BACKGROUND  /  HISTORY

WE YONE PALAVER HUT  was  established  in 2015 and officially launched   in 2016  with a certification  of  its membership  who were trained  as  mediators  in  dispute  resolution. The team  ( trainers) comprises of  cross section of newcomers community leaders  / elders,  religious  leaders ( Muslim and Christian),  social workers and social scientist, youths practitioners, teachers  and community development workers .

The organization was founded by  Mr Victor  A. M  Kaicombey.

Mr Kaicombey  is currently  practicing  an independent  consulting  career in cross-cultural  mediation  services, peacemaking, human rights and justice services with a focus on restorative Justice.  Mr. Kaicombey  sits on several boards  that promote restorative justice in Manitoba and Canada. He has a passion for peace and conflict resolution,  peacemaking and human rights  as a result of  his direct experience with war conflict and survivor  of Sierra Leone war.

As a newcomer in a country with  diversity,  Mr Kaicombey expressed  concern  for  the high rate of  incarcerations   in the  traditional criminal justice system  in  his province, Manitoba,  and by extension the country, Canada .  As  a member of the provincial  restorative justice association,  Restorative Justice Association of Manitoba Inc- RJAM ,  Victor expressed  a need  for an alternative  dispute resolution that  could  help  reduce and prevent  high incarceration as opposed to  rehabilitation  that is more transformative  for change.

With informed evidence  based, research also suggest that,  the percentage of  incarceration rate of indigenous people  is higher than  newcomers and   other nationalities  in Canada. “However,  the number of  newcomers  that are  in conflict with the criminal justice – the law is significantly  growing”  a concern  raised  by  Mr  Victor Kaicombey .

Majority of newcomers / Immigrants  are ignorance  of the  country legal system, and most importantly  the way how the criminal justice system is designed   with  retributive measures  are not informed  by the lenses of newcomers own  practices of  restorative  resolution model.  As an existing gap in the criminal justice system, there is little, or no customised  restorative  resolution programs  with diversion  for  newcomers  who are  in conflict with the law that needs mediation  to resolve  their dispute  without recourse to the court, and , or  for community rehabilitation.

It  was out of this curiosity   WE YONE PALAVER  HUT was established  in order to  address the existing  gaps in the criminal justice system by:

• Advocating for criminal justice reform and policies  with diversity in programming through public education in collaboration with  other  partner organizations.
• Providing and delivering  newcomers traditional and culturally based community restorative resolution services to  newcomers community members and other  communities, who wish to collectively resolve dispute as a family and community  through mediation and peacemaking without recourse to the court – the traditional criminal justice system –  a retributive  model.