Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Uniting Communities to Mitigate Conflict (UCMC)

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Launched in June 2010 by IREX, Uniting Communities to Mitigate Conflict (UCMC) engages women and youth to address clan differences, which can serve as a driver of conflict in Somalia but can also serve as a source of conflict mitigation. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and working with local partners, the programme provides training on conflict transformation and the development of media products, including newspaper articles, radio debates, public service announcements, and documentaries, to promote positive approaches to resolving conflict and promoting mediation to avoid conflict.

Communication Strategies

UCMC is a twenty-month programme implemented by IREX across the three zones of South-Central Somalia, Puntland, and Somaliland. The programme's objectives are to: enhance conflict mitigation skills among women and youth, develop media products promoting peace and mediation, and engage and provide forums for communities to discuss sources of and solutions to clan-related conflict.

As part of the programme, individuals of different clan and subclan communities are coming together to work toward conflict transformation - as leaders of civil society organisations, trainees in peace-building media, and participants in dialogues on clan dynamics. The project is designed to limit the ability of war-makers to seize on clan divisions by giving key actors, especially women and youth, the tools of media and conflict mitigation to defuse harmful clan attitudes and constructively address clan differences.

The programme brings together youth and women's organisations from each zone as key actors in fostering public conversations on peaceful approaches to clan-related conflict for training in peacebuilding, media skills, and facilitation. An initial workshop brought together 16 representatives from nine partner organisations, drawn from the peacebuilding, women’s and youth sectors, for three days of discussion on programme goals and planned activities.

Partner organisations receive subgrants to produce media messages on the transformation of clan-related conflicts and to hold a number of community conversation events promoting increased dialogue on the intersection of clannism and conflict.

The Uniting Communities to Mitigate Conflict website provides information and updates in both English and Somali.

Development Issues

Conflict resolution, Women, Youth

Key Points

IREX is an international nonprofit organisation providing leadership and programmes to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development.

Partners

IREX, , United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Academy for Peace and Development, NAGAAD Umbrella, Somali Development Trust, The Horn of Africa Voluntary Youth Committee, We are Women Activists (WAWA),

Sources

IREX website and Uniting Communities to Mitigate Conflict (UCMC) website on June 2012.