Establishment of Local Peace Committees
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PROMISING RESILIENCE PRACTICES Community Conversations in Dikhil cluster, Djibouti 2012. Credit: CEWARN Creation of Peace Committees for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR) Introduction This conflict resolution mechanism has proved its worth and The Dikhil region of Djibouti is constituted of a zone of has allowed the two nomadic pastoralist communities to cohabitation of the two major nomadic communities which coexist for centuries. are the Afars and the Issas. Conflict incidents occur regularly New phenomena have appeared in recent years: between these two communities. Much of this conflict • Theft of cattle is committed by unidentified isolated is triggered by criminal activities perpetrated by isolated individuals; individuals from these two communities. • Stolen cattle are sold quickly at markets, live or sometimes in the form of meat; Previously, cattle thieves were always identified and the • There are ambush attacks against caravans of cattle were never sold or killed. Therefore, solving such cases merchandise committed for revenge; was relatively easy. A traditional inter-community conflict • Rape of women and girls is committed by unidentified resolution mechanism has been practiced for a long time. individuals. Because of the changing context, traditional conflict resolution Results mechanisms are becoming less effective at litigation. The work of CEWERU and the Prefecture of Dikhil has Resolution of the crimes is often complicated by the ability drastically reduced the number of intercommunal incidents. of the perpetrators to move across the border with Ethiopia. Since 2009, no fatal incident has occurred. With the support of CEWARN, CEWERU provided regular support to CPMR for A large amount of Dikhil Prefecture’s time and resources are government institutions and civil society actors principally devoted to resolving disputes and conflicts between these from the community-level. communities. Some of the staff are exclusively designated to work on the recovery of lost property and the resolution of Sustainability disputes between pastoralists. CEWERU is embedded in the government structure. It is hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The institutional structure and mode of operation is geared towards addressing cross- border pastoral conflicts in Dikhil cluster. CEWERU’s support A large amount of Dikhil Prefecture’s time and resources to the traditional existing mechanism for CPMR has resulted are devoted to resolving disputes and conflicts between in sustainability being more feasible. these communities Its members are the local community elders. IGAD provided support by filling a critical resource gap at the grassroots level. These forms of support ranged from Conflict Prevention, Traditional inter-community methods of conflict resolution are Management and Resolution (CPMR) to pasture and water no longer very effective against these categories of individuals. management and alternative livelihood skills training and Consequently, unresolved disputes have accumulated and youth talent development. this has created an environment of permanent mistrust and hostility between communities, which promotes a vicious Replicability and Upscaling circle of revenge. As part of the new CEWARN strategy, the CEWERU of Djibouti plans to set up Local Peace Committees in all regions of Methodological Approach Djibouti. The experience gained from the establishment of the In response to this situation, the Republic of Djibouti, peace committee in Dikhil cluster can be replicated in other in accordance with the Intergovernmental Authority on districts. Though some financial support will be required at Development (IGAD) Conflict Early Warning and Response the beginning, CEWERU has the technical capacity to scale it Mechanism (CEWARN) Protocol, set up a National Committee up, for Prevention and Early Warning to monitor the situation and provide the appropriate measures and means to reduce Testimony conflict incidents and help the two communities to coexist Mr. Hassan Eleyeh, Dikhil community leader says, with peacefully. CEWERU, they learned a lot about negotiation skills. “This undoubtedly enriched us. But what I remember first is the The Conflict Early Warning Response Unit (CEWERU) of story of this Kenyan woman, Ms. Deka Ibrahim, who managed Djibouti set up a Local Peace Committee in Dikhil. mediation and allowed the communities in her region to live in peace. Proof that the involvement of women in the Since 2012, the CEWERU of Djibouti has also implemented discussions and mediation can ease tensions and promote several projects for capacity building and inter-community peace.” This is an example to ponder for our country and our peacebuilding in the Gobaad area of the Dikhil region with region. the support of the CEWARN Rapid Response Fund (RRF). Additional information The RRF Provided around US $ 10.000 per year. CEWERU has Supporting Community CPMR initiative in IGAD member conducted training on facilitation, negotiation, mediation and states through a multi-donor basket fund. arbitration techniques for the prevention and resolution of pastoral conflicts. CONTACTS MOUSSA MOHAMED OMAR, CHAIRMAN OF CEWARU INTERGOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ON DEVELOPMENT (IGAD) at [email protected] or [email protected] P. O. Box 2653, Djibouti City, Djibouti | www.igad.int / www.resilience.igad.int Disclaimer: The collection and documentation of resilience good practices was supported by FAO. Printing was made possible through the IGAD-FAO Partnership Programme, with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The contents of this publication can in no way be taken to reflect the views of FAO or SDC..