As announced last year, we received in 2010 a grant from Bundeministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) for the construction of a new and larger library on a compound next to the Pujehun Community and Mediation Center. The total cost of this project amounted to 49.660 € of which KNSL contributed 8.000 € and our partner organisation Pujehung Youths for Development (PYD) contributed 4.200 €.

The main purpose of the project was to improve the performance of school children in the local primary and secondary schools and to also increase the educational level of adult residents in the region. Giving teachers adequate access to books and other teaching materials shall enable them to better teach the school curricula, to improve pupil's understanding of their lessons and to generally increase knowledge. ->

The new multi-purpose library has a large reading room and facilities for training courses including a computer training room. On November 21 the new library was opened to the public in a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by the Sierra Leone Chief Education Officer who is the highest ranking non-political official in the Ministry of Education in Freetown. The ceremony was also attended by a number of local dignitaries including the leader of the District Council and the Paramount Chief who expressed their great appreciation for this project.

The library holds more than 5.000 books, CDs and videos with a focus on topics like peace education, conflict resolution, human rights, civil rights, agriculture, health, environment and technology. The media stock includes several complete sets of school books covering the complete school curriculum for primary and secondary schools as well as games for children and adults. Many books were donated by individuals and institutions in Germany as part of the KNSL initiative 'Books for Sierra Leone' in Berlin.

-> Pictures of the new library

Many pupils - both boys and girls - helped during the intermediate and final construction phase of the library: they carried sand and gravel for the construction, helped to paint the walls and to set up shelves and furniture. This was a clear proof of their great interest and commitment to the new library project.

The library is now used quite heavily: in March 2011 there were already 718 registered users. The training classes offered in the library are also well attended. On average, there are 150 visitors daily coming to the library.

The ability of communities and citizens to peacefully resolve local conflicts is a necessary prerequisite for stability and development in any society.

KNSL has been working for several years together with our partner organization PYD (Pujehun Youths for Development) on activities promoting peace and social stability. On our project report pages for recent years you will find detailed information about our 'history' in this field.

In 2010 , the German Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, ifa zivik funded together with KNSL a project on „Consolidating Peace and Stability in Pujehun District by Promoting Social Change and Opportunities for Women and Youths“.

This project had a budget of 80.000 €-of which 70.000 € were granted by ifa zivik while KNSL contributed 10.000 €. This was supposed to be the last in a string of peace building projects funded by ifa zivik.

KNSL's representative for International Contacts, Mr. Edward Mando, assumed the role of project lead and training expert for the whole project.->

The goal of the project was to promote peace and stability in Pujehun District by educating the most vulnerable members of society in ways to stabilize their lives and to improve their economic conditions in the future.

Acknowledging that young people have the highest potential to contribute to the future leadership in the District the project set out to involve especially these young people in a constructive dialog with civil society and politics. Workshops were held to train them in the principles of good governance and to enable them to better understand social and political questions that are most relevant to them.

The project included the following components:

1) Leadership training for young citizens: elected representatives of youth organizations participated in a training course about foundations and rules of democratic representation.

2) Education of the public about the positive impact of youths and women in public services, as small business owners and as social integrators via special media coverage (radio broadcasts), community sensitisations, networking meetings and public movie presentations.

3) Extending the adressable target group of the library by providing a mobile library service.

4) A reflexion-workshop and an internal study investigating the impact and efficiency of the project measures (Monitoring and Evaluation) ->

Female participant presenting at a workshop

The project received high marks from all participants, from the involved communities and from the District Council. It was considered both relevant and adequate because it was based on real demand in the project area and because it included concrete measures building on the work of the previous years to consolidate peace in the district. The very concept of peaceful conflict resolution has by now been widely accepted and many conflicts are settled out of court by so called 'grievance committees', a mechanism strongly advocated by the peace project.

Clashes of interests between the younger and older generations are more easily resolved, young people are better integrated in their communities and are increasingly willing to participate and engage in the work of youth organizations.

Progress was made also in the area of women's rights and gender sensitisation. These days, the leaders of youth organisations are setting up women soccer teams and other clubs all over the district. Women and girls are increasingly aware of their rights and are actively discussing critical topics like discrimination and gender based violence. Regular discussion rounds on public radio organized by PYD have encouraged more and more citizens to engage in community acitivities against violence and to grant their support to the victims.

The community forum discussions organized as part of the peace project by KNSL and PYD in the Community and Mediation Learning Center (CMLC) are strengthening social cohesion and are offering an opportunity to the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community to voice their interests. The forum discussions provide a platform to discuss all current problems and have shaped a model of cooperation between citizens, public administration, chiefs and groups of the civil society that is considered very effective, sustainable and practical also for many other communities in Sierra Leone.

-> Pictures of the Peace Project

As an outcome of our 6 years of peace building project work the concept of peaceful conflict resolution and the search for 'win-win'-solutions has been firmly established in the district. An even more sustainable impact could have been made if our peace building activities had been complemented with additional income generating activities for women and youths.

Economic instability and the resulting uncertainty in people's lives continue to be a critical risk factor for social peace.

We think that future projects of this kind should adopt a more unified approach connecting political, economic, socio-cultural and psychological aspects.

Building a well informed, responsible and actively engaging civil society remains a big task.

The goal must be to build a strong civil network that is able to participate in an open, well informed discussion on all topics of relevance to the community.

On their home page ifa zivik list the KNSL-PYD peace project among their 'best practice' examples. In addition, it has been presented as an example in the zivik manual on 'Project Monitoring' which provides guidelines for the design and implementation of succesful projects (see http://www.ifa.de/pdf/zivik/movie_ad01.pdf)

At the end of 2010, peace researcher Dr. Auer-Frege published a text book entitled 'Pathways towards non-violence - on methods of international civil conflict resolution'.

In her book, Dr. Auer-Frege dedicates a chapter to the work of KNSL and to specifics of our approach which relies on close cooperation with local leaders and community stakeholders.

In early 2010 Edward Mando gave a presentation on our peace project work in Sierra Leone as part of a series of lectures on development policy at the Technical University Berlin.

In July he participated in a discussion forum at Afrika-Kreis in Berlin Moabit on the topic of 'Engagement of the diaspora in the development of their home countries'. ->

The book is available at a price of 39.90 € (ISBN 978-3-9813548-0-5) and our organization has received a proof copy from Dr. Auer-Frege.