As the world celebrates the International Day of Peace, there’s a special group of people that know first-hand what it takes to keep that peace here in Kenya – UN Volunteers, serving as Peace Monitors in various areas in the country.

Picture Credit: International Day of Peace website: www.internationaldayofpeace.org

When Kenya was thrown into the throes of violence following the disputed 2007 elections, UNDP in conjunction with UNV and the government of Kenya launched the Neighborhood Volunteer Scheme in February 2008 to support conflict resolution, peace building, early recovery and service delivery.  Led by UN Volunteers, 528 neighborhood volunteers were mobilized, made up of influential community members. 19 months later, the impact was clear for all to see: According to UNV officer-in-charge Ann-Rose Kogi, the UNVs played a critical role in building relationships with the different groups in the communities, which contributed greatly to dialogue on peace.

“The UNVs were a critical component in acting as mediators and monitors, by listening to both the communities through the neighborhood volunteers and the government actors, facilitating consultation meetings to enhance discussion among the community members themselves and the state actors and much more…”

The successful experience of neighborhood volunteer scheme convinced UNDP’s Peace Building Unit to extend continuous support to the National Steering Committee on Peace Building & Conflict Management (NSC) by engaging UNV peace monitors in volatile districts across the country for ongoing engagement with the communities.

The UNV peace monitors are responsible for coordinating with and supporting the District Peace Committees that are also made up of volunteer community leaders, in 16 districts across the country, covering Rift Valley, Nyanza and Nairobi regions. Over the last two years, many of them have not only seen cessation of hostilities, but more importantly, success in increased dialogue and interaction among the communities in the areas they serve.

The Peace Monitors have been able to undertake various activities to enhance community peace dialogue such as public barazas with opinion leaders, sports activities, liaising with the district government authorities, and public forums for dialogue. One great example was the Kisumu Peace Festival held in August 2011 with the support of several organizations, in which the Kisumu Peace Monitor Dominic Odipo was centrally involved. He says, of the continued impact:

“Being a UN Volunteer is exciting…What I like most is support by the communities…I even manage the peace committee for my own community…and they know that somebody is there, looking after the affairs of peace for all of us…”

So today, as we celebrate International Day of Peace, we salute these volunteers who are giving their time to ensure that Kenya remains peaceful!