El Fasher, 29 October 2014 – The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)’s Community-based Labour-Intensive Projects (CLIPs) have won a UN 21 Award under the category of "Outstanding Vision." CLIPs programme, which is aimed at community stabilization and violence reduction in Darfur, is implemented by UNAMID Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration section since 2011.

The UN 21 Awards honour individual staff members or teams who promote innovation, efficiency and excellence in the way the Organization delivers its programmes and services. UNAMID CLIPs competed against more than 70 UN projects submitted to this award globally.

The CLIPs programme offers vocational skills training and temporary employment of youth through implementation of the projects. Based on a market survey, youth receive vocational skills training on specializations that are locally high on demand, or on-the-job training on construction skills through rehabilitation of local community infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the programme in 2011, a total of 59 projects have been implemented in 70 communities and directly targeted over 5,000 youth in Darfur. More than 150,000 community members have indirectly benefitted from the programme through increased access to health, education, water and sanitation facilities in targeted areas.

The programme was developed in consultation with national counterparts, international partners, civil society organizations, tribal and community leaders, based on a comprehensive analysis of root causes and dimensions of the conflict in Darfur, to offer opportunities for youth to acquire a variety of livelihood and life skills and to engage them in rebuilding their fragile and vulnerable communities. The projects have also helped in raising awareness on the dangers of small arms and light weapons and have contributed to reducing the use of weapons by youth.

The CLIPs programme plays an important role in community violence reduction in Darfur, building trust, contributing to a secure environment and helping build the foundation for longer term peace and development. 98% of the youth who have participated in the programme stated that it helped them to gain necessary livelihood skills required to secure an employment. Almost 70% were confident about finding jobs after completion of the programme, and 67-68% stated that the programme had a strong impact on strengthening community cohesion and promoting peace in their respective communities. In addition, the CLIPs also had a positive environmental impact, as some youth were trained on production of environment-friendly soil stabilized blocks and fuel efficient stoves.

Many of the participants have found jobs or opened their own business after completing the training. Rawda, one of the participants, explained that she had no tailoring skills prior to her training, and now she can sew and manage different kinds of tasks. “I run my own tailoring workshop and have a daily income, which is sufficient to live a good life. This training opportunity has positively changed my life. I consider my current standing as socially and financially stable,” she said.

See photos of different CLIPs here.

On 25 March 2014, a young woman attends a training on sewing at the technical school in Mellit, North Darfur. Photo by Albert Gonzalez Farran, UNAMID.