SCOPE - Sustaining a Culture of Peace

Tanzania takes pride in being a nation of peace and security, which can to a large extent be credited to the model of nation building adopted right after independence. This culture of peace, however, worked at the cost of restraining political and religious differences and the repression of dissident voices. Current lines of conflict can be divided into 3 main themes: i. Political tensions (inter- and intra-party competition, unresolved issue of the Union between Zanzibar and mainland, inter- and intra-faith tensions). ii. Natural resources (land distribution and expectations regarding benefits from natural gas extractions). iii. Socio-economic disparities and discrimination (rising income inequality, large youth population, gender-based violence).
While there are no widespread violent conflicts in Tanzania yet, conflicts in above mentioned areas have led to the loss of lives, and there is a risk of exacerbation if they are not addressed in a timely way. SDC has thus decided, under its Cooperation Strategy for Tanzania 2015-18, that it is strategic to support Tanzania to maintain its culture of peace, in line with Tanzania’s National Poverty Reduction Strategy and the country’s efforts for conflict prevention at regional and international level. Switzerland is the only donor to explicitly offer this support through its development programme. It is also particularly well placed to support due to its preparatory activities for peace support in Tanzania and its international experience.
The higher level outcome of this intervention is to strengthen Tanzania to use peaceful means to prevent and deal with conflicts. The proposed 2 objectives are that 1. Tanzania has established the fundaments for a national Conflict Early Warning and Response (CEWR) mechanism, and that 2. public space to address conflictual topics and issues of concern increases at local level, in particular for women and marginalized people.
The entry phase will be used to i. gauge the Government’s interest and commitment to establish a CEWR under the stewardship of the Tanzania National Committee for Prevention of Genocide (TNCPG), ii. undertake a careful selection of partners for this intervention, and to iii. support the TNCPG to define a clear concept and action plan for the establishment of a national centre for Conflict Early Warning and Response (CEWR) and to collect baseline data for the establishment of the CEWR.

(Main Credit Phase 1):
1 April 2017