MoP Africa Network Managers Workshop Report, Ethiopia 2013

Messengers of Peace Africa Network Managers Training, Addis Ababa-Ethiopia 2013 of 9

REPORT OF THE MESSENGERS OF PEACE AFRICA REGIONAL NETWORK

MANAGERS TRAINING HELD AT ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF

SOCIAL STUDIES IN WOREDA, ETHIOPIA FROM 10TH TO 14TH MARCH 2013 INTRODUCTION The Messengers of Peace Initiative was introduced in Africa in August 2012 at the 6th Africa Scout Jamboree in Burundi where twenty seven (27) MoP Community Leaders were trained on using social media as a tool to promote peace. Following the training the participants were expected to establish national MoP Networks back in their respective NSO/NSAs. This Regional Network Managers Training was therefore convened to assess the progress so far made, address emerging challenges as well as to further strengthen the capacity of the Network Managers to enhance the growth of the Messengers of Peace Network across all NSO/NSAs in Africa. The training took place on 11th and 12th March 2013 at the Addis Ababa University College of Social Studies located in Woreda Sub City in Ethiopia in the framework of the annual Africa Scout Day celebrations hosted by Ethiopia Scouts Association. Participants arrived in Ethiopia on Sunday 10th March, stayed on to take part in the Africa Scout Day celebrations on 13th march and departed on Thursday 14th March. PARTICIPATION

The workshop brought together a total of twenty (20) young people from seventeen (17) National Scouts Associations from across Africa. The NSA/NSOs represented included the following: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Niger, Togo, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Madagascar, Uganda, Burundi, Cote de ‟Ivore, Namibia and Malawi. Also present was a team of five (5) commissioners from Nigeria. Kenya was represented by Grace Nyaruai Michuki the Africa Scout Youth Forum President and Nelson Ochieng Opany the National Youth Representative. The training was facilitated by Cynthia Marquez Cardoza, the Messengers of

Peace Global Projects Manager from the World Scouts Bureau, Central Office in Geneva. She was supported by Jacques Sandrizi, Projects and Partnerships Development Assistant, Jonathan Omondi,


the Youth Programme Assistant and Yonas, a Finish volunteer all from the Africa Regional Office. (See attached a full list of participants) AGENDA The agenda for the training included the following:

Introductions and statement of objectives Objectives of the training Country Status Reports MoP Network Guidelines and Support Structure MoP SWOT Analysis Building the Messengers of Peace Network (Africa Scenario) MoP Network National Team Building a National Plan of Action MoP Online Platform and Social Media MoP Network Success Indicators Evaluation and Closure

PROCEEDINGS Day 1: Sunday, 10th March 2013-ARRIVALS This day was set aside for arrival of participants, climate setting and bonding. Day 2: Monday, 11th March 2013-MoP TRAINING

Defining the Concept of Peace: Cynthia led the participants in defining the concept of peace in different contexts. Participants got an opportunity to express their own understanding of peace. Some of the outcomes included: harmony, tolerance, safe environments, celebrating differences, human rights, lack of conflict, resolving conflicts, integrity of nature, diversity, respect, friendship and socialization, building relationships, creating ideas, sense of belonging, love, acceptance, wellness of health, freedom and respect, interaction and security among others. It was clear that the understanding of peace depends on the local context. A video “Life Vest Inside” was shown to demonstrate the replica effect of good deeds that help create a network that helps others. The participants were asked to use this knowledge to conduct similar trainings for scouts, volunteers, staff and leaders back at their NSO/NSOs. Country Status Reports: The various representatives

were called upon to share with other participants about the work they have been doing since the inaugural training in Burundi. The reports covered activities done, impact made, challenges faced, lessons learnt and suggestions for the future. (Country presentations made are hereby attached) Messengers of Peace Global Network Messengers of Peace Initiative is a 10-year project that officially began in 2011 targeting all scouts of the world that targets to engage about 35 million scouts in various programs, activities and initiatives related to, and promoting peace with the aim of enhancing the fundamental principles of Scouting. This would see the interlinking of the www.scout.org and www.scoutmessengers.org platforms.


MoP Concept: Messengers of Peace is a global network for action that empowers young people to become leaders for change in their community through service. It aims to support scouting to be a complete part and integrate with the community. The network shall be built in the Scout Group/Unit and grown in the different sections. Section leaders will play a critical role in supporting the network. MoP Principles: To achieve its purpose MoP needs to be related to:

Scouting„s purpose, principles and method Youth empowerment Networking (at all levels of the NSO/NSA) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Inspiration (internal and external) Development (community and self) Partnerships (equal contributions to success) Inclusivity of all people

It was noted that everybody, even non-scouts are invited to become Messengers of Peace. MoP Purpose: Enabling Scouts to create a better world through:

Realizing BP‟s vision of peace Supporting personal development Providing resources and support Creating impact in the society Promoting institutional development of NSA/NSOs

Baden Powell fought in World War 1 but by World war 2 he was already the Chief Scout of the World and had realized the power of young people to work together for global peace as opposed to fighting for their individual countries. MoP Objectives:

Reach all Scouts and inspire them to act in their communities Create bridges, find resources and develop tools to facilitate action Empower youth and motivate adults to be more supportive Improve the external image of Scouting and promote partnerships

MoP Target Areas: The initiative targets five areas namely:

Training in dialogue Support to specific peace projects Support young people living in “hot‟ conflict situations Capacity strengthening Globalizing the Messengers of Peace Network

NSA/NSOs are encouraged to identify projects emanating from Scout Groups that have a life changing potential and support it. Integration of Global MoP Actors and Objectives: the partners in the MoP initiative include

National Scouts Associations/Organizations World Scout Foundation Messengers of Peace Teams Global Support Programme Scout of the World Award Programme


World Environment Programme Safe From Harm Governments World Scout Bureau Regional Offices Youth Program Scout Adult Resources Local and global community National Awards that have a service project aspect Individuals

NSA/NSOs are encouraged to recognize the efforts of non-scout partners who are helping in the MoP projects in their countries to motivate them through items such as certificates, awards, badges etc. All such partnerships ought to be guided by the provisions of the “Marakech Charter” Why a Global Network

To engage our Young and adult Volunteers by through ONE global intention. To inspire young people beyond scout Movement to understand the importance of creating

peace trough community service. To SHARE STORIES about WHAT and HOW are Scouts and young people helping to build a

PEACE culture in their communities. How MoP Works: The initiative works based on the core action of our movement-LEARNING BY DOING and SERVICE we want to invite others to engage with us to make a difference. This is achieved by the following series of actions:

WOSM Motivates Action Scouts develop a Project or Service Action Scouts Execute the Project or Service Scouts Share the Story ONLINE Scouts and Non Scout get interested

SWOT Analysis-Country Scenarios The session, led by Jacques Sandrizi targeted to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to implementing the MoP projects in the various NSA/NSOs. The participants were divided into four (4) groups and allocated S-W-O-T. In a rotational manner, each group was able to contribute in all the four areas African Scenario-Challenges and Solutions Jonathan Omondi divided the participants according to their different regions and asked them to assess the situation in Africa as depicted by the SWOT analysis in the previous session and do the following tasks:

Creatively present the Africa scenario using clothes made out of locally available material in a catwalk demonstration. The back of the clothes should depict the challenges while the front should show solutions to the challenges. The best design wins.

In the same groups, develop MoP promotional material to help disseminate peace messages Based on the video “Life Jacket Inside” and using the story telling skills learnt in the Burundi

training, as one big African team develop a 3 minute video on Messengers of Peace. Be creative, simple and objective.

Day 3: Tuesday, 12th March 2013-MoP TRAINING Modeling the Africa scenario: In their regions (East, West, South, Central and Indian Ocean) the participants made presentations on the models prepared together with the MoP promotional materials. Upon completion an evaluation was done and participants identified lessons learnt. The session was guided by Jonathan Omondi.


MoP Online Platform: Guided by Cynthia the participants had online session on the global MoP platform www.scoutmessengers.org. those who had not previously signed up had a chance to do so. Cynthia explained the various features of the platform and how members could interact with others online as well as manage their national network on the platform. Some of the key features include:

Personal profiles with MoP numbers Projects uploaded Communities joined Tutorials published and read Talks Country reports indicating number of MoP signed up, projects uploaded and their locations and

service hours reached The participants were made aware that it was their responsibility to grow the MoP network in their countries and help others to access and utilize the platform Role of the MoP Network Manager The roles and responsibilities of the MoP Network Managers entails to:

Support the global MoP project for the next 1 year Gather a National MoP Team comprising of staff and volunteers Get integrated with all leaders in the NSA/NSO including Chief Scout, Chief Commissioner,

national commissioners, volunteers, staff and scouts Create a Messengers of Peace plan integrated in the national programme/plan for consistency,

sustainability and affective management of the initiative Create a budget of the MoP plan developed and be creative and diversify resource mobilization

channels to support implementation Integrate MoP into the training programme


Measure the impact of MoP activities through the provided tools and activity on the online platform

Develop or translate local content to support MoP Promote the MoP initiative both in and out of scouting Support leaders and scouts in understanding peace in their local context, developing and

managing service projects Support other MoP funded projects in the NSA/NSO

MoP Success Indicators: Participants were taken through a checklist of action points that would be used to evaluate and measure the success of the national MoP networks. The indicators are divided into the following parts:

Introductory Phase Peace Culture Building Building the Network Building the MoP Team Building the NSA/NSO Strategy Membership Participation Promotion and Social Media Strategic Alliances

A checklist complete with the finer details of the MoP Network Success Indicators is hereby attached Use of the MoP Logo: Issues arose regarding the use of the MoP brand globally and nationally. The following clarifications were made by Cynthia:


There is no restriction to the extent of use provided it serves to promote the initiative The word “Messengers of Peace” on the logo should be maintained in green Incorporating of national colours and elements is allowed A letter of commitment to the brand guidelines is needed for authorization to use the brand in

promotional material at NSA/NSO level To use MoP branded items for sale to raise funds, a fee of 5 cents (0.5 USD) sale of each item

must be paid to the World Scout Bureau for use in supporting MoP The official MoP colours of purple, green, yellow, blue should be maintained WSB staff dedicated to helping NSA/NSOs in assessing, designing and validating material for

use in promoting MoP (e.g. logos, banners, fliers, t-shirts, brochures, posters, flags, facebook banners etc)

For further reference please see the attached documents on Messengers of Peace Identity Guide Day 4: Wednesday, 13th March 2013-AFRICA SCOUT DAY CELEBRATIONS The celebrations to mark the Africa Scout Day began with a brief ceremony in the early morning at Addis Ababa University. All the scouts gathered to listen to a message from the Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, Mr. Scott A. Teare which was read on his behalf by Mr. Frederic Tutu Kama-Kama, the Africa Regional Director. This was followed by a commemorative tree planting session by the Chairman of the Africa scout committee, Mr. Gilbert Mussumba, representatives of the Messengers of Peace Africa Network and representatives of the Ethiopia Scouts Association. After tree planting all the everyone proceeded to the Oromiya National Regional State Office of the President where a panel discussion on the Africa Scout Day theme “Scouts Promoting Peace and Good Citizenship” was led by the Chief scout of Ethiopia Scouts Association, Dr. Costantinos and four other young people.


The discussion touched on among other things the following:

The importance of human and state security Human security needs to be given more emphasis than state security because it empowers

people to live in harmony thus promoting greater tolerance and peaceful coexistence. Mainstreaming development and peace in the vision and mission of the African youth

grounded in the vision of the African Union Scouting as a clear entry point for young people to contribute to peace and harmony in Africa Messengers of Peace Initiative as a platform to not only speak about peace but also act for

peace in the different countries How do the Scouting institutions in Africa contribute to prepare young people for leadership? Education for democratic citizenship Capacity building for higher representation of youth in decision making in Africa Paradigms of Change: Africa needs plural sets of political organizations which promote and

protect rules of peaceful political participation and competition. Promoting sustainable human development is a key role the young people in Africa need to

play. In making his submission during the discussion, Nelson Ochieng Opany from Kenya noted that, “The nations of Africa need to invest more in young people as they hold the master key to a sustainably progressive, democratic and peaceful Africa”. He also congratulated the Ethiopia Scouts Association for giving the young people opportunity and supporting them to develop leadership as was manifested in the Africa Scout Day organizing team that comprised of 90% young people. Mr. Kama-Kama, the Africa Regional Director read again the WOSM Secretary General‟s message to the gathering. He also commended Ethiopia Scouts Association in giving the youth opportunity to take leadership in planning and managing the entire Africa Scout Day event. He urged other NSO/NSAs to take lessons from that exemplary act to develop young people for leadership in Africa. He concluded by presenting Messengers of Peace promotional kit to the Ethiopian Chief Scout after which the ceremony came to a close. Later in the evening, in the spirit of the worldwide brotherhood of Scouting and solidarity with the Ethiopian Scouts, a football match was played between the Africa Messengers of Peace team and the Ethiopian Scouts, which ended 3-1 on post match penalties in favor of the Ethiopian Scouts after a draw of 3-3 in regular time. Day 5: Thursday, 14th March 2013-DEPARTURES All activities having come to an end, the participants travelled back to their countries at different times of the day. WAY FORWARD At the end of the training several things were agreed upon to form the way forward for period of the next one year. These are contained in a document called “MoP Africa Network Managers Pledge” passed at the training; which is hereby attached. Apart from the 10 point document the other things that came up include:

The formation of an open and interactive MoP Africa Network platform on social media Participants to develop USD 1,000 action plans for the National Youth Forum to be used as an

investment to grow resources for MoP in their NSA/NSOs by end of March Regular articles on the progress of national MoP networks to be sent to WSB/ARO by 5th of

every month. MoP promotional kit is under development and shall be sent out to the Network Mangers upon

completion The next MoP Africa Network Managers meeting will be after one year but the leaders might

be asked to visit other NSA/NSOs to support them in developing the network in their countries.

Circulars shall be sent by WSB/ARO to all NSA/NSOs to consider the outcomes of this training as presented to them by the National Network Managers and support them in the


implementation. This shall be accompanied by letters of appointment addressed to the individual Network Managers.

CONCLUSION Looking back at the activities done after the initial training in Burundi it is safe to say that a lot has happened. However, much more still remains to be done. This training provided a good opportunity to review the progress, identify the challenges and plan ahead. Africa has a rejuvenated team of Messengers of Peace that is ready to provide a new dimension of youth leadership for a better and peaceful world. APPENDICES Attached to this report are the following relevant and supporting documents:

MoP Africa Network Managers Training Agenda MoP Africa Network Management Training Participants List Country Status Report Presentations MoP Global Network Presentation MoP Sample Key Messages MoP Network Success Indicators MoP Africa Network Managers Pledge Africa Scout Day Message from WOSM Secretary General

Report Compiled by: NELSON OCHIENG OPANY National Youth Representative-Kenya Scouts Association Messengers of Peace Kenya Network Manager

MoP Africa Network Managers Workshop Report, Ethiopia 2013

Documents

Transcript of MoP Africa Network Managers Workshop Report, Ethiopia 2013