Tanzania Reports

STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE IN ZANZIBAR

Uchaguzi Bila Zogo: Supporting Post-Election Dialogue and Reconciliation in Zanzibar In the wake of political instability initiated by Zanzibar’s 2020 general elections and the limited efforts undertaken by the government and opposition to de-escalate the situation, Search for Common Ground partnered with the US Embassy in Tanzania to […]

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Outcome Mapping – Supporting Post-Election Dialogue and Reconciliation in Zanzibar – January 2023

The “Supporting Post-Election Dialogue and Reconciliation in Zanzibar” project (October 2021 – April 2023), aimed to strengthen inclusive post-election dialogue and reconciliation efforts in Zanzibar. Against the backdrop of periodic incidents of violent conflict in Tanzania over the past seven years, the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar has experienced […]

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Baseline Assessment – Supporting Post-Election Dialogue and Reconciliation in Zanzibar – March 2022

Search for Common Ground Tanzania is implementing a 18-month project (October 2021- April 2023) titled “Uchaguzi Bila Zogo – Supporting Post-Election Dialogue and Reconciliation in Zanzibar”.

Despite Zanzibar having experienced severe political tensions, in particular related to elections, recent political developments in both the Tanzania Federal Government and the Administration in Zanzibar have opened the room for greater collaboration among political parties and for increased involvement of civil society. In this rapidly changing context, the project aims at strengthening inclusive post-election dialogue and reconciliation efforts in Zanzibar. Specifically, the project aims to improve the integration of high-level political actors into community-level post-election dialogue and reconciliation efforts.

The baseline assessment presents several opportunities for collaboration and positive interaction, such as 1) a need for more collaboration between policy makers and their communities; 2) positive messaging by politicians, for instance through more dialogue at the grassroots level; 3) vertical dialogue through the use of technology (e.g. Sema na Rais); 4) recognising the importance of the justice system and its potential to strengthen social cohesion and peaceful coexistence; 5) improve civic awareness among policy-makers, shehias (the government administrative structure at the community level) and communities and 6) the role that youth and women can play in dialogue with policy- makers.

The baseline assessment also presents several recommendations, for instance running dialogues in structured settings to account for power dynamics in fragile settings and giving a central role to youth and women – women need support both to safely engage in public spaces and to be trained on social and large-scale conflict transformation, whereas youth need to be fully part of the current and future political processes to ensure inclusiveness of the process.

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Conflict Snapshot & Baseline Study – Strengthening Community Peace Mechanisms in Zanzibar – June 2021

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.

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Conflict Scan – Building peaceful communities in Tanzania – November 2021

Search for Common Ground, in partnership with the Legal Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and the Zanzibar Legal Services Centre (ZLSC) is implementing a project to support peaceful conflict resolution, open dialogue, and inclusive democracy in Tanzania over a period of 30 months (2020-2022) targeting five districts on the mainland (Tarime, Mtwara, Tandahimba, Rufiji, Kibiti) and two regions on Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba).

In September 2021, Search conducted a conflict scan to determine the trends and evolutions of previously identified and emerging conflict dynamics in the five target locations, with a focus on the impact of the conflict(s) on 1) collaboration and communication among different key stakeholders and 2) community perceptions.

Family/domestic conflicts and land conflicts were found to be the major types of conflicts across all study areas. The main drivers of conflict are family disagreements followed by competition over natural resources. Key stakeholders in the conflicts are community influencers, followed by the youth and political leaders. The data shows a dual role of community influencers, who are expected to be role models in their communities, but also at times act as triggers of conflict. The two most significant risks related to an increase in conflict are Covid-19 related (economic) risks and political risks related to future elections. Political campaigns around elections might change local conflict dynamics and make political conflicts more prominent, whereas economic hardship related to Covid-19 might further exacerbate resource related conflicts.

The report suggests carefully selecting community influencers to avoid potential adverse effects for conflict and engaging local government authorities to establish peace school clubs to raise awareness about the role of youth in maintaining peace, highlight negative consequences of conflict and educate on conflict resolution strategies.

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Conflict Snapshot – Tanzania – Working Together Against Corona – November 2021

This snapshot report was prepared by the Search for Common Ground Tanzania team in November 2021. It is the third Tanzania snapshot report prepared as part of Search’s global Working Together Against Corona programme, funded by the European Union.

Building on the two previous reports, the snapshot identifies key trends, compared across time, at the intersection of COVID-19, social cohesion, community trust, and inter-group conflict and presents practical recommendations to address these challenges.

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Conflict Snapshot – Tanzania – Working Together Against Corona – April 2021

This snapshot report was prepared by the Search for Common Ground Tanzania team in April 2021. It is the second Tanzania snapshot report prepared as part of Search’s global Working Together Against Corona programme, funded by the European Union.

The snapshot identifies key trends, compared across time since the first snapshot report, at the intersection of COVID-19, social cohesion, community trust, and inter-group conflict and presents practical recommendations to address these challenges.

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