Civil Society

A computer, a digital camera and a website are the tools for shedding light on how local political councils in Iraq are serving the needs and interests of their communities and constituencies.

Mercy Corps recently sponsored a two-week training course for local council members in Maysan Governorate on how to create and manage a website. Majed Ahmed from the the Al-Maymouna local council was one of the successful graduates. He said that the people of Maysan Governorate would directly benefit from this course, because it would help local council members like him communicate to communities what their elected officials were doing for them.

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In the blur of excitement that is South Sudan’s capital these days, I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of spending my morning at a civil society project — one of the more nebulous concepts in the world of international development. Enhancing my dread was the nature of the project: an empty, unfinished building.

Daniel Oyuru, manager of the Juba Civic Engagement Center; Moses Opio Korsura, CEO of Soweto; and Mercy Corps' Sebit Emmanuel at the soon-to-open Center. Photo: Joy Portella/Mercy Corps

I thought: It’s independence. Can’t I go see a parade or something? But not wanting to disappoint our South Sudan team, I trudged along.

I soon found myself at what will be the Juba Civic Engagement Center with my colleague Sebit Emmanuel, program officer for a USAID-supported program called Localizing Institutional Capacity in Sudan, or LINCS. Through LINCS, Mercy Corps has worked with more than 100 citizens groups that constitute what we call “civil society.” These groups tackle a range of issues including education, healthcare and human rights. The Juba Center is intended to be a resource for them.

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After years spent displaced during Sudan's long civil war, 20-year-old Alfonse Pawil is now enrolled in a Mercy Corps-sponsored computer training course in Turalei, his hometown. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Alfonse Pawil, 20 years old, spent most of his life in a war zone. He was born in Turalei, South Sudan in the midst of the two-decade long bloody civil war that devastated his homeland.

Many families left Sudan during the war and lived as refugees in other countries that were secure, but Alfonse’s family did not have resources to move away. Instead, he spent his entire childhood running.

“I never left Sudan. I have been here from the time of war up to now,” explained Alfonse. “It was terrible. Some of my relatives were killed, but somehow I survived. I was one of the people running up and down the country during the time of war always trying to get away from the bombs.

“During the war when they were bombing, we would hide in the bush until they left the area. Sometimes I was hiding in the bush for weeks and even months waiting for it to be safe to come out.”

The war made it almost impossible to study, but Alfonse never gave up his commitment to getting an education.

“The few schools in the area could not remain open because of the fighting, so I walked for several days to reach the town of Wau where I could take my exams,” recalled Alfonse. “I completed my exams and took the Sudan certificate for my studies.”

The exterior of the Mercy Corps Civil Society Resource Center where Alfonse studies in Turalei. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Today, Alfonse is living in Turalei with his family and trying to prepare to find a job as a teacher or humanitarian worker.

“Getting a job here is very hard, especially if you are like me and never left the country,” says Alfonse. “My peers who lived in Kenya and other countries had the chance to take computer classes, but people like me who stayed here during the war, have never had a chance to learn about computers.”

Alfonse has enrolled in Mercy Corps computer training program that is offered through the Civil Society Resource Center the organization built in Turalei. Mercy Corps built and operates 11 Civil Society Resource Centers in Sudan that are equipped with computer labs and training, internet access, libraries and audiovisual materials. The centers are used by local organizations for outreach activities and to facilitate dialogues with the local government.

“Now I think my future will be bright because now I have the opportunity to learn about computers and prepare myself for a job and a better life,” says Alfonse.

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Photo: Sebastian Meyer for Mercy Corps

Good things are happening in Iraq. Ordinary citizens are stepping up to rebuild and renew their country. People not accustomed to having a voice are learning how to make their concerns known to the leaders of their communities. Leaders are learning how to listen and respond.

Through our Community Action Program (CAP), funded by USAID, Mercy Corps is helping to build a more engaged and accountable Iraqi society, one that includes everyone: Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds; men, women and youth; minorities and people with disabilities. Since 2003, Mercy Corps has supported 1,400 community-based projects, from building sports fields to hosting craft festivals. We’re teaching citizens how to identify their most pressing needs and work with government officials to meet them. And we’re building capacity with government officials so they can be more effective.

Boys at a secondary school in Kirkuk, Iraq that Mercy Corps is helping support. Photo: Sebastian Meyer for Mercy Corps

Young people – whose voices have been among the least heard in Iraqi public life – are central to this process. While the program isn’t aimed only at youth, CAP’s focus on mobilizing communities offers an ideal opportunity to encourage youth to take leadership roles in community development. We make sure our Community Action Groups (CAGs) include youth representatives, who play an active role in the projects.

Coming Together to Learn and Play
Iraqi communities may lack material resources, but they’re rich in the untapped potential of the young. That’s why government officials and community members in the four southern governorates where we work have made it a priority to cultivate the development of young people and to secure support for CAP-sponsored projects. Thanks to their focus, 500,000 young people have directly benefited from projects initiated by their neighbors.

Fun in the playhouse provided by Mercy Corps through a local partner. Photo: Sebastian Meyer for Mercy Corps

• Schools. Iraqi parents, like mothers and fathers everywhere, want their children to receive a good education. To the community groups we work with, schools come first. Sometimes we can build a new facility. More often, we repair or improve existing schools. We add classrooms to reduce overcrowding, install restrooms and provide equipment and supplies – desks, computers, art materials – to create the best possible learning environment. Community members select projects, convey their needs to local government and ensure they’re fulfilled.
• Sports. In a conflict environment like Iraq, stress and danger take their toll on young bodies and minds. We support sports and games that bring kids together through shared passion for play and develop positive skills like teamwork and discipline. Working with communities, we help build and repair neighborhood playing fields and clubs where kids can join a football game or practice fencing. We supply local teams with balls, nets, goals and uniforms. And we host athletic tournaments where young people can let loose through lively competition.
• Skills. In Iraq it’s hard to acquire the computer skills that open doors to modern careers. We have established training centers where kids can learn about technology, improve their grades and job readiness, connect with their peers – and have fun.

Helping communities prioritize and meet their most urgent needs is a hallmark of all Mercy Corps programs. Our CAP initiative in Iraq is a powerful example of why this is a smart development approach. Where youth are susceptible to the lures of a violent time, it offers them a positive alternative: helping to make decisions critical to their own futures and the future of their country.

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Kareem Kateh stands on the part of his land he donated for an annex of a primary school that's three kilometers away. Photo: Mercy Corps Iraq

Forty-four-year-old Kareem Kateh has been a farmer in southern Iraq his entire life. He didn’t have many other options: the nearest school was too far away to complete his primary school education. Still he made a good living, and was able to buy a large plot of land for his family.

But his five daughters faced the same challenge: no school in the area relegated them to limited choices in life.

Since 2003 Mercy Corps, with help from local council representatives, has worked together with their constituents to identify pressing community needs, develop projects to address those needs, and advocate for their inclusion in provincial workplans and budgets.

Unfortunately, these demands often fall on deaf ears. For years, Kareem appealed to the local government to build a school. But none was ever built.

But communities can also appeal for funding from Mercy Corps and the Community Action Program, sponsored by USAID. One requirement of these projects — ranging from school rehabilitation to upgrading electricity networks — is that the community and local government make contributions. The “match” can be in the form of labor or other services, land donation, or money given toward completion of the project.

When Kareem's sub-district formed a Community Action Group in 2009, he was nominated to serve as a representative because of his dedication to education. Recently, the group approved a project to construct a three-classroom and restroom facilities near where Kareem Kateh lives. Kareem donated the land for the project. "Nothing equals education," he said.

The new satellite building was agreed upon in consultation with the administrative staff of Jabir Al Ansary — the school that's three kilometers away — and the Directorate of Education, who have promised to provide teaching staff and furniture.

Donations like Kareem Kateh’s highlight the commitment that people have to their communities, and their hope for long-term development, after too many years of violence and instability.

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Joint monitoring trips are the most exciting visits, in my opinion, to go and see Mercy Corps' program activities. Unlike other trips like assessments and activity supervision, these visits involve groups composed of both Mercy Corps program teams and government officials that are engaged in monitoring the impacts of our programs in the communities we serve.

One of the members of our joint assessment team, a government official, addresses a classroom full of young students. These trips offer great perspective for everyone: ideas for the Mercy Corps team, insight for government officials and encouragement for students and teachers. Photo: Safiya Mohamud Said/Mercy Corps

Our School Environment and Education for Somalia (SEEDS) program runs in 17 of the country's 18 regions. The program aims to improve the access of basic education, health and water services for communities throughout the country.

The Mercy Corps Somalia team conducts periodic monitoring trips every three months to measure program impact. The government is a key member in the process. We meet committees, school principals, teachers and students who tell the stories and experiences that define the impact in their communities.

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Mercy Corps has been in Iraq’s four southernmost provinces — Basra, Maysan, Muthanna and Thi Qar — since 2003, implementing the USAID-funded Community Action Program. Far from Baghdad, the area has experienced years of neglect from the central government, but is now poised to play a vital role in the international oil sector — particularly Basra, which sits atop some of the world’s largest oilfields. It’s an interesting environment, to say the least.

Enjoying the new playground equipment at a family park in Al Nashwa sub-district, Basra. Photo: Kiri Haggans/Mercy Corps

In the aftermath of years of war, insecurity and instability, southern Iraq is in great need of basic infrastructure development and improvements. And Mercy Corps is working with communities and their local government on hundreds of projects like this every year — pedestrian bridges that allow access to central markets and economic opportunity; repaving roads that connect villages to social services; and rehabilitation of water and electricity networks. All of these projects are identified and prioritized on the grassroots level, in the form of peer-elected Community Action Groups, which represent the communities themselves: development solutions coming from the ground up, not being handed down.

However, sometimes what a community wants most is a return to normalcy.

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Protests turn violent in Egypt and Yemen. Transition seems likely after prolonged fighting in Libya and Ivory Coast. Recovery efforts trudge on in Japan’s tsunami zone. Power peacefully changes hands in Niger.

Wait. What?

It’s the tragedy of today’s bad news-obsessed media, not to mention a dearth of foreign reporting bureaus, that last week’s news from Niger was largely overlooked.

Niger’s newly elected President Mahamadou Issoufou was sworn into office last week for a five-year term. That followed a democratic election and the other candidate’s concession of defeat. Power was also handed over to Issoufou from a military junta that had been in place since February 2010, when soldiers overthrew a president who’d held onto office for 10 years and was trying to grab a third term.

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