Aderemi Adekoya, Chief, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Section, UNAMID, speaks about winning the prestigious Pan-African Award, the sustainability of the Community-based, Labour-intensive Projects and the challenges faced by the Mission’s DDR programme. 

By Paul Omalla

On 28 April 2015, the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was declared the Country Winner for Sudan of the 2014 Saville Foundation Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education. The award was given to UNAMID’s Community-based, Labour-Intensive Projects (CLIPs) programme, led by the Mission’s Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) Section.

UNAMID DDR’s CLIPs programme seeks to bolster peace building initiatives in Darfur, in collaboration with the Government of Sudan, through community stabilization, reduction of armed violence, banditry and crimes committed by “at risk” youth through promoting the adoption of peaceful livelihoods and socially responsible behaviour. Direct beneficiaries of the CLIPs programme are trained to develop alternative livelihoods through labour-intensive public works projects, income-generating activities and vocational skills training.

Since its inception, UNAMID DDR has successfully implemented 58 projects through local implementing partners across Darfur. These projects have directly benefited more than 9,000 “at-risk” youth in 70 communities. Moreover, some 130,000 community members have benefited from construction of community infrastructure such as schools, youth and multipurpose centres’ in addition to livelihood, agricultural and sanitation projects. The programme is implemented through UNAMID DDR section.

Voices of Darfur spoke with Aderemi Adekoya, Chief, UNAMID DDR, about the award, the sustainability of the CLIPs programme and the challenges faced by DDR in the absence of a comprehensive peace agreement in this conflict-torn region.

Voices of Darfur: Can you tell us a bit about the Pan-African Award?

Aderemi Adekoya: The Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education was established to reward organizations in Africa that are taking an innovative, entrepreneurial and sustainable approach to education. UNAMID DDR was awarded the Pan African for Sudan specifically for its CLIPs programme which addresses, as it primary beneficiaries, the needs of at-risk youth across Darfur. Young people are always neglected in a post-conflict situation. The award was given to us through an initiative called “Teach a man to fish,” in partnership with Disabled Foundation. It comes with a certificate and a small cash incentive of $ 1,000, which we intend to roll back into the local communities we serve.
 

VOD: What exactly do you mean when you use the term “at-risk” youth?

Mr. Adekoya: In any post-conflict environment, there is always a peace agreement in existence. However, in our experience, young people in such societies often have problems that are not covered or addressed by an official agreement. This is what we mean by the term “at-risk” youth. We, therefore, took it upon ourselves to develop a programme that works directly with young people in Darfur, providing them with vocational training to increase their skillset and their chances of making a decent livelihood. Such skill-building initiatives ensure that when avenues arise for them to be employed, they are already in possession of the requisite skills, thereby enabling them to sustain themselves as well as their families.
 

VOD: Is this the first award received by the DDR section?

Mr. Adekoya:  Not really; we have received numerous awards and commendations, though this is the most recent. In 2014, we received the UN 21 award, given to us by the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban ki-Moon, also for the CLIPs programme.  I am extremely proud of this.