Rift Valley Local Empowerment for Peace (LEAP II) Third Quarterly Report January 1 – March 31, 2011

The program aims to strengthen the ability of local, district, and provincial structures to address the causes of post-election violence and promote sustainable peace and reconciliation. LEAP II is building on the successes of the first LEAP program, which was implemented from January 2009 to July 2010. The program's overarching goal is to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for conflict mitigation and reconciliation, support community dialogues and implement joint development projects that build bridges among divided communities, and support youth integration and address a key cause of violence through youth leadership training, small-scale cash-for-work community reconstruction projects, and income-generation activities. The program is being implemented in eight districts: Eldoret West, Eldoret East, Wareng, Nandi North, Keiyo, Kericho West, Kericho East, and Nakuru/Molo. During the third quarter of 2011, LEAP II reached 1,979 direct beneficiaries, including 300 people who participated in district leaders' forums, 1,529 people who attended community reconciliation dialogue forums, and 150 youth who benefited from core leadership, consensus building, and life skills training. The program continued to support peace actors and building structures in all eight districts, with both Eldoret East and Kericho West District Peace Committees successfully organizing public peace educational awareness campaigns. The program also made progress in implementing LEAP II's objectives, including strengthening sustainable mechanisms for conflict mitigation and reconciliation, supporting community dialogues and implementing joint development projects, and supporting youth integration. The program's cumulative progress overview indicates that 85% of the overall target of 3,500 people reached through completed USG-supported community-based reconciliation has been achieved. In terms of specific indicators, the program has made progress in establishing or strengthening peace-building structures, with 8 structures established or strengthened with USG assistance that engaged conflict-affected citizens in peace and reconciliation processes. The program has also conducted 14 public fora/educational events to teach the public about the peace process, and has trained 2511 people in conflict mitigation/resolution skills with USG assistance. The program's next steps include continuing to strengthen the District Peace Committees by engaging them in various activities, including community reconciliation dialogue forums and joint economic projects implementation. The program also plans to conduct a second round of conflict management and consensus building training, and to convene one open, quarterly stakeholder meeting and one multi-district and provincial leaders' forum. Additionally, the program will have four participants in each proposed project site/cluster trained in community project monitoring, and will continue to build the capacity of Youth Self-Help Groups and local partners. Overall, LEAP II is making progress in achieving its objectives and contributing to the promotion of sustainable peace and reconciliation in the Rift Valley province.