Mythbuster: Search from a newcomer’s perspective
Peacebuilding: it’s where everyone exchanges punches for hugs and sings “kumbaya” around a campfire…right?
Peace is not a new notion. The idea has been around since human nature showed its face. It means different things to different people. For the mother with quadruplets, it’s the day kindergarten starts. For a refugee family from a war-torn country, it’s the day they get to go home.
I too had my own ideas of what peace was and how to build it. I studied journalism and international relations in college, so I was in the know. I could tell you how to search for common ground, how to build peace. I’ve now worked at Search for three weeks. Turns out I had a lot to learn.
Jessica with a new friend in Ghana
My 3 misconceptions of Search:
#1. Common Ground is what most people have in common
My first misconception was on the meaning of common ground. I figured common ground was two sides recognizing that they already stood on common ground. For example, they were both Africans, both religious people, both human beings…etc. Although recognizing each other’s common humanity is an important first step, this is not necessarily what Search is talking about when they refer to common ground. They are talking about what they call “the highest common denominator”, which means uncovering similar needs, hopes and aspirations. For instance, two groups of people might disagree on everything at first glance, but truth is they both want their children to be safe when walking to school. They both need clean water. They both need a more stable economy to advance their family. These are common grounds that people can aspire to and they must work together to achieve. Common ground might not always be obvious. That’s why we search for it.
#2. Agree to disagree
When opposing sides take strong stances on a matter, I used to think that they would just have to “agree to disagree” in order to move on. Search takes a different approach. They encourage opposing sides to focus on their interests, not their positions. We have the tendency to take certain sides or positions on issues, which polarizes people. So instead of one side focusing on their left political stance and the other focusing on their right stance, they focus on a mutual interest, such as providing clean water for their families. Focusing on interests gives opposing sides a place to start discussing solutions.
#3. You need to change
Individuals are complicated. Conflict is complicated. Dissension can stem from years and generations of hate, fear, loss, violence… the list goes on. Individual identities stem from experiences, religion, culture…. etc. All these aspects make up who we are, but can also make it tough to see eye to eye. It seems like peacebuilding organizations would have to ask people to compromise who they are, but that is not how SEARCH works. You can keep your beliefs, your stances, and your mission. You do not have to agree with the opposing side or condone what they’ve done. We just ask that you change your response to the disagreement; from violence to constructive problem-solving.
Once I found clarity on these three misconceptions, my hope for what Search could accomplish skyrocketed. You see, I’m a fighter by nature. I was an NCAA Division I athlete, pushed every day to be aggressive, to never back down and to win. Part of that is now ingrained in my personality– just from playing a game! I can’t imagine asking someone whose life has been shattered by another, who has no voice, no freedom, no way out—to just be “ok” with it. They say human nature gives you two options: fight or flight. Search has found another one—take action. Search is constantly coming up with imaginative new ways for people in conflict to take action together. That’s why I feel it will succeed.
Jessica Murrey believes media is powerful tool in changing the world for the better. She studied journalism and international relations at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and worked in broadcast television, forming messages of awareness and prevention against domestic, drug and child abuse. She is currently the new media coordinator at SFCG.
Creating a culture and community of learning is central to the work that we do at Search for Common Ground. This was one of the key motivations for the launch of the Learning Portal for DM&E for Peacebuilding, an online community of practitioners that also serves as a comprehensive resource for everything design, monitoring, and evaluation. The Learning Portal intends to build the capacity of specialists in the field and to ensure that our staff has access to the most cutting edge ideas when it comes to measuring our impact in complex settings.
Acknowledging the need for practical, action-oriented guides, the Institutional Learning Team at Search for Common Ground has put together 32 diverse modules that serve as basic, self-guided manuals on how to conduct design, monitoring and evaluation. The modules are meant to enable peacebuilders to learn simple, practical, and effective tools to design high quality programs and follow them up with top-notch monitoring and evaluation.
In June 2012, the authors of Search for Common Ground’s groundbreaking design, monitoring and evaluation for peacebuilding handbook, Designing for Results: Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation into Peacebuilding Activities, released a study that illustrated the crucial role of resource materials in building evaluation capacity. There were three important takeaways from the study.
1) Practitioners in the field often indicate that there is a huge gap in practical hands-on resources that can help build evaluation capacity;
2) Practitioners struggle more with the practical application of monitoring than with conducting and creating evaluations; and lastly,
3) While there are a number of brilliant documents helping this process, practitioners still need assistance with creating monitoring systems that are adaptable to the dynamic contexts of conflict settings.
The modules that we have developed are a variety of tools and methodologies for measuring impact and creating space for learning. There are also instructions and tips on cross-cutting methodologies and research practices that are useful at any stage of the project cycle. They are all bite size pieces of the project cycle that are easily accessible and are designed to work with the hectic schedules of monitoring and evaluation work in the field. The modules also have helpful tips and real life examples about process and the potential pitfalls that should avoided for each specific subject at hand.
When creating these documents, we really aspired to de-mystify the whole process of monitoring our impact and capturing the transformative power of our programs. People often think of monitoring and evaluation as a cumbersome exercise that requires much time and expertise when in fact, these modules demonstrate handy tips and exercises that will make the process more participatory and make monitoring and evaluation in conflict settings more time- and cost-effective. Many of the examples draw from SFCG’s own experience to bring these lessons to life.
And here’s the best part-most of the modules are small documents that can be further broken up into smaller sections to address specific issues and opportunities that come up while making evaluative decisions. Most of the modules include handy tools, interactive exercises and even quizzes to pre-test your knowledge. Some are narrowly targeted (Ex. How do I conduct an interactive and participatory focus group? Or: What is the correct procedure to create and conduct a survey and how can I use this information in a variety of ways?) while others target larger issues. For instance, one of the modules examines the ethics of conducting research on children and youth in conflict settings.
Our modules are really designed so that anyone in the field, with no prior experience in evaluation or monitoring can pick up from any point and implement evaluative decision-making at every step of the project cycle! So what are you waiting for? Check out the DM&E Modules now at http://www.dmeforpeace.org/learn/training-modules-design-monitoring-and-evaluation-peacebuilding.
The audience at the awards ceremony for the “Shoot Your Identity” short film competition.
by Christopher White
We’ve all been there. You’re out having a drink and you meet someone and they ask you what you do. You tell them and turn the question back on them. A conversation progresses based on the assumption that this fact says something about your character, who you are, where your passion lies. Sometimes you find that, by the end of the conversation, the other person still doesn’t know what really makes you tick. Ask someone point-blank who they are and chances are they’ll freeze. It takes a lifetime to form character. What do you lead with? Your job? Your blog? Your education? Is this you?
Here’s another puzzler: How do you get that inner search on film? read more…
The territory of Masisi in North Kivu is a beautiful and fertile area, but has also been the center of numerous conflicts in the East of the DRC.
by Valentin Manzubaze
History
The territory of Masisi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has a very complex history. During the colonial period, colonists worked with local power holders, a group essentially comprised of the Hunde community. The colonists solicited external labor from their colonial neighbor Rwanda, and above all those from the Hutu community, who came to work in the tea plantations. “In order to make the vast zones of North Kivu favorable for livestock farming and agriculture, the colonial powers began displacing Banyarwanda families to the Kivus, and more precisely to Masisi. According to the literature, close to 10,000 families were forcefully removed from Rwanda and relocated to North Kivu,” scholar Kakule Pilipili explains. read more…
While Others Flee Outbreaks of Violence, We’re Rolling up Our Sleeves
by Gus Peters
The situation in Goma could spiral into a regional war but, as Tony Kasuza N’Kolo, an SFCG program manager on the scene has said, “When things get hot, we don’t flee.”
This holiday season, it’s likely that various non-profits and NGOs will not only wish you happy holidays but ask for your support. They do need it; the work done is not without cost even if the results are priceless. Peace, unfortunately, does not come free of charge.
It’s likely you’ll hear from our organization too because we need your help making violence unthinkable. We understand that conflict is natural. Everyone deals with conflict on a daily basis and handles it in ways they deem appropriate. Unfortunately, some people consider violence an effective way to resolve conflict, preferring warfare to collaboration.
The current unrest in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is no different. The March 23 Movement (M23), a rebel group comprised of former Congolese Army soldiers, marched on Goma, the largest city in the Kivu provinces that border the Great Lakes region of Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. Riots erupted in Kinshasa, the nation’s capital, and the country teetered on the brink of war. Recently, M23 forces retreated from Goma and a semblance of tranquility has settled over the region.
But negotiations between the two sides have stalled and, unless urgency is shown, the rebels have threatened to retake Goma. The situation could spiral into a regional war punctuated by acts of indiscriminate violence against civilians and the mass flight of refugees into neighboring countries. read more…
by Gus Peters
As Andy Williams once crooned, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. The holiday spirit is in full force as the nights grow longer and the days get colder here in Washington, D.C. While people plan their celebrations, we at Search for Common Ground would like to reward you, fearless reader, with our five most popular stories of the year from The Common Ground Blog. From the sprawl of Kinshasa to the shores of East Timor and amidst the encampments of Zuccotti Park, these stories represent our efforts to find peaceful solutions to complex problems and encourage greater dialogue about the pressing issues of the day. Be sure to follow us or you’ll miss out on all of the latest stories from around the world!
Without further ado, here are the five most popular stories of 2012. read more…
