Uniting Communities to Mitigate Conflict (UCMC)

Civil Society Strengthening, Conflict Resolution, Gender, Media Development, Youth, Africa

The USAID-funded Uniting Communities to Mitigate Conflict program engages women and youth to address clan differences—which often serve as a driver of conflict in Somalia but can also serve as a source of conflict mitigation.

Goals

• Enhance conflict-mitigation skills among women and youth

• Develop media products promoting peace and mediation

• Engage communities to discuss sources of and solutions to clan-related conflict

Project Activities

The program provides training on conflict transformation and the development of media products—including newspaper articles, radio debates, public service announcements, and documentaries—to promote positive approaches to resolving conflict in Somalia and promoting mediation to avoid conflict.

Throughout Uniting Communities, individuals of different clan and subclan communities will come together to work toward conflict transformation—as leaders of civil society organizations, trainees in peace-building media, and participants in dialogues on clan dynamics. The project will limit the ability of war-makers to seize on clan divisions by giving key actors—women and youth— the tools of media and conflict mitigation to defuse harmful clan attitudes and constructively address clan differences.