Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanant is a recently-elected Ashoka Fellow who is working to stamp out slavery, one of the oldest scourges of humankind. Slavery still exists in many overlooked, often remote, corners of the world, embedded deep within the fabric of societies. Social entrepreneurs like Ibrahim are an essential force in the slow, daily grind of progress that will eventually eradicate this dark side of our natures. But when you are facing problems that are so deeply embedded in our cultures, success can be fleeting and often incremental. That is precisely why it must be celebrated.

Please find below the moving story of a woman named Timizwaq who, until very recently, was a slave in Northern Mali.  Thanks to the work of Ibrahim’s organization, TEMEDT, and his network of allies, she escaped from a lifetime of slavery and asked that we translate this story and share it with as many people as possible.  She is so grateful to everyone who has helped her. As she declares here, for the first time in her life, she feels loved.  At Ashoka Peace, we are delighted to join in her celebration by sharing her story.

Will Okumu is the founder of Awasi Multi Youth Group. Read all of Will's blog posts.

Melanie Kawano is the Program Manager of the BEFORE Project: Action to Prevention Political Violence. Read all of her posts here.

Will Okumu is the founder of Awasi Multi Youth Group. Read all of Will's blog posts.

The post election violence in Kenya in January 2008 led to the death of over 1,330 persons and the displacement over 350,000 persons (over 70,000 families) across the country. Internationally displaced persons (IDPs) were temporarily settled in church compounds, soccer stadiums, police stations, prison compounds, primary school pitches, agricultural show grounds and even by the road sides. The government of Kenya, NGO’s and members of the private sector initially launched the Operation Rudi Nyumbani I (Operation Go Back Home Phase I), a program through which the government and its partners sought to preach peace among the warring communities so that the displaced families could be facilitated to re-access their farmlands and lead normal productive lives. In doing this the Government of Kenya availed Kshs 35,000 (approximately USD 500) to be given to each and every family that agreed to return to their farmlands. This money was meant to facilitate reconstruction and ease resettlement of the IDPs. Under Operation Rudi Nyumbani I the Government of Kenya resettled over 100,000 persons (20,000 families) who were also facilitated by the NGOs to form community farmers associations in order to cheaply access farm inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. This program ensured that IDPs were able to produce food for subsistence and even for retail purposes thus earning the extra shilling for the families.

Zachary Angafor, Founder of African Conflicts Response Foundation, discusses his ideas for mitigating conflict between farmers and pastoral communities in North West Cameroon, and his insights in formulating this entrepreneurial approach.

The history of violent conflict in African pastoral and farming communities is an old saga. Indeed, disputes between pastoralists and farmers over water, pasture, grazing land, as well as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, have transformed the arid lands of the continent into theatres of war. From Sudan to Kenya on the East coast to Cameroon and Nigeria on the West coast, the conflicts are legion and often deadly. However, in this saga of recurrent conflict is a possible solution which, if well exploited, could considerably mitigate, if not, put an end to the violence. This is encouraging and opens up an opportunity to implement a people-to people approach or coexistence to peace and reconciliation in agro-pastoral communities. In other words, to create an environment where there is deep and active coexistence of community, where pastoralists and farmers live with and amongst each other, and where everyday interaction is rich and multifaceted.

Photo credit: Guineanews.org

Over the weekend there was a plethora of news stories, blogs and commentary about the ever-evolving political situation in Guinea.

Summary: a year ago Guinea’s President Lansana Conte died and within hours a group within the military suspended constitutional law. Initially people were hopeful as Captain Moussa “Dadis” Camara took power and promised reform. Yet, delayed elections, ambiguous political intentions and a deadly massacre - in which 60-160 civilians were killed, hundreds more were injured, and women were raped and kidnapped in broad daylight by men in military uniform - has seriously eroded hope in Guinea.

A recurring theme in the many of the commenting voices online was one of speculation: Could the No.2 man in Guinea become the next leader as Captain Camara lay recovering in a hospital from a shot to the head? Could West Africa survive widespread violence in Guinea? Would a peacebuilding force be necessary?  Are the factions within the Guinean military going to tear the country apart?

Amidst all the proposed solutions, suggestions and analyses, there was one lone voice asking what could have been done to avoid this situation. Prevention is a surprisingly neglected topic, especially when nearly all of us agree that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Climate is a major cause of conflict in Africa, says the BBC in this report.

The article is worth reading in full, but here are the three statements that stood out in terms of their implications for peacebuilding work across the continent.

1. "Warm years increased the likelihood of conflict by about 50% - and food seems to be the reason why."

Here, in one sentence, we are pointed to a possible empirical link between the warming of the planet, food security, and conflict. Many of us have been saying this all along but for the first time we might have the data to get policy attention. And that's not even counting the enormous amount of investment and effort that will have to go into adaptation and mitigation work, both of which social entrepreneurs will be critical for.

2. "We were very surprised to find that when you put things like economic growth and better governance into the mix, the temperature effect remains strong".

Perhaps discouraging, but still an important warning to heed. Growth and governance are vital but not enough. We will need a bottom-up social cohesiveness in order to withstand the challenges of a warming planet. We need community-embedded leaders to build the models and mechanisms for tolerance and empathy that will be necessary to facing this challenge.

Toilets that don’t flush. Showers without water.

Those aren’t things one would think are hindering peace and stability. After all, it seems implausible that something so small could be a piece of the complex puzzle that is war.

Yet in Guinea-Bissau, a small West African country The BEFORE Project is currently working in, this is an indication of something much larger: the relationship between the government and the military.  Throughout Guinea-Bissau’s 35-year history, the military has played a key role in the civilian governance. Unfortunately, this role was not always conducive to civil society development as action sometimes came in the form of military over-throws of civilian governments.