The CPPR was started in 1997 by a small group of community members who were concerned with the increasing number of cases of political violence, particularly the local crisis that culminated in the  Ol Moran incident where 30 people were killed and which gained international attention. 

That and other incidents of human rights violations convinced St. Martin CSA to set up a community programme for peace and reconciliation. Inspiration was found in the work of ChemiChemi ya Ukweli (Fountain of Truth), an organization located in Nairobi and the international movement on active non-violence.

This programme is currently running a project on sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) where it aims at empowering girls and women to claim their rights and pursue their own goals. The project works with the communities to strengthen their capacities in addressing SGBV. CPPR employs a multisectoral approach and involves stakeholders from the health sector, police, judiciaries and local governments.

Moving forward and building on the experience of St. Martin CSA, CPPR will also be promoting and safeguarding children's rights to a new target area where the organisation has not targeted in the past with a project dubbed "Dumisha Amani Project" meaning maintaining peace.

Purity

Purity was happily married with two girls when she gave birth to a baby boy. The joy over this new family member turned into sorrow when the son was found to be autistic: The husband and his relatives sow this as a curse and began to ridicule, insult and even beat Purity. At one point, the husband wanted to secretly murder the baby boy and Purity had to flee to her maternal home. There she was welcomed for a time but then forced to move out again. While she was trying to find a living for her and her children, the girls dropped out of school and were used for cheap labour by the grandmother. In this situation, they were spotted by a volunteer of St. Martin CSA. Together with the community they ensured accommodation for Purity and her children and reconciled her with her mother. Then they reinserted the girls into school and found a special school for the autistic boy. Finally, they started working with the husband and his family to hopefully get a solution there too.

 

In 2020: