wajir peace and development agency (WPDA)
Origins:
The Wajir Peace and Development Agency (WPDA) is a National/local civil society organization based in Wajir County with a rich history of its formation. Following a high spate of conflicts in the early 1990s, concerned professionals and actors responding to these conflicts led a campaign to stop violence through holistic community dialogue with targeted special groups – Women, youth, Religious and business community. In seeking to coordinate all these efforts, the Wajir Peace and Development Committee (WPDC) was formed in 1995. WPDC evolved as part of the larger movement for peace and reconciliation in the then Wajir district that had been initiated with the Al Fatah council of elders.
Initial Work:
The WPDC was registered as an NGO in 2003 and renamed Wajir Peace and Development Agency (WPDA). Since then, WPDA has substantially worked in Lower Juba in Somalia and since 2007, WPDA worked in Rift Valley during the Post-Election Violence (PEV). WPDA has been a leading voice for the reform of policies and laws governing peacebuilding and conflict resolution at the county level and nationally. This is based on its long history of addressing national and county issues within the context of peacebuilding and sustainable development.
Achievements:
WPDA has built a reputation and the requisite social capital as the organization of reference in the governance, peace, and security sector in the county, the region, and nationally. They are credited as pioneers and pace-setters in the set-up of the local peace structures (popularly known as peace committees) which significantly inform the national policy of establishing Peace committees across the county. Drawing from the wealth of experience in peacebuilding and conflict management, WPDA has been funded by key bilateral donors and partners – Pact Kenya, United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, Coffey International, Act, LPI, Niwetu-DAI, and others. Utilizing their grassroots-based model of intervention, WPDA has immensely brokered peace and advanced conflict mitigation processes within and beyond Wajir county. They have contributed to conflict management in the neighboring counties of Marsabit, Isiolo, Garissa, and Mandera, as well as across the border in Somalia’s Gedo region.
