huye or trainings with Therese Uwitonze, a Clinical Psychologists People working with our partner organization, Mental Health Dignity foundation. This was a great opportunity for the participants as it is difficult for African NVC practitioners to accumulate the training days that are necessary to register as NVC certification candidates: Most of the 9-day NVC International Intensive Trainings (IIT) with certified trainers, organized by the Center for Nonviolent Communication (https://cnvc.org), take place in Europe or the US, and the tuition, travel, and accommodation costs are not affordable for most people here.
STRATEGIC PLANNING WS January 10th – 11th, 2022
The strategic planning workshop, which aimed at discussing and deciding on CRASPD’s priorities for the next 3 – 4 years and areas of cooperation with Civil Peace Service Program of GIZ, was held at PIASS in the IMPEQ room for two days on January 10th -11th, 2022. The workshop was conducted as a hybrid event as some participants attended in-person and others online. The participants included the Deputy Vice Chancellor of PIASS, members of the Faculty of Development Studies, the CRASPD team and the Coordinator of GIZ Civil Peace Service Program. It was facilitated by Hero Shyaka, a Local Peace Advisor at Never Again Rwanda \(NAR). The participants agreed that the objectives of the cooperation which were formulated in the strategic planning workshop in 2019 are still valid with a minor change made on objective three:
Objective 1: research-informed knowledge useful for peace and development policy makers and practitioners is generated and shared.
Objective 2: peace-building actors in the region have increased sustainable initiative and collaboration. (Capacity development and networking as a means to achieve it)
Objective 3: peace -building practitioners and communities in the region have increased access to relevant training programs and materials/resources. After clarifying the expectations of both partners, the following next steps were agreed upon at the end of the workshop: The SPWS report would be shared with those present, an updated Memorandum of Understanding between GIZ CPS and PIASS CRASPD would be developed and signed, an operational planning would be established for the cooperation in the years 2022 and 2023, including the recruitment of a new International Peace Advisor (IPA) after the expiration of the current IPA’s contract in October 2022, the profile of PIASS CRASPD would be updated, and the PIASS management in CRASPD would be increasingly involved in the CRASPD operational planning and the implementation of activities.
THEMATIC WORKING GROUP 1 (GTT 1: Groupe de Travail Thematique 1)
Thematic Working Group 1 works on Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and Community Dialogue with the objective of strengthening regional capacities for nonviolent conflict transformation in Rwanda, Burundi and the provinces of North and South Kivu in DR Congo. Thematic Working Group 1 had been created in 2019, in the framework of GIZ Civil Peace Service regional program in the Great Lakes region. The Working Group consists of two partner organizations in Eastern DR Congo, APC (Action pour la Paix et la Concorde, Goma) and RAPI (Reseau Associatif pour la Psychologie Integrale, Bukavu), a Burundian organization, CARAVI (Collectif des Associations pour la réconciliation et l’appui aux Victimes des conflits sociopolitiques au Burundi), and PIASS CRASPD.
In September 2022, several joint activities are planned:
- The finalization of the online regional peace actors mapping, dubbed ‘cartographie’. This document will contain the contact details and fields of activity of organizations in Burundi, Eastern DR Congo and Rwanda working on regional peacebuilding topics (August 30, online).
- A regional peace round table for actors from the above mentioned three countries to explore conflict issues, approaches to nonviolent conflict transformation and potential networking and cooperation partners in the African Great Lakes Region
(September 1-3, Goma, DR Congo). - An Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) Advanced Level Workshop with participants who have completed an AVP Basic Level Workshop in Burundi, DR Congo or Rwanda (September 5-7, in Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo).
- A workshop on techniques of emotional debriefing after experiencing or witnessing violence (September 8-9, in Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo).
- Exchanging and learning different approaches of Nonviolent Conflict Transformation ( September 20-21, Bujumbura, Burundi).
- An online workshop to evaluate the cooperation of the Burundian, Eastern Congolese, and Rwandan partner organizations in the Thematic Working Group and the impact of their joint activities on the ground (September 29-30, online).
PARTICIPATION IN GIZ CIVIL PEACE SERVICE WORKSHOPS ON GENDER ANALYSIS AND IN PLANNING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The Regional and International Peace Advisors of PIASS CRASPD had the opportunity to participate in two workshops: (1) a validation workshop for the Gender Analysis of the Rwandan section of the GIZ CPS program held in Kigali in January and (2) a training workshop on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and the digital tool Microsoft Teams in Bujumbura in May 2022.
In order to better integrate gender considerations in the regional Civil Peace Service (CPS) program of GIZ implemented in Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC with currently 14 local partner organizations, GIZ has recruited consultants to carry out a gender analysis for the regional programme in each of the respective countries. The workshop held in Kigali focused on the gender analysis of the Rwanda component of the regional programme. In accordance with the GIZ Guide for the preparation of gender analysis, Chapter 6 of the report produced by the consultant needed to be much more operational. Concrete actions might be formulated by taking into account the findings and conclusions of the previous chapters. The formulated recommendations in the form of concrete actions should be guiding principles, so that the methodological approach and the results framework of the programme could be configured in a gender-sensitive way and, as far as possible, contribute to the transformation of gender relations. The aim was to create better conditions for a gender-sensitive implementation of the GIZ CPS programmes. Chapter 6, as the concluding chapter of the gender analysis report, aimed to show how this is possible by identifying good and useful actions to be undertaken for transformational gender mainstreaming. As such, these actions should fulfil the criteria of being concrete, relevant and adapted to the specific context. Therefore, the main objectives of the workshop were:
- To validate the findings of the research conducted for the gender analysis of the GIZ CPS programme in Rwanda;
- To develop recommendations to the GIZ CPS programme on how to better integrate gender into the programme.
Presentations stimulated a discussion on the accuracy and relevance of the results and on identifying and filling any gaps. At the end of the discussion, the results of the report were eventually validated.
Participants identified the needs of CPS programme staff, Partner Organizations and their target groups. We identified different categories of these needs: (1) needs concerning human resources or competences; (2) methodologies, approaches and activities to be organised; (3) financial and/or technical means necessary for a better integration of gender; and (4) the monitoring and evaluation of mechanisms to be put in place. Participants also analysed the specific challenges of each partner organisation for better gender mainstreaming by taking into account the particularities and contexts of the areas in which activities are implemented. For this second part of the workshop participants worked in small groups. Following the group work, participants met in a plenary session for restitution, harmonisation, consolidation and validation of the recommendations that the consultant will translate into Chapter 6 of the final gender analysis report.
Furthermore, GIZ_ZFD partner organizations (POs) participated in Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop in Bujumbura. PO trainees were introduced to qualitative interviews and Focus Group Discussions and participated in exercises on developing an interview guide through group works. Different tools and question guides to conduct interviews were presented to choose from depending from the study spectrum and various challenges pertaining to the context. The second day focused on understanding surveys with close ended questions, how to develop quantitative questionnaires, developing questions and how to administer questionnaires. The second day concluded with a brief overview of quantitative data analysis.
Another training day was dedicated to training the staff of GIZ CPS and partner organizations in the use of digital tools like Microsoft Teams.
Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) – Participation in International Facilitators’ Training
CRASPD, in cooperation with the HROC (Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities) Center in Musanze, organized an international HROC facilitators’ training in February 2022. Eight members – two from each of the four partner organizations of Thematic Working Group 1 (Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and Community Dialogue) in the Regional GIZ Civil Peace Service program – participated in this training. CRASPD Regional Peace Advisor, Olivier Sindambiwe, summarized it as follows: “At the training, there was a diverse and rich sharing of experiences from participants who came from three nations: Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The training was scheduled in a way that for three weeks participants got a chance to understand and deal with trauma. Not only they understood trauma, but most of them started their journey of healing from trauma and were given a hint about the role of faith in trauma healing. At the end of the training, participants expressed their feelings of satisfaction with commitment to keep in touch with HROC by seeking opportunities for partnership where necessary.”
Joint Project in the Regional Program of GIZ Civil Peace Service
CRASPD is involved in the development of a joint project alongside four partner organizations of the GIZ Civil Peace Service Regional Program in DR Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. To develop this joint project, for one week in July, two of the CRASPD staff members participated in an online training on collaborative project design that was facilitated by Sinarinzi consulting, a consultancy company based in Germany. They are now working with two Congolese and one Burundian partner organizations who are members of the Thematic Working Group “Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and Community Dialogue”.
Our Thematic Working Group is undertaking a mapping of regional peace actors and initiatives as well as conflict and peace factors in the African Great Lakes countries. We hope that the resulting list of initiatives and actors engaged in peace building at the regional level will serve as a basis for discussions on ongoing initiatives and potential points of cross-border collaboration and networking with and among them. To do this, we conducted a literature study of which a part was a list of regional peace actors based in Rwanda and details we know about their projects and approaches. In a meeting with graduates, CRASPD volunteers and final-year students, we prepared interviewers to collect data in Kigali, Huye and online or via phone to expand the existing small list of regional peace actors. The first week of interviews in Kigali, carried out by three volunteers already took place in Kigali in December 2020. In January and February 2021, we will continue interviews and proceed to analyze the data and present the findings to our partners in Burundi and DR Congo and hear about the status of their work on the regional peace actors mapping.
Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) Basic Workshop Online – with a link to an AVP Basic Workshop in Bujumbura
Since the security measures to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 prohibited physical meetings and travel beyond district borders, CRASPD decided to hold an AVP Basic Workshop online that had been part of a joint project of the GIZ Civil Peace Service Regional Program with Burundian partner CARAVI and Congolese partners APC and RAPI. The original idea had been to hold three in-person AVP Basic Workshops, one in Bukavu (DR Congo), one in Bujumbura (Burundi) and one in Huye in parallel. The facilitators would then provide a space for a handful of volunteers of each of the three workshops to connect: At the end of each workshop day, they would speak to each other online to get to know who were in the other workshops, exchange their experiences and share lessons learnt. 
Since the Congolese partner organizations, due to administrative challenges in the GIZ Civil Peace Service program, were unable to conduct their workshop at the planned time, we went ahead with the workshops in Bujumbura in person and in Huye online. Surprisingly, the workshop conducted by CRASPD in Huye attracted as many participants from networking partners in Rwanda, like Friends Peace House and AJECL (Association des Jeunes de Saint Charles Lwanga) in Kigali, as from different departments of the PIASS Faculty of Development Studies in Huye. We had three exciting half-days in spite of many technical challenges due to difficulties with internet access. We got to know each other, worked through the four pillars of the Alternatives to Violence Program (affirmation, communication, cooperation, and conflict resolution) and explored the concept of Transforming Power.
Every evening, a few of the participants stayed online and held a meeting with participants of the sister workshop in Bujumbura. They found that, while our participants were mostly students and young participants, the Burundian participants of the umbrella organization for victim’s associations, CARAVI, were older but had very similar experiences with AVP: They confirmed that they were impressed by the insights they gained from sharing experiences with others and learning new ways of interacting constructively to stop violence. Many of the participants of the online workshop in Huye regretted that they had not been able to meet in person and physically in gathering, exercises and role plays. The team promised to explore how a follow-up day in person could be organized once district Borders open and physical meetings are allowed.
Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) – Online Introduction
CRASPD had planned to support eight volunteers of the four organizations in the Thematic Working Group “Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and Community Dialogue” of the GIZ Civil Peace Service Regional Program to participate in the International Facilitators’ Training of the Healing and Rebuilding our Communities (HROC). However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the HROC international facilitators’ training, which usually take place in Musanze, Rwanda, twice a year, had to be cancelled in 2020. CRASPD, in cooperation with the HROC Center in Musanze, then developed an online introduction of the HROC approach for interested staff, which was open to members of all partner organizations in the Regional GIZ Civil Peace Service program. The introduction gave an overview of what HROC is, where it came from, how an international HROC facilitators’ training works and how ‘Healing Companions’ trained there can be instrumental to support a path to joint healing in the communities from which they come. Thirteen staff and members of different organizations, five more than we would have been able to welcome in the training, took part and expressed gratitude to learn more about HROC.
Teambuilding Day with Good Neighbors Rwanda in December 2019
On December 20, 2019, a CRASPD team under the leadership of one of the Senior Lecturers of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies and consisting of the Assistant Coordinator, the Peace Building Officer, the International Peace Advisor and the Intern, who are all AVP facilitators, facilitated a team building day with 60 staff members from Good Neighbors Rwanda in Kigali. According to prior consultations with the management of the organization, we focused on boosting the team spirit in and beyond departments and on developing communication skills, as well as tools and tips for setting priorities.
Visit of IC Net Study Tour
From April 30 to May 4, 2019, participants of a peace study tour of the Japanese training and consultancy firm IC Net Limited.
The group was composed of people from different age groups, walks of life and professional backgrounds. What brought them together was an interest to learn more about peace and reconciliation processes and to get to know Rwanda, its history and its present situation.
Different joint activities with CRASPD were part of the visit of the IC net study group:
Envisioning Peace Through Art Workshop:
On May 1, 2019, Prof. Kyoko Okumoto, a Japanese scholar and facilitator from Osaka Jogakuin University who works in the fields of Peace Studies, Conflict Transformation, Nonviolent Intervention, and particularly focuses on the Arts-based Approaches to Peace work and Moe Sasaki who was the Facilitator and Program Coordinator of the tour for IC Net Limited invited for a workshop Envisioning Peace Through Art Workshop at PIASS: Using an arts-based approach, they supported the participants to understand peace from diverse perspectives borrowing from the different backgrounds and experiences of the participants. Together participants who came from the PIASS community of students and lecturers as well as the Japanese study tour group discussed what happens when peace is destroyed and what this destruction can bring about. Participants also looked towards how we may rebuild what has been destroyed and what new possibilities can come from it.
Participation in the Nyanza Commemoration and Introduction to the Workshop of the Umucyo Nyanza Women’s Association
On May 2, 2019, the group of Japanese visitors from the IC Net study trip, together with CRASPD team and some students of PIASS joined the Umucyo Nyanza Women’s Association in commemorating their relatives and friends who were murdered during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. The commemoration took place at Nyanza Genocide Memorial, where the staff personnel of the memorial gave a brief history about Nyanza during the genocide and an overview of the memorial site.
The commemoration activity included putting flowers on the memorial altar and lighting candles as the genocide survivors were mentioning the names of their beloved ones they lost during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. The group also visited the place where the bodies were laid and they were shown some of the properties of the genocide victims such as clothes, identity cards and driving licenses and some tools used by perpetrators.
Information and networking visit from the Presbyterian Church South Sudan
From Sunday, February 24, to Wednesday, February 27, 2019, PIASS and its Department of Peace and Conflict Studies had the honor and pleasure to welcome a delegation from the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. The visit was organized by Reverend Catherine Day, who is serving at the PIASS Faculty of Theology since many years as a Mission Co Worker sent by the Presbyterian Church of the USA. The visitors came from RECONCILE Peace Institute in Yei and from Nile Theological College (NTC) in Juba. Besides a meeting with the Vice Chancellor, an introduction to our work in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies by Dr. Kazuyuki and a presentation of CRASPD and our activities, we organized a mini session to familiarize the visitors with the Alternatives to Violence Program. For this purpose, Dr. Penine, meanwhile the Deputy Vice Chancellor of PIASS joined us, and we had invited some of the AVP facilitators we had trained in 2017 and 2018. After a round of introductions, where we showed that our AVPers are coming from different countries (Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania and other countries) and walks of life (different faculties and student clubs), we invited the visitors to join an affirmation exercise which they visibly enjoyed. One of them commented: “I have been working in prisons with youth offenders at the beginning of my ministry; if I imagine that they can get this message that there is –and others believe that there is – something good in them and that they can work on contributing to the wellbeing of others and the community, I trust that this can change their lives to the positive, and this is amazing.” The next day, the delegation traveled to Nyanza to visit the Umucyo Women’s Reconciliation and Livelihood project
C R A S P D - Center for Research and Action towards Sustainable Peace and Development at Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) 