Peacebuilders
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi awarded Hesse Peace Prize
10 February 2010
Kenyan peace activist Dekha Ibrahim Abdi has been awarded the Hesse Peace Prize in recognition of her commitment to building peace. Having started the Wajir Peace and Development Committee in the 1990s, Dekha has gone on to make an incredible impact in situations of conflict all over the world - working with local people and organisations to build peace.
The Hesse Peace Prize is a global prize awarded for outstanding accomplishments in the promotion of international peace and understanding. Previous recipients have included the Dalai Lama and Norwegian activist Marianne Heiberg-Holst.
Dekha was given the award in recognition of her efforts toward stopping the violence that followed the 2007 Kenyan presidential elections. Dekha is the first African, the first Muslim and only the second woman to have been awarded the prize, a fact that will help to recognise the contributions of these groups to the peacebuilding process. This will also help the Hesse Peace Prize and the rest of the world to learn about and from African approaches to grassroots peacebuilding work.
Grassroots community peacebuilding is increasingly being recognised as the first line response to violent conflict as well as the foundation for national and international peacemaking. Dekha, who is an experienced trainer in conflict transformation says, “Working at the grassroots in situations of conflict is vital; the grassroots approach is a crucial component of conflict transformation. This award will further raise the profile of local community peacebuilding.”
“Security has traditionally been seen as the role of men and male elders. However, over the last fifteen years there has been a growing realisation that all genders, people of different ages and people of many religions all have a place in building peace in society and at all levels from grassroots to the national and international levels. ”
“The focus on women is also changing. Gradually we are becoming more aware of the positive and negative insights and contributions that women can make to violent situations, and as a result women are becoming known as resources in conflict, rather than being seen just as victims.”
When asked “what’s next?”, Dekha replied with commitment and focus to continuing her work for peace, “In the future we will hopefully see more heavily institutionalised education and applied research in Wajir and the surrounding areas that will allow for sustainable developments towards peace.“
“Through the work of RTC and other organisations, there is now a critical mass of people who are skilled in conflict transformation, and many of these people are now starting to develop their own courses, and training others in peacebuilding skills.”
Dekha and her colleagues in Kenya established the Wajir Peace University Trust in 2008. Through the Centre for Peace and Applied Research (CEPAR), which is part of the Peace University, she is working with others to ensure that those committed to building peace have opportunities to learn from and with each other. “The Wajir Peace University is just one example of a small idea grown from a seed of knowledge that has become a resource that can be used by people in the Horn of Africa and across the world to achieve peace.”
RTC would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dekha on her many achievements.