By
James Wakahiu
The global meeting on peace being held in Thika town
entered into the second day with one Kenya’s leading philanthropists displaying
a practical roadmap to boost peace and reduce community conflicts both in Kenya
and in the region.
Dr Charles Muli CEO and founder of Mully Children’s Family
said real peace is not simply the absence of war, but
living cohesively towards the transformation, development and well- being of humanity.
“To create a peaceful and secure
environment free from crime perpetrated
by those in the streets such as street
children or poor persons is not through
employing more security personnel or
erecting modern security fences, but is
achieved through creating opportunities
that promote self-reliance,” he said.
Dr Muli told the 1,000 delegates at the
conference being held at Mwai Kibaki Convention Centre at Mount Kenya
University (MKU) that Street children,
orphans and child mothers remain among the major groups in Kenya that are
marginalised, discriminated against and excluded in any decision-making process
about their future. “Due to a lack of
education and skills, they mature into young adults who have no capacity for
gainful employment,” he said.
“Family forms the primary thread of our
social fabric. That is why we are called
Mully Children’s Family and not a Home.
A family is where we get our basic life training, and we learn how to
relate with others in a peaceful cohesion.
In every family setup, the power of both Love and Forgiveness is central
to building a habitable space that we can call a family,” he added.
MCF runs several schools: kindergarten,
primary, secondary, vocational training, and college and fully sponsors over
150 youths in universities across Kenya and overseas. “In the last 33 years, over25,000 youths have
successfully graduated from MCF. They
have taken up different professions while others have become successful
entrepreneurs,” he said.
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These 25,000 youths had, they not been
offered education and skills training, a
number would have died, become thieves,
drug addicts, prostitutes, imprisoned,
and hooligans who could be hired to
cause chaos. “MCF provides relief lunch food to 63 community schools with an
average of 350 learners; therefore, 22,050 children benefit from school lunches
daily. Schools’ enrollment and retention have increased from approximately 45
per cent to 80 per cent in most schools because of the school lunch,” Dr Muli
said.
The forum yesterday focused on the role
of foreign organisations and NGOs in supporting peace initiatives. The
conference theme is “The Role of Universities, Public and Private
Sectors in Peace Building for Socio-economic Development”. The
format of the conference includes sessions on keynote speakers, interactive
panel discussion sessions and parallel sessions on academic
presentations.
Muli said during the 2007/2008 Post
Election Violence – 2007/2008 (probably Kenya’s darkest period after independence
in 1963), his orgainsation supplied relief food to all the people in the
Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camps at the ASK Show Ground IDP Camp in
Eldoret town. “We can achieve
sustainable peace and a secure environment if we devotedly help and transform
the lives of needy children and youth because it cures hate and prevents
crime,” he said.
Among young women, lack of employment
opportunities has contributed to the increasing feminisation of poverty in
Kenya and Africa. They are subjected to
child labour, early marriages, child trafficking, and defilement. This actively
contributes to the high numbers of teen pregnancies, gender-based violence
cases, and drug and substance abuse. “MCF Malindi is an elaborate program for
girls and teenage mothers who were victims of physical and sexual exploitation
and abuse heightened by poverty, illiteracy and insecurity,” said Dr Muli.
Dr Muli said peace-building involves
activities undertaken to prevent conflict and establish sustainable peace. These
activities address the causes of strife and violence through reconciliation,
forgiveness, trauma healing, restorative justice and development while
strengthening social, political and economic elements that promote peace, he
added.
He called for increased funding to Non
Governmental Organizations (NGOS), describing them as humanitarian entities concerned with public
welfare goals and seek to address
development gaps not covered by governments that often lead to human suffering.
Most NGOs are multi-mandated organizations and perform various
development services and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to
Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political
participation through information.
“NGOs complement national governments in
nation-building by implementing long- term and short-term development programs,
humanitarian interventions, peace-building, and service delivery to citizens
and stateless populations, especially refugees. Peace and security are
essential ingredients of nation-building,” he said.
According to former ICT PS
Dr Bitange Ndemo now of the University of Nairobi, the greatest reset:
COVID-19 has forced the world to reset and accelerate to live differently – to
learn, work, socialize, shop, worship and collaborate in different ways. “This
is therefore our watershed moment for digital transformation of business,” he
said in an earlier presentation that focused on Cybersecurity and the Epidemic
of Mobile Addiction.
He decried the negative impact of ICT
use and mobile addiction, including psychological and
emotional issues such as depression, loneliness, social anxiety, impulsivity,
and distraction easily get addicted to technology such as the Smartphone. The
other negative effects of excessive cell phone usage include mental health
issues such as anxiety and depression. “Adolescents who were addicted to their smart
phones were more likely to experience chronic stress and low emotional
stability,” he said.
Prof Mark Charlton of De Montfort
University, UK, explained to the delegates how the United Nations development
agenda of Sustainable
Development Goals is also focusing on peace initiatives in universities and
among the youth. He is also the Associate Director SDG Impact and Net Zero
Research Theme Director.
Explaining the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in the
Promotion of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, Dr Charlton said it has
more than 1000 network
members and that more are free to join. Unai Supports UN
mandates and campaigns, focusing on human
rights, access to education, SDGs and conflict resolution. Working from 10
principle hubs, there are 17 Global SDG hubs, including Thika’s MKU.
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