Our Background
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.
Achievements and Work in Progress
PALAVER (meaning CONFLICT in our – Sierra Leone local dialect) is inevitable in our lives. Conflict happened everywhere in the world, including family dispute, community dispute, workplace etc.
Before this time, there has been an inbuilt tension of “palaver” (conflict / dispute) between family and community members, family separation as a result of not having a viable traditional and cultural option for mediation of minor cases (matters), youth’s violence and high rate of trauma in the community. The only source of redress the people knew was through the traditional criminal justice system (by involving – calling police) intervention. Traditionally, newcomers have more trust in restorative resolution models, wherein victims, offenders, law enforcement and the community collectively come together to resolve dispute. The involvement and recognition of victims in chatting the way forward to resolve dispute is empowering as a healing and premised our transformative approach to conflict and its resolution. Transformative mediation is centered and fundamental to newcomer’s community alternative dispute resolution process.
Since 2017, our newcomers’ traditional mediation services to our community members have proven to be a viable option in peacemaking and dispute resolution through mediation between people in dispute. As a result of our intervention, there is community cohesion and ethno cultural understanding between community members, reduction of family conflict and community conflict, even though conflict is inevitable.