IN CONTEXT
Site selection in
post-conflict zones
Keywords: conflict, site selection, team building,
equal representation, DRC, NGO
Careful project and site selection is essential when
conflict threatens school communities.
On the High Plateau region of South Kivu, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, communities are
recovering from a war that officially ended in 2003
but that has continued in the region to this day. Open
conflict is now rare, but the deep animosity has been
hard to overcome. Intermarriage, communal work and
tribally mixed churchgoings are rare.
Cross-tribal interactions are typically confined to the
marketplace and schoolhouse. Yet frightened by
rumours from their parents, children rarely play with
other ethnic groups in the schoolyard, work together in
class or sit together during breaks.
SECTION III: PLANNING
Children in Crisis – an NGO working in the area to
construct and renovate schools – slowly and carefully
built relationships with local partners who could
represent the different tribal, ethnic and religious
communities on the High Plateau. Since these identities
were often used as a socio-political wedge, equal
representation was essential for a successful project
and for successful relationships with stakeholders
and beneficiaries. During initial meetings with school
communities, Children in Crisis explained their physical
and political guidelines to site selection. For them sites
should:
Unlike natural hazards, which can be measured
empirically, conflict-related threats need strong political
expertise. Locals were rightfully identified as the
experts on local politics. At minimum, the community
partnership avoided projects that would incite violence.
At best, it facilitated projects that bridged social
barriers.
Today, schools constructed or renovated through
Children in Crisis hold tribally mixed teacher trainings,
are managed by cross-community parent-teacher
associations, and provide a safe and secure learning
environment for local children. Along with gaining
increased mutual trust, locals helped Children in Crisis
choose projects that not only circumnavigated violence,
but also increased opportunities for meaningful
interaction.
Key takeaways
• Create teams to represent different community and
ethnic groups. This will improve relationships with
local communities, stakeholders and beneficiaries.
• Choose sites in partnership with all ethnic and
religious groups to mitigate tension.
• Listen to local partners for political analysis – they
are the experts.
• Be accessible and centrally located. The school
should be for all children in the area and should not
belong to a church or a particular group within a
community.
• Prioritise safety and protection. The school
building should not be isolated or located on a
thoroughfare.
• Avoid hazardous locations. School buildings
should not be in the path of prevailing winds,
potential landslides, mudslides or other natural
hazards.
Children in Crisis relied on local expertise to identify
and select sites that met these and other communityidentified criteria. An engineer and the project team
then analysed the choice to make sure the site was safe
and unavoidable risks were mitigated. When needed,
the organisation offered facilitation to help decrease
tension that may occur during the safer school
construction project.
53
After years of conflict and regional poverty, schools in the
DRC Plateau region were deteriorating. The original schools,
built from bamboo and thatch, were cold and wet in an area
that experiences seven months of rainfall per year. They were
cramped, and noise from adjacent classrooms disrupted
learning. Building safer schools started with a community
consultation – an opportunity for women and children to be
included in discussions and decisions.
Photo: Amy Parker/Children in Crisis.