She explained; ” When the violence broke out, I felt I must do something.” So she did, and 2 weeks later VUMA Kenya was born.

“Our slogan is A New Kenya Reborn. Vuma is the product of discussions and reaching out to people from all sorts of backgrounds, delving back to my childhood and highschool days reaching out to folks that I haven’t talked to in over 10 years but one thing that brought us all together was our uniform deep seated concern for the direction our country was headed and the need to DO something about it. Our country will not weather this storm another 5 years from now and it is our imperative to do something to change the tide, we cannot go back to “business as usual” our typical Kenyan response. Kenya is forever changed, our lives are forever changed and this whole fiasco has left an indelible mark on every fiber of the Kenyan social, political and economic fabric.”

Vuma launched their organization VUMA KENYA on February 2nd with a large benefit concert in Boston featuring some of Kenya’s finest artistes including Eric Wainaina. The money raised went to the Kenya Red Cross. Part of Vuma’s focus events include corporate and social meets, concerts and campaigns. They aim also to link and network groups interested in peace and humanitarian initaitives.

Vuma’s next major projects include panel discussions in the US on the Truth and Reconcilation Commission, and a partnership with CCP Kenya, which will see Vuma Kenya raising funds through their Ten4Ten campaign in their new role as founders of CCP-USA.

UZIMA Foundation’s mission is to create social space and promote an enabling environment for Youth Empowerment that facilitates access to decision-making opportunities for young women and men, for holistic improvement of the quality of their lives and that of their communities. The modality through which UZIMA Foundation addresses this mission is the UZIMA Youth group. By December 2005, there were over 100 UZIMA youth groups with over 20,000 members.

UZIMA Foundation envisions informed, skilled and healthy young women and men in Africa proactively working with experienced people to improve the quality of their lives in ways that contribute to creating an environment for sustainable development in their communities and the nation in the context of gender equity.

UZIMA Foundation is playing an active role in the efforts to restore peace in Kenyan communities following the violence that rocked all corners of the country following the announcement of the 2007 presidential election results which were released after a flawed vote tallying processes.. UZIMA Foundation is uniquely placed for this work for a variety of reasons.

1. UZIMA Foundation is a youth based youth-serving organisation focusing on youth empowerment that stimulates young men and women to define, plan for and act to experience improved quality life for themselves and their communities. As most of the violence is being perpetrated by young men, albeit on the instructions of older men, UZIMA youth can relate directly to the concerns and attitudes of those perpetrating the violence and thus can help identify approaches which have a higher chance of succeeding.
2. UZIMA Foundation, in its more than 10 years of existence, has always highlighted the importance of having positive relationships between UZIMA youth and their families and communities. UZIMA Foundation has always worked with the youth in their communities. This means that UZIMA Foundation is deeply embedded in many of the communities which have been affected by the violence. Rather than having to start form scratch to build up effective relationships through which to work, UZIMA is already in a position of trust in many of the affected communities because of the work it has been carrying out for over 10 years.
3. UZIMA Foundation has been running a very successful Alternative to Violence Programme (AVP) for the last 8 years. UZIMA Foundation members have travelled as far as Rwanda and the Middle East to assist in peace efforts in communities rocked with violence. This training and international exposure means that UZIMA Foundation as an organisation has the skills, expertise and experience to carry out effective peace and reconciliation work in communities shaken by violence.
4. UZIMA Foundation, as a national home grown Kenyan foundation active in many parts of the country and with a leadership drawn from all over Kenya, understands the concerns, fears and angers of local communities while retaining a national “big picture” outlook on the crisis.

Contact details

Executive Director: Mrs. Malesi Kinaro

Telephone: +254.20.2726911
Physical + mailing address:
32/203 Mbaruk Road, Golf Course
P.O. Box 4356 – 00200
Nairobi, Kenya

Email: info [@] uzimafoundation.org
Website: http://uzimafoundation.org/

Kibera Women for Peace and Fairness was formed in response to the outbreak of post-election violence in Kenya in January 2008, and the wide-spread destruction of homes and businesses in the Kibera neighbourhoods. Kibera was one of the hardest-hit areas by the violence in Kenya, and women in Kibera are also threatened by the gender-based violence (intimidation, gang-rapes) which has escalated during the recent crisis. The Kibera Women for Peace and Fairness is a platform for the women of Kibera to express their needs and priorities and to work out collective solutions for the reconstruction of their homes and lives.

They have applied for official registration as an organisation from the government, and they meet next to the D.O.’s office every Saturday afternoon to make collective decisions about the way forward in Kibera.

How did EVRI-1 (every-one) start?

Following the outbreak of violence in Kenya on December 29th 2007, members of the Partnership for peace, hosted by PeaceNet convened and initiated an Electoral Violence Response Initiative (EVRI), consisting of civil society organizations (Maendeleo ya Wanawake, PEACENET TRUST, Amani Parliamentary Forum, and Nairobi Peace Initiative), The Kenya Private sector alliance (KEPSA), The Ministry Youth Affairs, The National Steering Committee on Peace building and Conflict Management. The Media Owners Association and the Media Council of Kenya. The team was joined by Action Aid, Oxfam, and World Vision. Since the initial meeting on the 29th December, a number of organizations have joined the initiative, including The Amani Counseling centre, Pamoja Trust, Youth Initiatives Kenya, Global Coalition against Poverty (GCAP), Saferworld

What does EVRI-1 do?

The Electoral Violence Response Initiative has begun to support and advise rapid peacebuilding initiatives particularly at the community level . These include: a white ribbon campaign, community level dialogue in Eldoret, Kasarani and Kibera, and is participating in the humanitarian initiatives of the Kenya Red Cross. PeaceNet regional committees in North Rift (Eldoret), Coast (Mombasa), Central Rift (Nakuru), Nyanza (Kisumu and Ugenya). Through the Media Council and the Media Owners Association, the participation of the media in peace building has grown phenomenally, as seen in the carrying of joint headlines by the Daily Nation and the Standard and the airing of National Prayers on all major broadcast media on Sunday January 6th January 2008.

Contact details

PeaceNet Kenya
Malim Juma Road, Off Denis Pritt Road
P.O. Box. 49806-00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (+254) 2725270/1
Mail: info @ peaceinkenya.net
web: www.peaceinkenya.net

The original five core members included:

• Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat- Kenyan renowned peace mediator and former special envoy for Somalia
• General Daniel Opande (Rtd) – Kenyan renowned Peacekeeper in Liberia
• General Lazaro Sumbeiywo (Rtd) – served as Kenya’s Special Envoy to the IGAD-led Sudanese peace process (1997-98) and then as mediator (2001-05)
• Ms. Dekha Ibrahim Abdi
• George Wachira- a policy advisor with NPI

The concerned citizens for peace initiative works in two levels:

1. Creation of a conducive peaceful environment
2. Encouraging dialogue on pertinent issues during the current crisis

For more information on the group contact:

Ms. Dekha Ibrahim Abdi: 0721 915 853
Mr. George Wachira: 0722 407 164
Shalini Gidoomal beadsandbush (@) mac.com

Administration: Shalini Gidoomal beadsandbush(@) mac.com>

Contact person: Binyavanga Wainaina thebinj (@) yahoo.com
Administration: Daudi Were daudi.were (@) gmail.com
Website: Concerned Kenyan Writers

The Concerned Kenyan Writers coalition, convened by Kwani founder Binyavanga Wainaina, is supported by various individuals and organisations such as Generation Kenya KenyaUnlimited Kenyan Pundit Kwani Martin Kimani Mzalendo Potash Shailja Patel Story Moja Publishing Wambui Mwangi Daudi Were.

All writers are free to join and to submit texts. More information can be found on the Concerned Kenyan Writers webpage.