Aid in Action

Alternative Nobel Prize Goes to Kenyan Peacemaker

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi honored for contribution to regional peace

Nairobi, Kenya  | Sunday, December 02, 2007

 

Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, a member of USAID implementing partner DAI’s team for the regional conflict management Peace in East and Central Africa (PEACE) program, has been honored as one of four recipients of the 2007 Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. The prize, presented annually in Stockholm, honors those “working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today”. 

Dekha’s early years formed a basis for her interest in peace work. She grew up in Northern Kenya during turbulent times, when the district was under emergency law. Conflict, loss of life and hatred between clans and religions painted a bleak picture for the area’s future. Dekha worked with local women to start a grassroots peace initiative dedicated to bringing together people from all clans. The resultant Wajir Peace Committee assembled different factions, including clans, government officials, religious leaders and NGO representatives, to seek a resolution to the violence.

The model developed in Wajir used inter-faith dialogue and the resolution of tensions and conflict between religions, including all warring factions in negotiations thus allowing them to take ownership of the peace process. The model has been used successfully in conflict situations elsewhere in Kenya and in many other countries including Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa. Dekha has also worked as a consultant/trainer in a number of conflict torn countries such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Cambodia and has taught in Canada, the Netherlands and the UK. Dekha's work on USAID's PEACE Program has helped to mitigate conflict across Kenyan, Somali, Ethiopian and Ugandan borders.

Dekha is a founding member of the regional Coalition of Peace in Africa (COPA) and serves on numerous boards and committees promoting peace-building and conflict prevention. In 2005 she was named Kenyan Peace Builder of the Year and is known as one of the 1000 Peace Women across the globe.

The Right Livelihood Awards jury commended Dekha "for showing in diverse ethnic and cultural situations how religious and other differences can be reconciled, even after violent conflict, and knitted together through a cooperative process that leads to peace and development". Dekha has dedicated the award money (US$77,000) to the people of Wajir, and will use it to build a peace university in Wajir and enhance peace initiatives in North Eastern Province and other parts of Kenya.