Dumisha Amani (Strengthening Community Peace Mechanisms) project in Zanzibar, Funded by European Union: March 2021- December 2022.
Overall, this project is designed in response to the specific needs, constraints, and opportunities that the implementation team has identified in Zanzibar. While Tanzania has historically had a reputation for peace and stability, ranked 54 out of 162 countries on the 2019 Global Peace Index, underlying tensions and concerns that have remained unaddressed often lead to community-level violence. Distrust between political parties and between government and communities has steadily increased, and numerous cases of election-related violence, a lack of reforms, and continued socio-economic disparities have contributed to the disillusionment of many in Zanzibar. Search and FCS are committed to ensure complementarities with existing initiatives addressing similar topics in Zanzibar by using Common Ground Approach.
- Zanzibar has, for many election years, witnessed the presence of Zanzibar security forces before, during and immediately after general elections. This tendency has sometimes led to clashes between security agents and Zanzibar residents.
- The 2020 general elections were held amidst the presence of indications of small-scale attacks related to violence. The rising number of attacks against domestic targets, including attacks on public properties and individual civilians, are presumed to be politically motivated.
- Approximately 2/3 of the Zanzibarian population, both male and female, use “conflict transformation or similar non-violent strategies.” In this regard, a gender difference emerges in which domain male and female citizens apply these strategies.
