Center for Peace, Research and Development (CEPRAD)

CEPRAD was founded in 2010 with the aim of creating and sustaining peace in the Horn of Africa by using indigenous peace-building processes and mechanisms. By addressing the underlying causes of conflicts, CEPRAD hopes to build a platform that will enable future generations to overcome their differences and foster healthier regional ties. CEPRAD's overall goal is to forge a peaceful and prosperous community in the Horn of Africa, where everyone is aware of their rights and responsibilities, citizens are equal before the law, and people can overcome their differences. It works towards peace and prosperity through research, consultancy, training and the publication and dissemination of local knowledge.

Projects and achievements

Women's Political Participation Training Days

In August 2014, two training days entitled 'Governance and Democracy' were held in Mogadishu in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Human Rights. This training programme aimed to increase the participation of women in the public arena, especially politics, by training them with the skills to cope with the problem of exclusion. These training days were designed to be the cornerstone of a programme that CEPRAD wants to see implemented in Somalia as part of the Somali Compact. The programme has the following goals:

To increase women’s political participation and create competent, effective and committed female politicians
To provide women with the knowledge to fully exercise their citizenship by promoting, forging and strengthening alliances, networks and coalitions of women at a national and regional level
To address the inequality that exists in power sharing and decision-making by strengthening institutions and developing social support networks in the region and at a national level
To influence national and regional development agendas to support gender-balanced policies, planning, programming and governance.

The training days were held in the Ministry with the participation of 15 women's organisations.

Forum on democratisation

In August 2014, a CEPRAD consultancy firm held a workshop to foster dialogue on the process of democratisation in the region. A group of politicians, parliamentarians, intellectuals, journalists and members of other civil society organisations were invited to partake. The main purpose of this workshop was to discuss ideas for a project that CEPRAD could develop as part of its strategy to tackle the first goal of the Peace and State-building section of the Somali Compact: inclusive politics. CEPRAD argues that inclusive politics is crucial to enhance the democratic principles of equality and rights of citizens, and to engage different sectors of society in participation in the democratic process and peace building.

Conflict resolution and peacebuilding training

In August 2014 30 participants from the City University of Mogadishu were trained in conflict resolution and peacebuilding training. The three day training programme was conducted in villages and covered conflict analysis, the causes of conflict, the stages and types of conflicts, and approaches to peacebuilding. CEPRAD believes that young people have tremendous capacity, as both individuals and a community, to learn about and contribute to conflict management, and that teachers can and should channel students' energy and enthusiasm in positive ways. This will be the foundation of a long-term program that CEPRAD will implement that aims to create young peace ambassadors in Somali in order to reduce the importance of the idea of clan supremacy and reducing clan related conflicts. Through this project CEPRAD hopes to foster the creation of a generation that is committed to the development of the Horn of Africa region.

Community Policing Training

In November 2014 a CEPRAD consultancy firm conducted five days of training on community policing for the youth of Abdiaziz district in partnership with the district administration. The training enabled the participants to learn more about job of the police forces, approaches to community policing, the responsibilities of every citizen, the role of youth in rebuilding and developing peace in Somalia, and the importance of teamwork. The training concluded successfully, with 100 youths taking part.

2015 Activities:

National Youth Policy Development for the Federal Government of Somalia - Developed The National Youth Policy for Somalia - contracted by Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), Funded by UNFPA.
Couple counseling training. The training courses were intended for the newly engaged/married couples in Hargeisa. The primary goal of couple counseling is to increase the understanding of the participants themselves, their partner, and the patterns of interactions that become detrimental to the relationship. Once these have been explored and understood, the participants will learn how to change their feelings, thoughts, and actions, to change ineffective or destructive behaviors into positive ones that will enhance their relationship. Couple counseling training workshop was attended by newly married or engaged men and women between the ages of 18 and 38. A multiplicity of participatory methods / approaches was employed during the couple counseling workshop. These methods were intended to expose the newly married/engaged couples to practical examples. Methods used among others included, Role play, group discussions, brainstorming, question and answer, Video, Couple work (interviewing your partner), Quiz and lectures for introductions, explanations of new concepts, and conclusions.

CEPRAD Consultancy is a consultancy body which aims at promoting, building peace and development through research, consultancy and capacity building trainings. Geographically it’s headquarter is in Hargeisa, Somaliland, and field office in Mogadishu. We are planning to expand and open country offices in the Horn of Africa region and IGAD countries. CEPRAD consultancy firm offers high quality services to its clients: individuals, companies and government agencies as well as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) both locally and regionally which aims at promoting and building peace through research, consultancy and capacity building trainings.

CEPRAD Consultancy services include: