Staging Peace: International Observatory of Peace Media (GCRF Development Award)

This Development Award responds to GCRF's call "Preventing Conflict" through the consolidation of an expert team of researchers, and a diverse array of policy and civil society partners across four ODA-listed countries (Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad). The rationale behind this choice of countries is clear. These countries are affected by protracted and aggravated conflict associated with Islamic extremism (Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province). The Lake Chad Crisis is a complex and multidimensional conflict, which our research seeks to address. The focus of this observatory are not these four affected countries as a whole, but the regions within these ODA-listed countries most affected by extremist violence-- all currently classed Red Zones. These regions are Diffa in Niger, Borno in Nigeria, Region du Lac in Chad, and the so-called Extreme North region of Cameroon. This award will enhance existing capability for action research in and across these remote regions, laying foundations for a four-year programme that will address an urgent need for multi-regional and multinational peace cooperation. "Staging Peace" can pave the way for sustainable and inclusive peace-building, as prompted by this GCRF call, through the creation of an observatory that will evaluate and monitor reintegration programmes across the four affected regions. In the present context, reintegration is understood within the UN framework of de-radicalisation, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR). This award will also facilitate partner equitability, South-South knowledge sharing, and trust-building among the academic and non-academic stakeholders involved, in order to set in motion a trajectory of research that will better understand, and in a more nuanced way, how reintegration works in practice for the benefit of local communities. Evaluation of good practice will enable us to inform decision-makers and policy stakeholders, including multinational and national armies, DDR programmes set up by national and local governments, and humanitarian actors. The importance of media arts as chosen tool for reintegration is justified given the central role played by media technology in Boko Haram's radicalisation agenda and propaganda apparatus. This award will enable us to continue building network relations with key media and arts groups involved in the reintegration agenda, particularly radio and television stations, theatre groups, and local community groups (i.e. religious or traditional leaders and opinion makers). Support from AHRC-GCRF will likewise enable the "Staging Peace" team to strengthen the administrative and management capabilities needed for the realisation of a Network Plus programme, not least at the level of post-award capability within the University of Leeds. A number of Network Plus specifics will be addressed throughout this 12-month award, including the shaping of a commissioning strand and devolved budgets, the planning for synthesis of different DDR programmes within a coherent theory of action (Peace Media Theory); the mapping of intersectionality of conflict across gender, social, cultural and ethnic issues; and the thematic interactions emerging across Network Pluses. This development award will also prioritise the articulation of impact and legacy strategies for policy and practice improvement among a range of stakeholders that will be involved in this award's proposed activities. The main policy-related groups we will engage with over the course of this twelve month development award are military, civil society and government actors. The individuals named in this submission are part of the "Staging Peace" team given their strong policy and action research credentials, as well as their track-record of publishing reports and resolutions in the area of Boko Haram reintegration. All members of this research team have experience of living in, or working across, the four affected Red Zones.

This award will help strengthen the conceptualisation of Peace Media Theory (PMT), our chosen theory of change. PMT can be described and modelled as the triangulation of media practitioners, humanitarians and community actors. PMT is a framework to better understand community-based media spaces that instigate dialogue, mediation and debate within areas affected by protracted conflict. This theoretical framework provides a high-level model for the implementation of techniques and tools that draw on media communication practices (radio, television, theatre and mediated live arts) in an effort to build sustainable and inclusive peace within conflict-affected communities. The impact plan underpinning this programme is informed by real communication challenges presented to the core team by local communities in the Lake Chad region. There is a need, in this context, for online connectivity, web-based forums, and more extensive radio coverage for existing local broadcasters engaged in peace programming. A media-centred approach will allow us to address the key problem of naming beneficiary groups (e.g. "host communities", "ex-militants", "ex-Boko Haram", "ex-hostages") or the characterisation of Boko Haram itself as "cult" or "terror group". These labels need to be addressed critically to influence opinion within the proposed peace agenda. Careful consideration of the dissemination challenges underpinning reintegration programmes is also vital. Firstly, our work will make use of the same media tools used by Boko Haram as part of their propaganda agenda (video, radio, web-based media and social media). Using the same communication technologies as Boko Haram is critical for dissemination of counter-extremist discourse. Secondly, this programme addresses issues concerning language inclusivity. Crucially, more than 90% of former and current Boko Haram members only speak Hausa or Kanuri (Bukarti 2019). It is therefore essential to disseminate peace messages through platforms that are language inclusive (e.g. Radio Kadaye, Radio Dandal Kura, and News Caster). Our proposed theory of action is also inclusive of religious affiliation, which is why we have reached out to Sunnah TV, and local religious leaders. Our proposed theory of change integrates media technology and live arts, thus promoting change through synthesis of site-specific and mediated action. Thus, our programme will support a rich and varied commissioning strand led by civil society organisations supporting work on the ground. Our proposed pilot project with Radio Kadaye, Yal Hille Theatre, and the Langa Barka group of former militants will serve as proof of concept. The kind of creative practices we seek to support following piloting, include: radio plays, live television, web-based interactive art, and other forms of media art that combine live and mediated action. Our theory of change (PMT) will model the ways in which media arts can be mapped across various formats, and it will provide a qualitative methodological framework to help evaluate and monitor evidence-based pathways to effective reintegration. The commissioning of work in Strand 2 of the proposed large grant will include not only creative practices, but also commissioned projects that seek to achieve meaningful and lasting reintegration through media arts vocational training, training of trainees, community workshops, theme-relevant symposia, international conferences, knowledge exchange across the Lake Chad countries, professional development schemes for communication experts (conflict journalism), and crucially, policy change. Further details on policy-related impact are detailed in the Pathways to Impact attachment. Finally, this award will ensure that impact is embedded from inception stage, and that our shared values reflect the reason why we are committing to this demanding programme: namely, to improve the lives of communities affected by Islamic extremism in Central Africa.