instances linked to formal governance structures and processes and show the value returns of citizen-state collaborations in peacebuilding. Local Peace Committees Local Peace Committees (LPCs) are gaining currency in several African countries as grassroots peacebuilding architecture. They are established at sub national level mostly by men and women community members that voluntarily seek to promote intracommunal reconciliation and dispute resolution. The structures also serve as early warning systems within and even across states borders in some instances, when they are able to monitor disruptive or violent contentions at the communal level or across communities. In 1993 in Wajir, Kenya, the remarkable efforts of a women’s group (Wajir Peace and Development Committee) in reconciling three conflicting clan communities through a seven day dialogue process became renowned for the peace dividends both the warring parties and the communities reaped.213 Thereafter, this the model was replicated in other volatile districts and ultimately integrated in the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Agreement that created the District Peace Committees and Peace monitors. 214 Their work is overseen by the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management. 215 LPCs are mostly citizen driven with the support of development partners and NGOs that provide mediation skills and knowledge on appropriate human rights standards. There are country iterations such as Zimbabwe where women or men chair LPCs and make decisions, but this is not uniform in all communities and many LPCs reflect wider characteristics of patriarchal decision making.216 LPCs respond to community needs and vary in their formalisation or composition; Kenya has nationalized the implementation of the programme,217 in Somalia, committee members are elected 213 Conflict Dynamics International District Peace Committee Assessment-Conducted by Conflict Dynamics in partnership with the Somali Youth and Development Network, July 2015 214 Odendaal A ‘An Architecture for Building Peace at the Local Level: Comparative Study of Local Peace Committees December 2010, UNDP 215 National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management ‘Peace Committees in Kenya: A mapping report on existing peace building structures September 2010 216 Chivasa N ‘Efficacy of informal peace committees to peacebuilding: Evidence from Seke district, Zimbabwe’ African Evaluation Journal’ 2017 University of Kwazulu Natal 217 Conflict Dynamics International District Peace Committee Assessment 2015 76