Our partners

*** OUR PARTNERS ***
[strategic partnerships]

ACTION for Conflict Transformation
ACTION for conflict transformation is a global network of individuals and organisations built on shared values, working with communities and committed to positive action to transform conflict and build a world of justice and peace where basic needs are met and human rights and dignity are respected.
ACTION for conflict transformation promotes people-centred approaches to transforming conflicts through a process of learning, sharing and working together at all levels and to do this in a way that builds trust and creates a culture of peace.
Members of the network have produced the book titled ‘Conflict transformation, reflections of practitioners worldwide’. Case studies and real life experiences are reflected in this book, which serves a as valuable resource tool for practitioners in different countries and situations around the world who are engaged in conflict transformation.
COPA is Africa’s ACTION partner.

Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity organization devoted to a world free from poverty. Its mission is to drive positive change through the power of entertainment.
Comic Relief was founded in the United Kingdom in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis in response to famine in Ethiopia. The idea was simple - use comedy and laughter to raise money and change lives - while making sure that everyone had great fun at the same time.
One of the fundamental principles behind Comic Relief is the 'Golden Pound Principle' where every single donated pound is spent on charitable projects. Comic Relief now has two major fundraising campaigns: Red Nose Day and Sport Relief. It allocates its funds in a responsible and effective way to a wide range of charities which are selected after careful research.
Comic Relief’s support to COPA dates back to COPA’s formative years in 1997 specifically in the area of capacity development. It was in early 2005 that COPA received core funding to cater for all its major expenses including project support. The project was known as the Capacity Building for Conflict Transformation programme, which ran from April 2005 to March 2008.
Skillshare International was acting as grant holder for COPA. Under this agreement Skillshare International provided additional support in capacity development through the Linking Practice to Policy (LPP) training. Two of Skillshare’s development workers are currently supporting COPA. COPA has done an impact assessment on the Capacity Building for Conflict Transformation project, resulting in an encouraging report. For more information on this assessment and the report, please contact COPA.
For more information on Comic Relief, please visit www.comicrelief.com

Cordaid
Cordaid is one of the biggest international development organizations with a network of almost a thousand partner organisations in 36 countries in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Cordaid is a Dutch organization for development cooperation combining over ninety years of experience and expertise in emergency aid and structural poverty eradication.
Cordaid believes in human dignity with respect for mutual differences. Core in Cordaid’s view is the power of the people. Cordaid supports and empowers them, in such a way that they can realize a better future for themselves.
Cordaid has been COPA’s partner in peace education. The project funded by Cordaid consists of various capacity building peace workshops for students and the establishment of peace clubs in selected learning institutions in Nairobi.
Later in 2008, the programme will expand to include schools in districts that were most affected by Kenya’s political crisis.
For more information on Cordaid, please visit www.cordaid.nl

Oxfam GB
Oxfam GB is a leading international NGO with a worldwide reputation for excellence in the delivery of aid and development work. Its purpose is to work with others to overcome poverty and suffering. Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International, 13 organisations working together to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam is a vibrant global movement of dedicated people fighting poverty, working in 70-plus countries worldwide.
People power drives everything Oxfam does. From saving lives and developing projects that put poor people in charge of their lives and livelihoods, to campaigning for change that lasts. Oxfam fights poverty in three ways:
* Campaigning for change
Poverty isn’t just about lack of resources. In a wealthy world it’s about bad decisions made by powerful people. Oxfam campaigns hard, putting pressure on leaders for real lasting change.
* Development work
Poor people can take control, solve their own problems, and rely on themselves – with the right support. Fighting poverty, Oxfam funds long-term work worldwide.
* Emergency response
People need help in an emergency – fast. Oxfam saves lives, swiftly delivering aid, support and protection; and helps people prepare for future crises.
In Kenya, Oxfam's focus is on education, rights of herding communities, livelihoods, and helping ensure that poor people have enough food throughout the year.
For more information on Oxfam GB, please visit www.oxfam.org.uk

Pact Kenya
Pact Kenya is a Kenyan non-governmental organization working together with others for positive change. Pact Kenya is a development organisation focusing on capacity building.
It is committed to building the capacity of local organisations, networks and coalitions working in one or more of 4 thematic platforms that Pact Kenya believes are crucial to reducing poverty and to Kenya’s sustainable development.
Pact Kenya’s work focuses on the following issues: Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources, Women's Empowerment and Conflict Management.
Pact Kenya has just started working with COPA to deliver a conflict mitigation project. The project aims to deliver trauma healing and processing following the post election violence in Kenya between January and March 2008.
The project covers the Eldoret and Mt Elgon regions which were among the worst affected by the violence.
For more information on Pact Kenya, please visit www.pactkenya.org

Peace Women Across the Globe (PWAG)
Peace Women Across the Globe is working to make women’s roles as peace builders more visible, recognized and better supported globally. PWAG does this by connecting and linking individual female peace practitioners and organizations at national, regional and international levels.
PWAG is a project born from the 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 campaign. The focus now is to connect and strengthen women's peace efforts around the world.
COPA cooperates with PWAG on different issues all contributing to peace and conflict mitigation.
In 2007 COPA and PWAG brought together several peace women from grass roots organizations to participate in the World Social Forum 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya. Moreover, COPA has recently taken up the coordination of Peace Women Across the Globe (PWAG) in the Eastern, Central and Southern regions of Africa.
For more information on PWAG, please visit www.1000peacewomen.org

Responding To Conflict (RTC)
Responding To Conflict (RTC) specializes in transforming conflict and violence through skills development and capacity building. RTC works towards a just and sustainable peace by facilitating individuals and organizations to address the underlying causes of violence in situations of real or potential conflict.
RTC believes that conflict, as distinct from violence, is an inevitable feature of life that cannot be ignored. People can and must find ways to address conflict creatively – across cultures, ideologies and continents – so that, wherever possible, positive change occurs.
RTC has been COPA’s partner since COPA’s inception in 1997. The initial membership of COPA was drawn from alumni of RTC’s Working with Conflict course. RTC has financially supported COPA programmes and institutional development in addition to acting as COPA’s grant holder for funds remitted from the UK.
The Linking Practice and Policy Programme (LPP) which has been instrumental in linking different communities and organising learning exchange visits is a joint undertaking of both COPA and RTC.
For more information on RTC, please visit www.respond.org

Skillshare International
Skillshare International is an international volunteering and development organization. Skillshare works to reduce poverty, injustice and inequality and to further economic and social development in partnership with people and communities throughout the world. The organization does this by sharing and developing skills and ideas, facilitating organisational and social change and building awareness of development issues.
Skillshare’s vision is of a world without poverty, injustice, and inequality where people, regardless of cultural, social and political divides, come together for mutual benefit, living in peaceful co-existence.
Skillshare International and COPA are valued partners since 2005. COPA works with Skillshare in East Africa and Southern Africa in peace building and conflict management.
Skillshare is currently acting as the grant holder for COPA funds remitted from the United Kingdom. Also, on the technical front, Skillshare has been providing COPA with volunteer Development Workers supporting COPA in different fields.
Currently COPA has two development workers provided by Skillshare: one in Fundraising and one in Research and Communication.
For more information, please visit www.skillshare.org

Somali Youth Development Network (SOYDEN)
The Somali Youth Development Network (SOYDEN) aims to improve the standard of living among Somali youths, as well as to promote peace and human rights. Empowering youths and making them active partners in development is the focus of the network.
SOYDEN's projects include: a skills training programme, peace building through media campaigns and educational programmes at schools, the protection of street children, and a female genital mutilation campaign. The organization has 11 branches all across Somalia.
COPA and SOYDEN have been working since March 2008 in Mogadishu on a pilot peace education project with support from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The project covers ten schools (five Secondary and five Primary). Included in the project is a media component, using the media as advocacy tool for peace education among the general public.
SOYDEN also is an active COPA member.


Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR-Kenya)
The Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR-Kenya) is a non partisan NGO with the principle objective of providing an alternative way of dispute handling. CCR-Kenya’s core activities are mainly in the area of peace building and conflict transformation.
CCR-Kenya has implemented three programs: Peace Building, Election Violence Monitoring and Civic Education. The Centre has been working with the rural communities in Kenya, particularly in the Rift Valley region.
COPA has been partnering with CCR-Kenya in various projects, especially on peace training for the media. Jointly COPA and CCR carried out training workshops for more than 75 journalists from various media on responsible reporting on conflict.
The workshops were conducted in the aftermath of the 2008 Kenyan crisis, as part of COPA’s response programme to post election violence in Kenya.

Global Majority
Global Majority promotes non-violent conflict resolution through education, mediation and advocacy. Global Majority believes that principled dialogue is imperative and must replace violent conflict if humankind is to thrive.
To promote a fundamentally new manner of thinking in global relations, Global Majority is developing national, regional, and global advocacy campaigns that embody its aim to give voice to the global majority.
COPA and Global Majority are currently exploring ways of collaborating to do advocacy work in Africa.
For more information on Global Majority, please visit www.globalmajority.org

Niza
(Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa)
Niza aims at an equal distribution of income generated by natural resources and by economic growth in Africa. In its fight for a fair and sustainable Africa Niza initiates campaigns and engages civilians, consumers, companies and governments in her work. Furthermore, Niza supports African initiatives to gain more power and control over their own lives. This way, Africans themselves will in a sustainable way benefit from the richness of the numerous natural resources that bless the continent.
Niza has financially supported participants from Mozambique and Angola (both countries recovering from civil war) to attend COPA’s Advanced Conflict Transformation (ACT) course in South Africa.
For more information, please visit www.niza.nl
(please note: this website is in Dutch)

The Peace and Development Network Trust (PeaceNet-Kenya)
PeaceNet-Kenya is a national umbrella body of NGOs, organizations and individuals supporting human rights, peace and reconciliation, justice and conflict resolution in Kenya.
PeaceNet Kenya started as an idea of three organizations: Oxfam GB, the Mennonite Central Committee and the Anglican Development Desk. The three were collaborating in 1992, to provide relief services to the victims of the politically motivated ethnic violence in Molo and Burnt Forest areas of the Rift valley province. In 1993, these organizations in partnership with other like minded organizations, formed a loose network called the Ethnic Clashes Network (ECN), to coordinate relief and peace advocacy work.
In 1995, the Network was renamed The Peace and Development Network (PeaceNet-Kenya) when its mandate was broadened to include capacity building and coordination of peace building activities among Civil Society Organizations in Kenya.
Today, PeaceNet-Trust is a national umbrella organization of organizations and individuals in peace building and conflict resolution. PeaceNet-Kenya is committed to encouraging collaboration, facilitation and mobilization of local initiatives for peace building, promotion of justice and conflict resolution.
Since COPA’s inception, Peacenet-Kenya and COPA have had joint activities especially in capacity building of PeaceNet’s membership at the community levels.
For more information on PeaceNet-Kenya, please visit www.peacenetkenya.org