Context:
Oromia is the largest regional state in Ethiopia and borders 10 of the country's 11 other regions and shares borders with Kenya and Sudan. Along with the Oromo people, Oromia is home to many other ethnic groups.
Conflicts and violent disputes between communities are a recurrent problem in Oromia. Points of conflict include property, access to and use of land and resources, and land titles. Climate change, environmental pollution and strong population growth exacerbate the scarcity of resources and bring about internal migration.
Conflicts often revolve around ethnic and religious affiliation and are aggravated further by political interests. Geographical hotspots can be found long border regions. A lack of participation, particularly of women, young people and minorities plays as an intensifying factor of conflict.
Goal:
Trust-based cooperation between population groups, traditional authorities, government representatives and non-governmental organisations contributes to non-violent conflict transformation of land and resource conflicts in and along the borders of Oromia.
Approach:
The Civil Peace Service (CPS) programme works with four partners: the Ethiopian Ministry of Peace (MoP), the Oromia Bureau of Administration and Security (OBAS), the Oromia Pastoralist Association (OPA) and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY). CPS supports trust-building measures in order to resolve conflicts non-violently.
Dialogue promotes trust-building between population groups. It is especially important for women and young people to contribute to peace and dialogue and to be able to communicate their different needs. Based on this, stakeholders create a common understanding of the conflict and develop conflict-sensitive land and resource use approaches. These include agreements on resource use and land-use plans.