In an attempt to address armed conflict which has plagued the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for decades, 25 youth drawn from the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC), the Organization of Young Christins in Africa for Development (OJCAD) Youth Peace Clubs and representatives of civil society such as SODAS and QUIRP and members of the Network of Girls Young Women Mediators for Peace and Development have initiated conflict monitoring for early warning and response to conflict following training by FECCLAHA.
The journey towards creating a critical mass of peace builders (Church Leaders, Women and Youth) with knowledge and skills on using the FECCLAHA Conflict Monitoring Tool (FCMT) for early intervention and response to conflict began in 2023 where two youth from OJCAD, alongside twenty six others, were taken through a four-day-long training on regular conflict mapping, conflict monitoring, and conflict analysis in a bid to create a grassroots-driven system and process for early warning and response to /mitigation of conflicts in the region.
The two, further trained 25 youth on using the FCMT for action and have since began community conflict monitoring aided by the FCMT. Using the tool, the community conflict monitors are not only able to determine whether there is a situation of emerging conflict; active conflict or violence; deescalating or reducing conflict or violence; post-conflict through analysing collected data but also able to identify key areas of potential intervention/action guided by key factors to conflict: political, social, economic, religious and cultural, technological development and application or use global trends and legal parameters as we as social systems and services in the community.
FECCLAHA will accompany the trained youth to train more youth in the region, creating a cadre of skilled conflict monitors with knowledge and understanding of conflict causes, drivers and actors as well as conflict dynamics/trends. This not only bridges the gap in targeted interventions but allows for evidence-based, systematic, coordinated conflict intervention processes.