FPFK Resilience Program

FPFK Resilience Program

Introduction

 FPFK Resilience Program funded by PMU targets to see people in vulnerable situations living with dignity in a sustainable and peaceful environment. That they have the capacity to overcome personal, group, systemic threats to their peace, dignity and environment. They have safe spaces and making decisions and choices for their wellbeing and have livelihood options that are resilient to climate change impacts. They are food secure, have sustainable sources of clean water and are conserving and utilizing natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The target areas include;

Soin and Nyakach (Kisumu and Kericho Counties- Building community resilience against the impact of climate change

In a world where climate change is no longer just a distant threat but a daily reality, the FPFK Resilience Program has been a beacon of hope for vulnerable communities within Kisumu (Nyakach) and Kericho (Soin / Soliat / Sigowet. The program has worked tirelessly to empower people by helping them adapt, diversify their livelihoods, and embrace sustainable practices. The heart of this program is the people; farmers, teachers, faith leaders, local and sub county administrations, CBOs and CSOs, where community members of all walks of life are stepping up to protect their environment and secure a better future. In 2024, the program worked towards ensuring that communities have become resilient to the vulnerabilities of climate change by ensuring that the communities, including indigenous people, have diversified livelihoods; communities have adjusted to sustainable land use practices and marginalized communities are accessing clean water from sustainable sources and adopting hygiene practices. FPFK ensures that communities have implement- ed Disaster Risk Reduction measures including Early Warning Systems (EWS

Achievements in Strengthening Communities for a Sustainable Futuretroduction

Over 2,100 individuals (over 601 females, 844 males and 677 children (329 Girls and 348 boys), have been directly impacted, with many more influenced by the program’s outreach efforts.

  • Farming for the Future: Over 176 farmers received training in sustainable agriculture, helping them make the most of their land while protecting the environment.
  • Training of farmers and ToTs in Early Warning and Early Response. 25 ToTs including 6 FPFK faith leaders were trained in modern, indigenous and scriptural ways of EWER. They have been cascading the information into the community through FFS and the faith
  • Children Leading the Change: Schools have become centers of climate action, with 67 teachers trained and environment/4k/scout clubs established to engage young minds in sustainability.
  • Edutainment 141 children, 20 child club teachers were equipped with knowledge in environmental management and climate action through solid waste management. The role of children in climate action was emphasized. 791 tree seedlings of indigenous, frui t and naturalized exotic species were distributed amongst 8 FPFK churches for planting out at church 27 trash cans were given to the Sunday schools.
  • CSO leaders championing sustainable environmental management. 20 group leaders were trained and they are practicing. Inter group exchange learnings and sharing of farming resources have been on going.
  • Empowered Faith Leaders: 118 faith leaders are now spreading awareness, encouraging their congregations to take part in environmental
  • Strength in Unity: Village Environment Committees and Farmer Field Schools have been formed, creating strong local networks that advocate for sustainable land use and disaster preparedness.

Olgulului – Kajiado County building Resilience against FGM

In the year 2024, the project implemented a number of activities that lead to the following achievements;

Achievements for 2024

  • Staff and stakeholders collaboratively developed a thorough understanding of the organization’s mission, vision, and core values. That was achieved through community based interactive dialogues and focused groups trainings.
  • Defined roles and responsibilities facilitated smoother project implementation and fostered team spirit, whereby each stakeholder had a clearly cut out task to undertake for successful project implementation.
  • The project reached 246 girls and 78 boys with pertinent menstrual health education and distributed 1,000 sanitary towels, significantly reducing school absenteeism among girls. These girls were also empowered with accurate knowledge regarding menstruation and dispelled myths, hence helping to reduce stigma amongst them.
  • Provision of IEC materials stimulated cognitive development and raised awareness about child rights and FGM among young
  • The project engaged the community in child rights initiatives, monitored child welfare, and set up reporting mechanisms for child rights violations.
  • Pastors and community advocates were trained in anti-FGM and child protection, enhancing advocacy and monitoring systems within communities.
  • The project also fostered connections between local community structures and governmental entities to streamline advocacy efforts against harmful traditional practices (HTPs) like FGM and child marriage.
  • To enhance the capacity of staff and volunteers to provide trauma -informed care, promoting healing and resilience among trauma survivors, the project facilitated a comprehensive trauma healing training for the both its staff and volunteers.
  • Increased advocacy capacity of local civil society groups was realized through engagement activities in public forums, which highlighted community issues and stimulated dialogue with local government.

Maasai Community Resilience Project conducting Menstrual Health Hygiene and Mentorship program in Olgulului, Kajiado County

Lessons Learned in 2024

  • Effective induction and communication foster positive collaboration and understanding of roles among staff and
  • Involving male teachers and male students in menstrual hygiene education proved crucial for breaking stigma and encouraging a supportive environment for girls.
  • Strengthening existing community structures promoted local agency in advocating for child rights and against harmful
  • Utilizing edutainment to convey serious topics engaged younger audiences effectively, promoting deeper understanding and participation in child rights initiatives.
  • Engaging men through positive masculinity in family decision-making has shown potential to impact community attitudes toward harmful practices effectively.
  • The need for ongoing trauma healing initiatives was reinforced as many individuals require support in building resilience post-trauma.

Challenges Faced in 2024

  • Cultural norms and traditional beliefs regarding FGM and child marriage presented significant barriers to implementing change within communities.
  • Insufficient funding and resources constrained the extent and frequency of educational and advocacy initiatives, limiting out
  • Cross-Border FGM continues to be an impending danger to increase in FGM prevalence
  • Despite training, community advocates may still lack the necessary resources needed to implement sustainable advocacy efforts

Conclusion

The initiatives undertaken have led to significant progress in fostering awareness, comprehension, and advocacy against harmf ul practices like FGM and child marriages. The collaboration among staff, volunteers, community leaders, and other stakeholders culminated in a shared commitment toward promoting child rights and well-being. Through effective communication and inclusive practices, the intervention crafted a strong foundation for sustainable change within the targeted communities.

Moving forward, it is imperative to address the challenges faced by harnessing community leadership and engaging with familie s to create supportive environments. Continued advocacy, education, and trauma-informed practices should be implemented to ensure that the momentum towards ending FGM and promoting child rights continues. The success seen thus far reinforces the need for ongoi ng investment in community structures and partnerships that promote collective agency in combatting harmful traditions.

Turkana and Pokot Counties; Building community resilience against violent conflicts

The intervention was along the Pokot-Turkana borderline in an effort to achieve an objective where Local communities have cultures for peace and are resilient to the impact of violent conflicts.

The program, while targeting two counties has been aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, which is to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. At continental level, the project is aligning with Aspiration 4 of African Union Agenda 2063 which aspires for “A peaceful and secure Africa” through the use of mechanisms that promote a dialogue-centered approach to conflict prevention and resolution of conflicts and establishing of a culture of peace and tolerance nurtured in Africa’s children and youth through peace education. At regional level, the East African Community (EAC) has recognized that economic integration can succeed only if peace, stability and security are established throughout the region. It therefore focuses its efforts on crisis prevention, conflict resolution, small arms and light weapons control, and the promotion of good governance.

Above all the program will work with the marginalized communities at the grassroots level, and especially in projecting the voice of these communities in line with government priorities at local and county levels. This will also be consistent with FPFK Mission, which is “…meet the spiritual, Economic and Social needs of the people through Evangelism, Education, Training and Social -Economic activities based on Christian values

Our Program Approaches focuses on

  1. Faith and Peace
  2. Conflict early warning and Early Response System (CEWERS)
  • Education and
  1. Livelihood and

The program has adequate staffing who ensure that the project is implemented according to plan and in line with the project d esign. The program staff are each drawn from respective communities not only to ensure representation but also guarantee the unders tanding of local dynamics, politics and cultures that inform the conflict and peace building processes. In addition, the project has an advisory committee, whose members were equally drawn from the two fighting communities to represent the community interests in the project decision making processes. The advisory committee further supports the project staff in driving community ownership of the pr oject interventions, obtain local government and community support towards realization of project outcomes

2024 Achievements:

The project, with continued collaboration with local FPFK churches reached 130 warriors in Masol, Akiriamet Pokot Central, Kakong and Kaputir in Turkana South, and indirectly reaching 200 warriors and engaged them in community trainings on peace building and youth dialogues targeting them to abandon violent activities such as raiding and rustling, by engaging them in alternative liveliho ods such as bee keeping, small scale businesses using Village Saving and Loans (VSL) model. Three groups were formed out of the new warriors and are being supported by the project through the existing beneficiary groups in Dung Dung and Masol. The program identified 22 reformed warriors through a group model, and capacity built them through skills development of their own choice so that they can be able to sustain themselves and continue becoming agents of peace. The program intended to shift the mindsets of the individual warrio rs by equipping them with essential livelihood skills like tailoring, welding, mechanic and agriculture depending on their preferred choice. The training proved to be a significant step toward integrating local communities into the livelihood value chain while fostering a culture of peace and environmental stewardship.

During the year, the project conducted community dialogues with the elders in Pokot and Turkana communities taking the counci l of elders and the local pastors as our lead actors in partnership with the government actors to reach the youths, women and men across the target areas, which resulted in peace in the region. The program strengthened the ICT based early warning system to work towards deeper community-based reporting for early detection and prevention of threats to peace. The system has been acting therefore as our major entry point for program collaborative approach with the government, religious leaders and community actors towards prevention and timely response to threats for peace and indicators of violence within and between the communities of Tu rkana and Pokot.

The program has been working with the livelihood groups in our target areas in Masol, Marich and Runo in Pokot Central; and K ainuk, Kakong, Kalemngorok in Turkana South. In the previous phase of the project, the groups were supported with livelihood assets such as maize milling machines, water pumps, bee hives, goats and camels for strengthening their livelihoods.

Last year 2024, these groups were trained on building resilient livelihoods, group formalization and structures, and playing a major role in peace building. In the same year, the groups improved the livelihood of their members, and this resulted to formation of other groups, which are receiving support towards engagement in income generating activities by project livelihood groups. In Kalemngorok, Katilu, and Masol, such new groups have emerged, including former warrior group of women in Masol. The program targets to offer further trainings to these new groups for betterment of livelihoods of their members. The groups are however, challenged with lack of literacy and numeracy skills that can help them access more opportunities from such actors as NGOs and the government platforms for devolved funds or engaging in business opportunities at the county level. The program is being used as a stepping stone to have these groups strengthened economically and spiritually.

The program conducted a two-week joint trauma and healing training for community volunteers and program staff from both Turkana and Pokot that focused on the psychological support component. The participants in this extensive program gained information and skills related to counselling and trauma. The program enabled the participants to comprehend and get over traumatic experiences on a n individual basis in addition to assisting them in effectively handling conflict and trauma issues connected to peace building at the community level.

The trained participants are reaching out to the communities through the community meetings/gatherings to map out individuals with trauma and offering basic counselling to them. During these engagements, the program volunteers identified 22 persons, who ar e currently undergoing trauma counselling therapy and concurrently engaged into skills development so as to be reintegrated back to the community when fully baked. Other cases are complex due to the deep-rooted nature of trauma, which may require engagement of professional counsellors to conduct comprehensive trauma healing for the victims, who suffered loss of members of families, l ivestock, and sustained permanent bodily harm.

On school children, the program has the peace clubs as our platform for involving children in peace building. In 2024, we had limited engagement with some of peace clubs especially AGAPE Primary school and Kainuk Girls in Turkana and Amolem school, Chesogon schools in Pokot due to the closure of school premises as a result of banditry and attacks of school children. While there is need for strengthening this platform for children as actors in peace building, the program worked with the school management to reacti vate the peace clubs in two schools, which had closed down due to the transfers of the club patrons. The project staff, with support of the l ocal pastors, would continue to deepen school based and inter-school activities such as drama, music and sports for peace and resilience to disasters to ensure their contribution to sustainable peace and livelihoods in the target areas. The project has been working with ten schools in Turkana South and ten schools in Pokot Central.

Institutionalization

FPFK has over the years championed a culture of peace and cohesion and strongly believes that institutionalizing and prioritizing community peace interventions creates a more harmonious and resilient society that is better equipped to address peace and cohesion challenges and work towards a sustainable peace and development for peace and stability. This year FPFK facilitated t he process of developing a work plan and operationalizing the resolutions agreed upon in the intercommunity dia logues between Pokot and Turkana held in Kainuk. The resolutions recognized the cardinal role leaders, elders, women and youth play in peace build ing.

FPFK facilitated kraal leaders, elders, women and reformed youth to meet and attend the Lokiriama Peace Accord to re -awaken their thoughts and commitments and discuss the operationalization of logical resolutions agreed upon in the last peace dialogues an d commemorations.