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Jeddah 5: For the Community, by the Community

Community Challenges in Jeddah 5 IDP Camp
When Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) began its work in Jeddah 5 IDP Camp in 2018, several concerns were systematically raised by the community. The harassment of women and girls, escalation of children’s quarrels into fights between families, lack of prospects for youth, difficulty in accessing service providers safely, and lack of a safe space to engage directly with camp management, security actors and service providers were among those issues.
Through proactive engagement, unarmed civilian patrols, community security forums, and capacity strengthening, NP started to address these concerns by increasing the safety of residents and their ability to engage with duty bearers. Nonetheless, because enhancing community capacity and fostering ownership and sustainability are central to NP’s work, the engagement did not stop there.
Building Community Peace Teams (CPTs)
To ensure the sustainable protection of civilians and enhance local authorities’ responsiveness to community needs, NP supported Jeddah 5 residents in structuring Community Peace Teams (CPTs). NP began offering trainings in Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP), including themes such as social cohesion, preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV), and child protection for community members. NP then engaged with communities to operationalize local peace infrastructures that contribute to effective community-led protection strategies.
Many community members were eager to participate in these CPTs, and by December 2022 they had organized themselves into Women and Youth Peace Teams, including one women's group (20 members), one young men's group (21), one young women's group (21), and Child Peace Clubs, consisting of one girls' group (11) and one boys' group (17).
NP supported the groups in their discussions about team structures, leadership, and strategies to ensure the sustainability of CPTs. In this sense, particular attention was given to encouraging these returnee members to effectively apply the knowledge and skills they acquired to address tensions and conflicts in their home communities through nonviolent means. This approach fosters a broader culture of nonviolent conflict resolution and sustainable peacebuilding throughout the region.
Training for Change
NP provided mentoring and additional training for the CPTs, including on facilitation and communication skills, to prepare them to facilitate trainings on their own. In the first months of 2023, the teams started conducting training sessions with their peers. Thus, with NP’s support before, during, and after the sessions, the CPTs began raising awareness and increasing capacity among the community.
“Through the night patrol and the explanation of NP staff, we began to understand right and wrong, as we were unknowingly making mistakes by standing near the bathrooms or the water collection places used by the women.” said a young man from the YPT after conducting a joint night patrol with NP
Community-Led Initiatives: From Patrols to Peer Training to Advocacy
The CPTs are also joining NP on patrols to learn more about how to provide a protective presence to prevent harassment and the escalation of quarrels in the camp setting generally; raise awareness around harassment and child safety; and increase their engagement and visibility within the community. The children’s groups, in particular, engaged with other children who were playing in dangerous spaces in the camp by raising their awareness of the risks and alerting their families about these dangers.
“I suffered many injuries as a result of playing on electricity poles, but now I stopped doing that after joining Children’s Peace Club with NP.” said a member of the boys’ CPT in Jeddah 5 IDP Camp
In the case of the youth and women’s peace teams, NP also supports them in engaging with local leaders and service providers so they can voice community concerns and advocate for solutions. NP connects them with duty bearers and accompanies them in meetings to build confidence and trust.
Introducing the CPTs in these settings has allowed youth and women – who are usually left out of decision-making processes – to raise their concerns directly to duty bearers and service providers, creating opportunities for inclusion in public life in the community and space to raise their voices.
"To be honest, I was fully shy and felt hesitant to go outside my tent before attending NP training sessions, but now, I feel myself very confident and eager to learn more from NP." said one of the WPT Members
Sparking Broader Change Beyond Jeddah 5
In the camp setting, the return of participants’ families to their areas of origin has at times been a challenge to the CPT’s work, as CPT members are now being scattered in different areas within the Nineveh governate. As such, they find it difficult to conduct joint activities as they once did within the camp.
NP communicated with two of the WPT members who returned to their areas of origin in Jemisa village, where they stated that despite the challenges they have been facing since settling in their areas of origin as being perceived as IS-affiliated families, they started to rebuild relationships with their communities gradually by applying all the knowledge and skills they obtained from NP about nonviolent conflict resolution. With NP’s support, the WPT has been able to accept new members and continue carrying out activities with increasing autonomy. This case illustrates the extent to which the knowledge and skills acquired by the CPT members will be carried with them when they return to their areas of origin, enabling them to spark change in communities well beyond the Jeddah 5 Camp.