annual report 2011
Image below: Panel of the second plenary session at the Annual Regional Consultation in Johannesburg.
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Impact Beyond Country Programmes
During 2011 the IJR built relationships with partner organisations in Kenya and two Kenyans participated in the Fellows Programme. The Kenya desk was officially launched in 2012.
Kenya A pattern of violence and associated displacement around Kenyan elections and during the allocation of public resources began to form with the attainment of independence and was heightened with the advent of multiparty politics. The widespread violence that followed the post-presidential election result pro-nouncement of 2007 worked as a reality check and pushed Kenya into actively and constructively engaging in a national reconciliation process. At this juncture, an impressive range of baseline data necessary to determine key components relevant to the reconciliation process, has been generated both nationally and on specific regions within the nation. The work towards instituting policies and processes that will kick start (in some instances) and bolster reconciliation projects is ongoing. There is an urgent need for the Kenyan government to develop, implement and communicate on effective systemic solutions to promote reconciliation. This needs to be predicated on well thought out programmes which pursue the promotion of harmonious co-existence between the country’s diverse communities, in the face of increasing ethnic tension and chauvinism. Kenya can no longer afford to ignore or neglect the issue and the confirmed reconciliation processes must be communicated to the people it intends to address to promote buy-in and also to help hold government accountable. Milly Odongo, Commissioner, Kenya National Cohesion and Integration Commission, April 2012
The Institute is increasingly consulted on matters pertaining to transitional and post-conflict African societies, aside from those in which it already has a presence. It is concerned with producing policy briefs and commenting in international media to ensure that Africa’s perspective is represented and heard. Even though Libya – a headline-making country during 2011 – is not one of the IJR’s partner countries, it is part of the African continent, and the Institute therefore provided commentary where and when requested. Radio Netherlands broadcast an interview with Dr Tim Murithi on 19 May on the topic of Libya, the UN and the African Union. Following the death of Muammar Gaddafi, Jan Hofmeyr’s opinion piece ‘Gaddafi’s torture bodes ill for Libyan harmony’ was published in the Business Day newspaper. Providing policy-makers with the IJR’s policy briefs is one way of influencing decision-making. The brief titled, ICC and Communitylevel Reconciliation: In-Country Perspectives, is a result of the discussions during the annual regional consultations and was widely disseminated. The director for East Africa at DIRCO commented as follows: ‘Thank you for sending us a thought-provoking report. I am sending it to our ambassadors in Kenya, Uganda and Burundi and our Chargé d’Affaires in Rwanda for their further use in monitoring developments on the ground in those countries as regards prosecutions for offences, the activities of the ICC, issues such as complementarity and whether the action of prosecuting offenders negatively impacts peace and stability. Also, the list of participants will be useful to them in this regard. Please give my best regards to Dr Fanie du Toit, whom I met at UNESCO in Paris when he accepted the UNESCO Peace Prize on behalf of the IJR for its sterling work in Africa and further afield.’